Profile for MCfan2

I also saw her many years ago -- she was pregnant with her son at the time, so however old he is, that long ago -- and thought her audience connection was fantastic. I remember her calling herself "this fat chick at the piano who thinks she can sing" and making everyone laugh. So maybe she has on days and off days with that ability to connect, because I know she has it sometimes!

I apologize -- I just found out there was another thread on this. I had searched on the word "Chandos" and didn't see it, but it was there when I searched on "My Fair Lady." I'll cross post what I wrote over there, and mods can shut this one down.

WldKingdomHM said: "Please correct me if I’m wrong but hasn’t Michael been out of the public eye for sometime and is in bad shape ?"

As I recall, he started winding down his career a few years ago after a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis, and is now living the retired life in New Zealand. I suppose it's possible he's not paying attention to what's going on in the U.S. at all.

romain2 said: "The country "legend" could possibly be longtime supporter Lee Greenwood."

The Post article suggests it's George Strait. I hope he turns it down, too.

Azúcar! said: "Hopefully Crawford turns it down."

Came here to say that.

I'm acquainted with Cat Hodge, and it was so fascinating to see her behind-the-scenes accounts of all this on Facebook. Kudos to everyone who worked so hard to pull it off.

Just a heads up that Chandos's complete recording of My Fair Lady, mentioned earlier in this thread, is now available for pre-order, with a release date of September 26. Cast includes Scarlett Strallen, Jamie Parker, Alun Armstrong, Malcolm Sinclair, Laurence Kilsby, Julia McKenzie, and Penelope Wilton, with the Sinfonia of London under John Wilson. (Maybe this one should have its own thread? Or should it just stay in here with the recent Chandos Carousel recording?)

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHSA%205358(2)

 

Ideas for Les Miserables when it gets there:

Change the setting to Ukraine. And have lots of Ukrainian flags everywhere. 
Work in some lines about how the poor people are starving because USAID funding was cut.
Make up Fantine to look like Stormy Daniels.

And so on. Heavyhanded, sure, but heavyhandedness is the only thing that goon understands.

Parker was brilliant. I've been reading and loving her reviews for years. People forget that, as scathing as she could be about plays and books she didn't like, she could be wonderfully enthusiastic about what she did like. 

I had an awful feeling something like this was going to happen. :( He and the Kennedy Center pretty much ignored each other in his first term, but this time he's been trying to take over everything in sight, so I was afraid of this.

Horrible. :(

Sorry to lose: "I've Never Been in Love Before," Guys and Dolls.

Happy to gain: "Something Good," The Sound of Music. Not so much because I think it's a great song in itself, but because IMO, it fits the moment so much better than "An Ordinary Couple."

I may think of others later, but those two come to mind first.

Little Dancer.

The Carousel recording looks intriguing, but I can't wait for the My Fair Lady one! Thanks for the tip on that!

Not a review, but I thought this was the best place for it: 

"How dueling ‘Great Gatsby’ musicals got the green light" 
By Andrew Zucker in The Washington Post

https://wapo.st/4esuHZc
(Link gifted)

Excerpt:
Could dueling “Gatsby” musicals running concurrently on Broadway somehow boost both productions’ prospects, creating buzz and making Midtown Manhattan the place to be for “Gatsby” fans from across the world? It’s more likely that they could confuse audiences, according to Andrew Lippa, a Broadway composer-lyricist. In 2000, Lippa’s off-Broadway musical “The Wild Party” ran at the same time as the Broadway musical “The Wild Party,” both based on Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 epic poem.

“From a marketing perspective, it's a problem,” he explained. “A friend says, ‘You should see “The Wild Party,”’ and somebody says ‘I'll go buy tickets,’ and then you go look for tickets and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute. There are two?’”

“We never had to deal with that issue because our show did not transfer to Broadway,” he added.

The dancing in the Chita Rivera tribute was great, but I wish they hadn't had dancers dancing and Chita on the screen and people talking all at the same time. It was difficult to focus on any one thing. 

Dan6 said: "Trying to put myself in the position of someone who hasn’t seen any of these shows, W4E was the first performance that made me think I wanted to see it."

I'm someone who hasn't seen any of these shows, and that's exactly how I feel.