Profile for CurtainsUpat8

I totally understand and empathize with your wanting to see a June that looks like you. I love your passion for theatre! You keep going! I am older than you.. I am 66, I am sure I am much older than you. I have been involved in theatre since I was 12. I grew up in a small town in WNY.  Finding theatre was an escape from my unhappy home.  I moved to NYC in 1980 with $500 when I was 20 years old.  I have seen thousands of Broadway shows and other shows all over town.  I saw

You know.... a play or musical belongs to the WRITER(S) of that show.   Not the Director or anyone else. I'm not a fan of "blind casting" because... we aren't blind. Words have meanings. Playwrights don't just pull them out of their asses. Again, this musical was written for a specific woman and her family and they are all white.  Why doesn't "blind casting" ever work in reverse?  Can we cast a white Dorothy in the Wiz? Or a white actor

I am a playwright with published works.  "Gypsy" was written about the experiences of a white woman in a certain situation in a specific time and place.  That experience would be different if the character was Black in the same situation and time and place. It would be written differently. You can't shoehorn the two experiences together. It doesn't do anyone any good.
Write a new Gypsy from a Black characters experience.  So many of you are just reactive

No. I heard what I heard. After doing this for decades, I get what she is doing. I heard the Everythings Coming Up Roses audio.

Auditions are 32 measures for a reason. A trained ear can hear what they need to hear quickly.

I am not writing this to be "mean"... I am telling you what many other people are hearing as well.  We aren't making it up.

I didn't comment on her performance. I commented on the rather large cut of music I heard her

I have not seen the show. I have only heard the bootleg audio.

I am a voice teacher. I have been doing it for decades. let me start by saying, of course Audra has an incredible instrument and is a wonderful actress. I have loved her in many performances.

From what I heard, Audra seems vocally lost. She is all over the place with her placement. I don't really hear her "belting".  She is singing in her chest voice, which is not necessarily the same as be

I have never seen a produciton of Streetcar on stage I have really enjoyed. First, for me... it's impossible to get the movie out of my mind. I can't help that.

The problem I have seen is that ALL four of the leads have to be equally as wonderful. I saw the Blair Underwood. He was great... the Blanche was awful. I saw the Alec Baldwin production and that was a big miss too. I could barely hear Jessica Lange.  Alex Baldwin seemed underwhelming to me.

Unless y

Peter Barker said: "CurtainsUpat8 said: "First of all I take back my apology. I looked at the videos of Carole King and Sara Barielles. What they did was NOTHING similar to what Alicia Keys and Jay Z did. NOTHING. Sara sang a TINY bit of the song and Jesse finished it and Carole King only came in at the end to sing a short DUET with Jesse. So yes, it was disgusting what Alicia Keyes did.

As for your comment calling me a racist.... Pathetic. Sad. Troublesome. Wrong

First of all I take back my apology.  I looked at the videos of Carole King and Sara Barielles.  What they did was NOTHING similar to what Alicia Keys and Jay Z did. NOTHING.   Sara sang a TINY bit of the song and Jesse finished it and Carole King only came in at the end to sing a short DUET with Jesse.  So yes, it was disgusting what Alicia Keyes did.

As for your comment calling me a racist....  Pathetic.  Sad.  Troublesome. Wrong. Childish.

Speed said: "CurtainsUpat8 said: "I agree 100 percent with his opinion. He explained in great detail "why not". The whole article was about "why not"

Theatre is storytelling about specific people in a specific time.And that makes a difference! The color of that person in that time period makes a difference historically and dramatically. He makes all the points I have been wanting to say. Using "Six" as an example is not relevant to th

How do you have "great theatre" that isn't rooted in reality?  Even a fantasty has it's "own" reality.   I love George C Wolfe but I don't think he has a magic wand that can change the historical reality of what being Black was like during this time period.  Why do we have dramaturgs? What is the point of them, if anyone can just rewrite history and historical reality?  Yes, the story is loosely based on Gypsy Rose Lee, and it's called a

I agree 100 percent with his opinion. He explained in great detail "why not".   The whole article was about "why not"

Theatre is storytelling about specific people in a specific time.And that makes a difference!   The color of that person in that time period makes a difference historically and dramatically. He makes all the points I have been wanting to say.  Using "Six" as an example is not relevant to this discussion. I wouldn'