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Webber's 5/4 bar in Phantom?  Jan 27 2023, 10:32:05 AM

The opening of “Notes” (“Mystery after gala night…&rdquo is in 15/16 and moves to 7/8 for “Bad news on Soprano scene”. 


So how does Wicked have a chance with how West Side tanked?  Dec 16 2021, 10:49:49 AM

One article said that they released it when they did despite knowing all the reasons why it wouldn't do so well because they were able to get it into IMAX theatres, which as of today are all filled with Spider-Man. There's a deal in place to keep the movie in theatres longer than usual, knowing that it would be a slow burn and probably do better after the holidays.

I really wanted it to do well and intended it to be my first theatre film since shutdown but I haven't even se


Steven Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY - News & Discussion Thread  Dec 12 2021, 05:00:51 PM

The Quintet is actually a quartet because Tony and Maria are singing the same part. 5 people/units, 4 lines of music. 
 

One of the handful of times I got to be in the room with Sondheim he talked about it since he was working on the Laurents revival at the time, and he referred to it as “the quintet, that’s actually really a quartet” which was the first time I’d ever heard that. He also talked about how he hated the I Feel Pretty lyrics and was t


Company Previews Thread  Nov 23 2021, 07:16:44 AM

Going back a couple pages, but I absolutely love the idea of "Company" set in India! You're totally right that the pressure to couple up would be a lot more intense and I could see a Bobby/Bobbi from an Indian family feeling pressure in a way that a single 30-something in NYC in 2021 wouldn't. 

I'm already 1000% more interested in that concept than I am the modern gender-swapped version. I'm someone who prefers my "Company" set in 1970 with


Is It Time For Performers To Renegotiate The 8 Show Week?  Oct 15 2021, 05:19:52 PM

Personally I find 2-show days more than twice as hard as a one-show day. I know some shows do it but 3 matinee days a week feels way more exhausting over time than a 6-day week with most days free.

It would be great if it could be mandated that a day off must be preceded by a matinee and followed by an evening, guaranteeing 48 hours. I've done awful schedules like a Tuesday day off meaning the last show was a Monday night and the first was a Wednesday matinee. It was miserable afte


Cecily Strong in THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE  Oct 12 2021, 10:51:11 PM

Cecily was a child actor in Chicago so this is absolutely not her theatrical debut. She was in "House Of Martin Guerre" at the Goodman and "Fahrenheit 451" at Bailiwick among several others. I was surprised and thrilled to see the 11-year-old I music directed a billion years ago crushing it on SNL. But she's been on the professional stage many times.

Here's a review of "Martin Guerre" where she played young Bertrand.

https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/deceptive-packaging/

And one of Fahrenheit 451.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-04-07-9804070302-story.html

Playbill has gotten very, very sloppy.


Broadway Theater Owner Floating On Air After Record-Breaking Deal  Sep 15 2021, 03:01:58 PM

Instead of a new theatre they should take the money they would use for that and do whatever it takes to get the Hellinger back. 


Censorship in HAIR at the Old Globe  Sep 4 2021, 04:58:16 PM

I think that kind of proves my point - when a single word in a lyric requires an essay to explain why it's actually not offensive it's a problematic line. I'm also going by what my artist colleagues of color are saying, which is that it's a term of hate speech and even knowing the context doesn't make it any better. I hate that the black members of the company have to hear it, I hate that the non-black members have to say it. If it were making a larger point that would be


Censorship in HAIR at the Old Globe  Sep 4 2021, 02:55:22 AM

Agreed pretty much 100% with John Adams. Great post, and echoes a lot of my thoughts. I would argue that HAIR is less sacrosanct text than most – there is no definitive version and I've never seen two productions that are identical in terms of the material. That said, cutting Black Boys/White Boys is criminal on a purely musical level. You lose that stratospheric burst of adrenaline in early Act 2 and I think really badly harms the musical fabric. I see productions with songs cut al


What’s The Best Production/Cast Recording of Follies?  Jul 31 2021, 01:32:34 PM

If you don't already know the show then the OBC is great - once you know what's missing it's a frustrating experience but if you don't know what's not there you can appreciate the performances which are definitive. I'd say start with that one. There are big chunks missing and virtually every song has a trim somewhere but as far as I'm concerned the power of the performances come through. Take advantage of this moment in your life and enjoy the OBC without any


Actors' Equity To Expand Membership  Jul 21 2021, 12:39:44 PM

Purely anecdotal data, but on my social media feeds the more successful actors think it's a good thing or are keeping an open mind, whereas the (union) actors who don't book much work are absolutely livid.


