Profile for toetapper2

I don't get why KOTSW needs to have an all Latino cast. The original cast with the exception of Chita were not Latino.The director Hal Prince was not Latino. John Kander and Fred Ebb were not Latino. The choreographer Rob Marshall was not Latino. The only Latino cast of Spider Woman that I'm familiar with was last years' film version and we know how that ended up. Hey Encores, why not try something radical like color blind casting.

Jasmin would be batter fit for Hallelujah Baby? Also she's not latin enough so that would disqualify her from Spider Woman.

Can't wait to hear his "I Am WHO I Am" next year.

Billy Porter is responsible for possibly one of the worst Encores! productions ever. He directed, rewrote and was responsible for reorchestrating Cy Coleman's "The Life" a few seasons back. How brave and out of the box Encores is to cast Billy Porter as a drag queen in an oft revived musical.

Nail polish-dark skinned hand- J. Harrison Ghee- La Cage

Directing a musical comedy like Wonderful Town does require someone with more than a modicum of experience in tackling this particular art form. Just because you've got a drivers license doesn't mean you should be handed the keys to a formula 1 race car.

Just bring back the Encores! Bash for a two night benefit. Here's a list of performers from the November 22, 2002 Bash-Brent Barrett, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Philip Bosco, Kristin Chenoweth, Lewis Cleale, Patti Cohenour, David Costabile, Tyne Daly, Christine Ebersole, David Elder, Melissa Errico, Christopher Fitzgerald, Steven Goldstein, Debbie Gravitte, Norm Lewis, Rebecca Luker, Stanley Wayne Mathis, Howard McGillin, Idina Menzel, Donna Murphy, Bebe Neuwirth, Kerry O'Malley, Hugh Panaro, Ann R...

I wish Jesse Green would stop referring to "the usual City Center problem of under-rehearsal...."Imagine how much better "Into The Woods", "Chicago", "On The Town", "No, No Nanette", "Most Happy Fella" and "Gypsy" would have been if they'd had more rehearsal time. Pal Joey seems to have been in development for a number of years. The problem with this production is not the lack of rehearsal time. The problem is that it is misbegotten.

Rodgers and Hart contributed some of the greatest songs in The Great American Songbook. If you've heard Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and so many other great artists perform these wonderful songs you might be seriously disappointed at what you hear in this production of Pal Joey. Yes, this was a dress rehearsal and the show might not be frozen but these musical arrangements are truly awful. I don't think there's one number in this production that sou...

And when they look at the coroner's report on the death of Encores! it'll show homicide by injection of large doses of woke.

From your lips to Lear's ear.

If Billy Porter wants to tweak or f--k with the book that's fine by me but when you start messing with the music by adding a funk beat to just about every number, that's another matter. I don't go to Encores so much for the book as I do for the music. I want to hear the original arrangements. Last nights' performance was really hindered by poor sound design and the funky arrangements made everything sound alike. It was musical wallpaper. Cy Coleman deserved better.

The last Encores production before the covid shutdown was Mack & Mable which had a problematic book but a wonderful score. So after waiting for two years this is the production the new artistic team chose to kick off with. THIS?? What on earth made them choose a show with a mediocre book and an equally unremarkable score? I thought a large part of selecting the Encores productions was to rediscover and appreciate the scores from lost or forgotten musicals.Lear deBessonet, the new artistic dir...