Profile for MichelleCraig

I saw her in TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE on Broadway. I also saw her in COLLECTED STORIES at the Geffen Playhouse here in Los Angeles and THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK at the Colonial in Boston. She was SO good. I loved ALICE, too.

It’s 11;40 PM in Los Angeles and I’m listening to this now. I thought the “live” recording would suffer compared to one recorded conventionally in a studio. I thought wrong. This recording is spectacular! 

Zachary’s post went on for over an hour. On Instagram, you can’t jump forward or backwards, etc. I found the whole post on YouTube. The Gavin Creel stuff begins about 32 minutes in, but before that there’s his thoughts on the vaccine and a whole lot more.

https://youtu.be/Yx2JHaHkr4s?si=SwFp71cGfgaWOJap

I am a member of "Generation Jones" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Jones

I grew up in a suburb of Boston as did my parents (the same suburb). It was not Grover's Corners; well, maybe it was...a little bit. My grandmothers both grew up in Grover's Corners-like towns. Both of my grandfathers passed away before I was born. Growing up, I heard story after story about what it was like for my grandmothers growing up; especially my paternal grandmother. That grandmother was about 10 years old when Halley's Comet made it's 1910 appearance. Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain was born during the comet's 1835 appearance and correctly predicted he would die upon it's return in 1910. My grandmother remembered watching it from her backyard in Massachusetts and told the story often. When Halley's Comet made it's next appearance, in February of 1986, I couldn't wait for it to show up in the night sky. Honestly though, it was kind of a bust. What they call "light pollution" in the city sky made the comet almost impossible to see without sophisticated equipment, etc. Yet my grandmother and her family saw it with unaided eyes from the backyard of their house in 1910. I remember asking my grandmother, who passed away in 1988, if she *really* did see the comet in 1910. She most certainly did remember it.

I saw my first production of OUR TOWN when it was presented by the senior class in my high school. I was a high school junior at the time. I knew the student playing Emily, but I had never seen her act in a play. For me (and I had seen a number of Broadway productions, musicals and plays, by this time...in Boston and on Broadway), this was the most profoundly moving experience I'd ever had watching a live production. I was only 16 years old. From stories I'd grown up with from my grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc., I felt like I knew these characters. My parents, who were raised by people who had grown up at the turn of the 20th Century, were one generation closer to it than I was...but I did hear and learn about it from people who were there. Their experiences were always in my head when I read books and took classes to learn more about those times that were so fascinating to me.

In 2003 I saw Paul Newman as the stage manager in a revival at the Booth Theatre. I was bracing for the emotional whammy of Act 3, but it didn't happen. I really enjoyed the production, but after 9/11 only several years earlier and all of the other world events and changes I'd lived through since first having my mind literally blown away after seeing OUR TOWN at the impressionable age of 16, it didn't move me.

When I read some of the negative comments about this new production, I think I understand. So much of today's audience for OUR TOWN has no actual connection to the time it was written OR the time that it was written about. Again, I understand. I'm sure there are and will be works now and to come that will really engage audiences that have a direct connection to the premise of the productions. Also, there will be brilliant artists who will be able to take materials out of dusty history books and infuse them with a foundation that relates to today, or the time of their future creation.

I guess there's an argument to be made that OUR TOWN is a product of its time. Some friends of mine who saw the high school production I saw, could not understand why I was so moved by it. Others got it.

This post only reflects my opinion. If you've made it this far, give yourself a virtual gold star for your forehead; Generation Jones kids will get that.

This is, I think, the most gut-punching, passing of a Broadway star that I can think of right now. 

I think we all *knew* that we would be seeing and hearing his performances for years...no, decades...to come. 

I'm just glad I got to see him in MILLIE, HAIR and SHE LOVES ME. Terribly sad news.

Regarding the Intermission/No Intermission part of this thread: I think leaving for “relief” during a movie is fine. Friends will be able to “catch you up or you can see it again, with the pause option, when it comes to streaming services.

I think some of us, when seeing a live theatre performance, may feel that we’re disrespecting the cast if we leave the performance at any time. I’ve always felt like that when seeing a show on Broadway.

I am so glad that I got to see her on stage twice in London; "Three Tall Women" and "The Lady in the Van."

Icon and Legend are words completely appropriate in describing her. 

As an FYI, this recording was released today. I was surprised that, after all the comments about it when it was announced months ago, there haven’t been posts about the recording now that it’s been released.

It’s so hard to pick just one, but my selection for today is NEW WORDS sung by Brent Barrett on “The Maury Yeston Songbook” from PS Classics. For me, that is a true Desert Island Disc.

Patti’s got a new recording out today. Patti LuPone: A Life In Notes is streaming everywhere and a 2-CD set will be released on August 30th. 
 

it’s a lot of fun…23 tracks.

Disc 1:

Jarethan, I agree that WAIT UNTI DARK is a thriller and not a horror work, but since “thrillers” were referenced in this thread, I thought I’d throw it in. It must’ve been great to see Lee Remick play that part…

WAIT UNTIL DARK was originally on Broadway with Lee Remick in 1966. It was revived in 1998 with Marisa Tomei and Quentin Tarantino.

I'm only familiar with the film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn. Does anyone here have knowledge or opinions on the stage version(s)? Do you think it could work on Broadway today?