Profile for Fred Casely

James Earl Jones in MASTER HAROLDMark Rylance in JERUSALEMIan MacKellan as RICHARD IIIDerek Jacobi in anything

Add me to a ditto about the original King & I. I recently bought the CDs of the original 50s GUYS & DOLLS and DAMN YANKEES. Aside from some of the vocals of the stars (OK -- just Gwen), the productions seem to lack the energy and liveliness of the recordings of subsequent revivals.

Re: The Mayfair. In December 2010, my husbear and I had a quick drink in the Tex-Mex restaurant that had been the Mayfair. You could see it had once been a theater. I asked the bartender if he knew anything about the history of the place and he said it had been a p*rno theater at one time. The place had great nostalgic value for me as my husbear died just a month later.

In Washington DC a few years ago there was a production of Macbeth where everyone was completely naked from beginning to end of the play. After the initial shock, it seemed to make sense.

In 1988 Cain Park in Cleveland (where she is originally from) did a production of FOLLIES and June played Stella Deems ("Who's That Woman?"). Met up with her a year or two ago in NYC and it turns out we have a few mutual friends. Lovely woman.

Saw the original and was surprised that Lucie Arnaz never became a bigger star. It seemed for a time that she was unstoppable between this show, doing the movie Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond (ok, not anyone's shining moment) and she was in a TV movie at the time that was pretty good, too. Also saw a touring company in the mid-80s with Richard Ryder and June Gable and thought they were as good as the originals.

Not just the nicest person in theater but anywhere, really. I can vouch for that story of the pricey poster; I was right there when it all happened.

I felt a little sad when "Molly" (sorry, don't remember her real name) said she didn't play with stuffed animals anymore.

I basically like Sondheim, but not Into The Woods or Company. My favorite of his scores are Follies, Merrily and Pacific Overtures. Kander & Ebb define the musical theater of the 20th Century.

I saw a production in Cleveland in the early 70s where Dolly was black and almost everyone else was white (maybe 2 black waiters). It totally worked! As for the Gallagher question -- we're talking 3 or 4 mentions that that had been Dolly's maiden name. That was NOT what was wrong with the movie. Bette as Dolly -- I'll be on that ticket line the first day!

To go way back I'd like to see the Ziegfeld Follies with Fanny Brice and Eddie Cantor. More recently, the Gypsy run-through of West Side Story. Also, My Fair Lady and Follies would top the list. Most lately, the Original Merrily We Roll Along.

I was there yesterday. It was my first time seeing any production of this show and I had no idea it was Andy and Betsy's last performance. Will was telling everyone before the show to "vote for Victor -- he's one of the twins" and Andy Karl was definitely thrilled to be Datcherly. Betsy was mugging like hell to be selected as murderer, too. I feel like I've got to get back to see it again! BTW -- I got 4th row center at the TKTS booth at noon yesterday.

When I was in High School I saw the first touring company of Grease with Jeff Conaway (Danny), Judy Kaye (Rizzo), Marilu Henner (Marty), John Travolta (Doody), along with Jerry Zaks and Michael Lembeck. Did not think Travolta stood out. Around that time, I saw a tent theatre production of No, No, Nanette starring Ruby Keeler. In support, as Tom, David-James (later David) Carroll. Also, when I saw Bette Midler in concert, her pianist was Barry Manilow. In the mid-70s I went to see a friend of ...

I saw a community theater production. What I felt was that the score (pretty ragtime and waltzes) did not match the intense tone of the story. The original play is great, but they chopped out some thematic elements to put in musical numbers.

On the other hand, there are shows that got rave reviews and closed fairly quickly. Side Show comes to mind...

In the summer of 1980, I was in line at the bar during intermission at Bob Fosse's Dancin'. As I got up to the bar, the bartender looked right past me to serve Howard Hesseman, who was right behind me. Hesseman told the bartender to serve me first as I was ahead of him and he even paid for my drink. This was at the height of his WKRP in Cincinnat fame. I am his fan for life.

Stephanie J. Block as Aldonza Dulcinea in MAN OF LA MANCHA Mark Rylance

I have heard that any "Ah, Paree" performer is best described as "one of those people who are long on enthusiasm but short on talent". I have seen three performances of Follies, and none of the "Ah, Paris" ladies has been at all memorable. Regine completely is overshadowed but displayed no enthusiasm for the song at all. Even her hand gestures reeked of "the director told me to put my hand here, so I am".

I'm on my way out the door to see the production. If you see a good looking older gentleman in a blue sports coat and large white moustache, that's me. Say hello.

I am going this Sunday night. Row H center. I have had tickets since they went on sale.