Andrew Lloyd Webber composing tips?  Jul 15 2021, 10:48:14 AM

I've run hot and cold on ole' Andy over the years - I think he's a super smart and amazingly talented guy who has often been very lazy and pedestrian and bears all the hallmarks of a spoiled rich brat, especially in his dotage.

But to answer the original question, the two things I’m aware of are a documentary I saw on A&E in the ‘80s that covers his career up to “Phantom” and he sits at the piano and talks a bit about his stuff. It’s pretty great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQs3xyHnwdo

Also the book “Andrew Lloyd Webber - His Life And Works” by Michael Walsh does delve into some musical analysis of the scores and their influences but its focus isn’t really on the music. The copy I have stops at "Aspects Of Love" but it's been updated. It seems to be out of print but there are cheap used copies: https://www.amazon.com/ANDREW-LLOYD-WEBBER-Life-Works/dp/0670830410

There’s probably newer stuff but I kind of stopped paying attention around “Whistle Down The Wind”. I think “Superstar” and “Evita” are brilliant, and “Cats” and “Phantom” are extremely well-executed for what they are. And there’s a lot of junk on the pile as well.


NYT: A Chance To Fix The Tonys  Jun 3 2021, 10:50:06 AM

That "hideous scrum of investors" are the whole reason the show is on Broadway in the first place. I cannot tell you how many shows I've worked on that were DEFINITELY "going to Broadway" and not a single damn one of them has ever come anywhere close. And why? They all, every single one of them, could not raise the money.

The one thing that separates a Broadway show from any other is that somebody paid for it to open. That "hideous scrum" capitalized t


Getting Rid of Intermission and a Few Other Things...  May 14 2021, 01:26:42 PM

The 10 minute break every 90 minutes rule doesn't apply to runtimes. If in rehearsal you're doing a runthrough of an act that lasts longer than 1:20, you don't have to stop for the break. If, however, you stop the run at any point prior for any reason, you do have to stop and take a break after 1:20 regardless of whether the act is finished.

A CHORUS LINE is interesting because it does in fact have built-in breaks for the actors and musicians - everyone but Cassie


Mame lyrics change??  May 1 2021, 06:13:07 PM

I played Young Patrick when I was 11 in 1986, and for the rest of her life nothing I ever did impressed my Grandmother more than that. She came to a number of my shows in college and early in my career and inevitably she'd say "You know, I still remember when you were in 'Mame""...

She hung around for 96 years, ultimately, and 95 of them were amazingly robust but the last year was pretty rough and by the end she was barely hearing and mostly confined to a chair/b


VIDEO: A Chorus Line performed with covid-19 masks  Apr 1 2021, 10:01:33 AM

In some shots you can see they have mics on but I agree that the non-fogginess seems odd. I suspect they maybe rerecorded the vocals after the fact because there's a suspicious lack of out-of-breathness. Which is fine, it's not a live show so use the tools available. 

Nevertheless I always love seeing groups do the Montage 4 choreography ("Gimme The Ball" and the stuff around it). It's almost like the choreography itself is one of my favorite musical the


Best/Worst Celebrities that went onto Broadway  Jan 22 2021, 02:01:48 PM

Best: Fantasia in "The Color Purple".

Worst: By the widest possible margin, John Stamos in "Nine". Utterly out of his depth. "Bells Of St. Sebastian" was an out-of-tune semi-falsettoed atrocity sung with the terrified blank expression of someone who knows they are in way over their head. 

I didn't see Ally Sheedy in "Hedwig" but more than one friend has said she was even worse.


GYPSY - Tessie Tura's gimmick, anticlimactic?  Jan 16 2021, 01:58:27 AM

Tessie's example is the one that gets through to Louise. She's "classy", unlike the trumpet and the blinking lights. And you get the right actress who can convincingly do both the fluttering and the bumping and it's hysterical. And for me, the funniest moment is when they're all three doing it together and you have trumpets, flashing lights, and bumping butterflies simultaneously. Easily tops any one of the three.

And dramatically it needs to plant the seed th


re: LOVEMUSIK Reviews  Jan 10 2021, 03:26:39 PM

Thanks for posting that! It’s nice to see that my memories mostly line up with reality. I’d forgotten that there was a scene after and they played the 3Penny overture but otherwise that’s exactly how I remember it. I’m always a little wary when I post theatrical memories that they’ve morphed in my brain to something quite different than what I really saw.


re: LOVEMUSIK Reviews  Jan 10 2021, 09:58:18 AM
She did not sing Pirate Jenny. It was the most disappointing part of the show for me. They built up how legendary the performance was, and then it ends with her putting on her makeup in her dressing room to go perform the show at Theatre De Lys, the orchestra plays the song as underscoring, then she triumphantly walks off to make her entrance and then curtain, end of show.
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