Profile for jdrye222

I guess I’m the only one who was somewhat baffled by Leslie Odom Jr’s performance, but even more, the play itself …. Which - in the end - results in what I thought we were not doing anymore - “white savior” …. The young son of the plantation owner becomes the open hearted hero, and in the scene where this is revealed, one of the black characters literally takes the roll of $500 and puts it in her cleavage. Weren’t we told that this type of story ending is “harmful”?? I am genuinely not trying...

I think another point needs to be addressed in regards to the 50.1% requirement …. NEWSIES qualified in a season where ONCE did not, and it makes sense in the narrow view of that requirement. But - the portion of the score upon which people vote is not required to be ONLY the new (indeed, I don’t believe voters are given that breakdown whatsoever) …. It is entirely likely that NEWSIES won Best Score based mostly upon its OLD material, not its new. If they are going to require this threshold, ...

I know I’m in a (significant) minority, but my only issue with this show was, in fact, Clark. So I’d love to see someone else. My pick would be Julia Murney. Alternatively, Beth Malone

A major problem is that the academy changed the way they vote this year in a way that requires voters to essentially forfeit the total number of categories they vote in if they choose a smaller “field” like Musical Theater (which is its own field with only one category). — Voters all vote in the 4 major categories, and then must choose 3 fields in which they can vote in “up to” 10 categories — but many fields have 1 or 2 categories only. So if you choose those fields and use your 3 fields in ...

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "SouthernCakes said: "I feel like with Stroman attached it must be a pretty good name or at least strong material."Susan Stroman is hardly a bellwether for success. She's never directed a nonmusical play on Broadway, hasn't directed a hit sinceThe Producers, and the general consensus ofBulletsandBig Fishwas that she had lost her touch. But if this goes over well, it could open up new opportunities for her.I hope they have much much bigger names than Lucy Liu sign...

This is actually wildly impractical, but worse, it really does such a disservice to the Public Theater overall …. I get it that people are scared (though I really have been astonished by the fear-based nonsense in the media having such sway …. Especially since by now we need to accept that this virus is part of life now, and the fact that this “variant” seems to be mild). But this is total overreach, and I predict that in the next few days, they will either close the Public Theater for weeks ...

KJisgroovy said: "A lot of folks are pointing out the disconnect between Clark's singing voice and her characterization but that felt like a very deliberate choice given the nature of the character. I realize that just because something is intentional doesn't mean it's successful... but what some are pointing out as a flaw felt like a really effective way to express the difference between the character's inner life and her outer presentation."I get what you’re saying, but it is not deliberate...

The show is somewhat fine… Saw it yesterday. The score is so-so, definitely Tesori’s worst (but that’s not bad, as said above). The directing is horrendous. But the cast is talented enough to overcome that.I truly do not understand why anyone thought this was a role for Victoria Clark. From the moment she walked onstage, it was a caricature and it never felt honest at all. The worst is when she sings… her singing voice has absolutely nothing to do with her speaking voice (and especially the w...

I was also at the final show., nealb1 …. I don’t know why but I cannot remember who was Peggy at closing - it couldn’t have still been Nadine Isenegger…?? I saw it at least 15 times because I kept bringing people over the years when they visited (and a good friend of mine understudied Oscar)… Nadine was by far the best Peggy. (Not the best singer but she acted so beautifully while dancing, not just mechanical steps …. And she also was the only one who made the erotic tension with Julian belie...

I’ve always thought 42nd Street would be perfect in one of the NBC live things. It could so easily be done in one of those sound stages and it could provide camera angles etc you can’t quite get filming it onstage. I enjoy that this recording of London does exist…. I just wish they’d been able to do something of the sort with the original cast of the Broadway revival. (I found MOST of this London cast to be completely unbearable … the Maggie especially). I will always be a huge fan of this sh...

The documents they put out are seriously laughable as far as achieving any sense of equitable solutions to problems. It is combative in the least productive way, and while there are certainly any number of things that need to be improved in this regard, very few of them are achieved with the militant and often frequently illegal “demands” described by this nameless group.

So I finally watched the rest of the episodes. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about these .... They are done so well, and the performers seem so genuine. They aren’t “full” lyrics and lyricist programs, they are each under an hour, but they feel complete and satisfying. Especially the Jule Styne and the Movie one. They are still available, I really loved them. I’d say if you can only afford one or two, the Rodgers, Styne, and Films are the ones to choose from. (The only one I didn...

I have to say I went to see this show on a Saturday night, last minute because I'd been to the matinee of THE VISIT and it made me want to never see theater ever again if I didn't see something just fun immediately. (I need to qualify this by saying - I saw The Visit in Arlington several years before, in its full version directed by Galati, and thought it was exquisite and breathtaking..... The Broadway version was a skeleton, ruined by a director imposing his own ego and poor taste onto a pi...

Also, I won’t describe it but the opening and the ending with Floyd Collins material is great and I liked how they brought it into the current moment.

It’s pretty even, though less Mary Rodgers - I presume because she didn’t write much and what she did is quite inferior (as she always said herself, that’s not me being snarky). It definitely is laid out such that she is the conduit though, I never felt like she disappeared in the course of it. They’ve done a great job with making these make sense in the format, it seems very well thought out. It’s funny you have that sense about Guettel ... I’ve read a lot about all three and I find Mary to ...

It’s the only time I’ve actually liked that song. Of course she was “in character” - it is a spoofy comedy song. I always enjoy seeing her do something a little different. Her “Something Good” was so beautiful and simple I thought.

I just watched that one tonight and found it to be quite beautiful... One great performance after another, and then the ending is sort of brilliant.

The Gershwin one was phenomenal and quite informative even as someone who thought they knew a lot about him. It definitely is a small slice due to the length of the format but what they packed into just an hour was pretty amazing. And there is a section on Porgy and Bess that is quite special and is exactly what that kind of program needs to be right now.

Aside from the George Gershwin, it isn’t broken down just that way ... Jones/Schmidt is the team. Both Rodgers and Guettel wrote/write lyrics (will be curious if they have the songs Rodgers did lyrics for after Hammerstein’s death). The title is jule Styne and his many lyricists ... seems like there are lots of ways to still focus on lyricists in the contexts they list ... What I liked about the Gershwin was it focused on his philosophy of art and music and it’s relationship to a moment...

I really enjoyed the George Gershwin Lyrics and Lyricists program from 92Y last week - it made me just buy a subscription for the whole series. I was surprised by the quality of the filming and the actors were all quite wonderful, and the script etc I found to be really interesting - a lot of things I didn't know before and I'm a Gershwin junkie. (I also have a friend who is in a couple of the later ones and said they rehearsed only that same day and each recorded separately, but they fooled ...