"Weird Al" Yankovic "having conversations" about writing a Broadway musical
Jul 23
2024, 07:06:32 PM
Even in voice over, he seems to prefer overwhelmed, oddball introverts. Characters who are, most of the time, smaller than life until they snap.
So… Man in Chair?
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Patrick Marber will direct THE PRODUCERS for London’s Menier Chocolate Factory, beginning November 2024
Jul 23
2024, 07:03:23 PM
BwayLB said: "It it’s any good as that scale down Young Frankeinstein, I’ll see it"
Pittsburgh CLO is currently running a very funny six-person Young Frankenstein, and I think it works better than the splashier original.
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Complete CAROUSEL cast recording on its way
Jul 20
2024, 11:06:28 PM
1994 Broadway is impeccable: I love the way it mingles the show’s operetta elements with rougher and more unconventional musical theatre voices.
”Blow High, Blow Low” with the additional timpani in the opening makes the song feel naked if you hear it without them. It’s the greatest pirate song ever written, despite not being about pirates.
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Adam Lambert -Cabaret
Jul 17
2024, 05:54:39 PM
Would Cravalho be the first Sally of color in this production? It's an interesting deviation between their "Sally is a white woman, Cliff is a man of color; she has all the privilege to be optimistic but he has none" dynamic.
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Would love to see a Sound of Music Revival
Jul 16
2024, 12:42:08 PM
Ten years ago, I can see Kristen Bell winning a Tony in the role.
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10th anniversary of Heathers
Jul 16
2024, 08:54:25 AM
I don't mind Heathers, but the way Jordan feels about it is the way I feel about Dear Evan Hansen.
It craps on the daring of "World's Greatest Dad," which takes the indefensible but TRUE position that some people really AREN'T good for anything, and are worth more dead than alive. Dear Evan Hansen seems like it's gonna take that talking point, but then soft pedals it and tries to be "life affirming." Bobcat Goldthwait was obviously trying to be provocative and controversial when he made
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Biggest disappointments from established teams?
Jul 15
2024, 07:00:55 PM
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Charley Kringas Inc said: "Surprised nobody's mentioned Smile, which didn't even get a cast album and only really lives on in regional productions, despite being helmed by Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch (and workshopped at Michael Bennett's studio, no less). I recall reading that Hamlisch essentially bailed on the production after the critics bombed it out."
Yes, SMILE is a good one!
Its failure gave us Ashman'
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Biggest disappointments from established teams?
Jul 15
2024, 12:36:38 PM
Call_me_jorge said: "I’d be curious what people would answer for the reverse of this question. Biggest triumphs from creatives that didn’t give you much hope prior to seeing the show.
"
After years of hype and rumors, Beetlejuice was announced with a score by Eddie Perfect, a relatively minor presence in the music-and-comedy world who had been attached to megaflop King Kong. The show opens out of town to tepid reviews. Perfect, true to his name
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Would love to see a Sound of Music Revival
Jul 14
2024, 09:42:59 PM
I think TSOM lives and dies on its Maria, and so many Marias neglect the fact that Maria is a manic pixie dream girl. They play her straight, like an ingenue or a Disney princess.
Maria is strange, unpredictable and quirky. She is sexy in a bizarre way that is out of place in stiff-upper-lip aristocratic Austria. She's a role Julie Andrews played, she's not (the rather one-dimensional public image associated with) Julie Andrews herself.
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Jonathan Groff Sets 2025 Broadway Return with JUST IN TIME?
Jul 13
2024, 01:47:49 PM
VintageSnarker said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Did anyone see the concert production in 2018? How big were the other parts? It looks like it was only a cast of 5, and thats including Groff. Always love seeing Elena Shadows name on cast lists, so hopefully she’s still involved!"
Yes, I saw it. It was different from the typical 92Y L&L lecture but the cast spoke directly to the audience between songs giving that background informa
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Music Man 2000 Revival Cast Recording
Jul 12
2024, 02:52:34 PM
Spotify has the Rent OBC highlights but not the complete recording.
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Carmen Cusack, Nik Walker & John Behlmann to Lead BULL DURHAM, A NEW MUSICAL at Duke University
Jul 11
2024, 11:38:21 AM
MemorableUserName said: "Should they really be billing it "A New Musical" when it debuted 10 years ago? The article wasn't clear on if they're making changes.
Thread from the Atlanta production:https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1076272"
If I recall, "Annie" didn't remove the branding of "A New Musical" until sometime in the 2000s, but they were also punning on the New Deal, so they had something of an excuse.
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Horror On Broadway?
Jul 3
2024, 05:20:01 PM
AEA AGMA SM said: "If adapting Dracula you need to still be very careful that you aren’t pulling elements that came from other adaptations that may still be under copyright protection. For instance, the idea that sunlight kills him is not present in Stoker’s novel so it could still potentially throw up a rights issue, similar to using the Ruby Slippers in a production of The Wizard of Oz that is not based on the MGM movie."
Sunlight is from Nosferatu, whi
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What Happened Between Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey?
Jun 30
2024, 01:54:28 PM
The same thing that happened between Sophia Anne Caruso and Alex Brightman, and Mary Martin and Carol Channing before them: a mild to moderate case of demonic possession. It’s a classic Broadway pitfall: one person gets the demon, the other person gets the headache.
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Changing Keys for Performers is So Cool
Jun 29
2024, 12:05:37 PM
AOLplaybillChatOG said: "Not always cool. If you search OOtoobyay for footage of Scary Spice singing Another Day during her stint in RENT you’ll see an example of when tailoring keys doesnt work"
It's not 2011, we're allowed to reference YouTube and not say "that site."
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Broadway Bares Hit the Strip Sunday
Jun 26
2024, 11:32:23 AM
I've noticed (and I'll admit, enjoyed) that the women of Broadway are becoming increasingly featured in these things. It's not quite as focused on being purely a showcase for male beefcake as in years past; the same movement towards a joyful pansexual hedonism that we've seen in the rebranded/reimagined Playboy franchise since 2016.
The only real difference is that here in the arts, I think people will cheer it on with a "all love is lovely, all sex is sexy," while the comments under
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Next Musical Creator that should have a Revue show
Jun 24
2024, 08:12:16 PM
My favorite revue of all time is "Disney: On the Record," because the musical arrangements for eight singers and jazz band are just SO good. But the Disney Theatricals group apparently hates it, and other than VERY rare one-off productions, they've kept it in the vault for almost twenty years.
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Next Musical Creator that should have a Revue show
Jun 23
2024, 12:35:55 AM
Marc Shaiman, but make it focus less on his major stage musicals and more on his wide variety of specialty material. From SNL to South Park to radical reimagining of standards in movies, and the absolutely bonkers musical numbers from The Addams Family: he’s much more than Hairspray.
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Spring awakening is cooked
Jun 21
2024, 09:57:34 AM
The Duncan Sheik “solo version” demo album has had only a few tracks released officially, but it’s better than the Broadway cast recording. You can find the whole thing on YouTube; it’s a favorite album of mine.
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Tony Award Viewership Decline Over the Years
Jun 18
2024, 01:05:04 PM
It strikes me that the answer to this question is increasingly becoming, "who cares about the Tonys as a media event?" Until about 2012, it used to be that if you wanted to see Broadway theatre but you weren't in NYC, there were two days a year you could do it: the Macy's Day Parade, and the Tony Awards. But this exposure drought was mostly due to the old guard media's reluctance to embrace new media, streaming and video on demand. Around that point, YouTube and social media marketing began high
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