Profile for Auggie27

I believe putting a standby onstage in a one-person show is particularly challenging. Solo pieces are by design and execution meant to showcase the synergy of a particular artist and role; they are invariably developed together. Of course it's possible to have an understudy serve both material and venue. But in this case, with a beloved media star the reason for the production's existence - this isn't a play by an established playwright, or produced elsewhere - it s

The hippie rescue ending in the film, with some of the most scrubbed looking counter culture tribe members ever seen, is actually a nod to Nights of Cabiria, wherein Cabiria encounters a young group who dance, travel on mopeds, and behave with indifference to society. The message seems to be: step outside - move beyond - moral judgement for self-acceptance. Yet because the hippies are so egregiously sentimentalized - think teaching the world to sing in the Coke commercial - the seque

I've been posting here for 22 years, and this is one of the saddest threads I've read. Can't help but think of other star vacations when a replacement was a gimmick that added a jolt. I'm old enough to have seen Raquel Welch fill in for Bacall when she took her vacation from Woman of the Year. This wasn't the multi-month post-Bacall Welch run, which was notoriously successful. This was a 2 week long-slotted Bacall absence, December 1-15, 1981 - something

Unfortunately, as a once a week alternate, she's not likely a box office equivalent of Donna Murphy, who brought her own considerable fan base in for one night a week. So the idea of plugging her into Tuesday nights or Wednesday matinees seems noble yet not a real solution. But who knows? It might be longer-range profitable to give McDonald another night off with an extension thru Christmas. (Yet - another point about Montenegro - how do you really grow in a role playing it

I'm 100% with TotallyEffed. I've resisted the proshot of the production that moved to Wyndham's last summer - the show has always shaken me due to a family member weighed down by the protagonist's plight - but finally caught up with the PBS Great Performances capture. Caissie Levy is superb, to my surprise superior to Alice Ripley in subtle, mysterious ways. The wiry, graceful Levy plays Diana with a different presentation of hyperactivity, almost an athletic sensibility. I&#3

A broader topic: to me, most of these 7 "positives" are niche raves for the star with such major reservations about the piece's flaws, the categorization seems disingenuous. We all learn to accept the trade-off in many star vehicles: sometimes the machine isn't so well-oiled, yet the driver sails forward at 80 mph on the synthesis of talent, craft, charisma. This play feels like something from another era, an earnest story with a social conscience and great topicality wrappe

This now feels like a management, not an artist problem: finding a solution to clearly circumstantial issues (physical challenge or personal crises, alluded to by one star). With awards season over and the show settling into a long(er) run, devising a schedule that would remove the pressure from the actors and take the question marks away from the consumer would be wise. Disparate shows work well with alternate schedules or even double/triple casts (Baz's Boheme, Brooks'

With the extension, I got superb - wait for it - TDF seats (row G orchestra) for the matinee today. For me, the show was glorious and emotionally triggering, start to finish. And a personal footnote: I saw my first Gypsy 52 years ago this month, in June 1973. Angela Lansbury, London. Bonnie Langford was Baby June. Today she sang a helluva "I'm Still Here" and for the first time in a decade or longer, I decided to stage door to tell her. She was delig

I agree 100%. I remain a diehard fan of the original Pollyanna, which David Swift never got enough credit for. It's a remarkably unsentimental story (at least until it's 3rd act) about a stranger coming to town with a clear-eyed new prism on just about everything. The story is filled with fascinating relevance, the town oligarch, Aunt Polly controlling all social services and even a church's weekly messaging. If you watch it today, it's startling in its

Maybe I've become cynical about brief star runs on Broadway, but October 16 - August 31 seems like a decent commitment in this day and age. Bravo to Criss. I have been under the impression - this thread aside - that the show itself is the star here, Criss less so. But I would think they'd seek another name as a replacement. It's a wonderful role for a young singing actor, and surely they can find a star who'd seize the opportunity. Especially after the show wins Best Musical.&

Is this Cabaret in its last 6 months? It's been on TDF weekly, and the last two stars didn't prove major box office. If Billy Porter recreates his West End Emcee on B'way, will there be a jump? I'm not a fan of this staging, and think it doesn't really matter to most people who stars at this point. This new take on Sally isn't the post-Richardson iteration - the Michelle Williams/Emma Stone type - but a big voiced - well, something else. I find the c

Lizzy McAlpine, 2 months into the run: a much debated performance this season, or rather debated piece of casting, starting with earliest previews. I returned to the Beaumont this afternoon, as noted, knowing it's unlikely I'll ever see a comparably lavish Floyd in NYC in my lifetime. The production is in pristine shape, Jordan at the top of his game, to my ears even more vocally impressive than in previews. I was especially impressed with McAlpine's d