Profile for Nicticorax

muscle23ftl said: "Patti Lupone is absolutely delusional and thinks the world owes her a favor. If any of you reading this would get a million dollars to leave a job, you'd be thrilled, but she is always out of touch and lives her privileged life and feels entitled. Glenn is just trying to be polite and sensitive to everyone. ALW made the right decision as Riedel says."Whether ALW made the right choice is irrelevant. He broke a contract and completely pulled the rug out from under Patti. He c...

Jay Lerner-Z said: "Not a great blurb. We can see already that he is totally on Patti’s side. He calls her “warm”. Also not sure how Marilyn Monroe fits in. Whatever, I’d still read it."Agreed the blurb is a bit odd. But, at least from a legal standpoint, Patti's side seems like the correct one. Especially given ALW's repeated incidents of similar behavior, such as with Cinderella/Bad Cinderella closing on the West End.

I wonder if Redmayne will be hurt by how iconic Joel Grey's Emcee was and how paradigm-shifting Alan Cumming's was. I know Redmayne's performance is very buzzy right now, but I have trouble imagining that he will have the long-lasting icon status of his predecessors. When I hear "Emcee" I think of Grey's ventriloquist-dummy makeup or Cumming's suspenders. It's too early to say, but I don't see Redmayne and his party hat reaching that level and spawning a thousand look-alike productions.

I've seen several people on Reddit and other similar forums saying that the 3 leads in Merrily have agreed to stay for up to a year if it continues extending. Is this a complete rumor or are there credible sources saying this? I also vaguely remember reading some article that mentioned it, but I could be completely imagining that. Would love any sources if there are any!

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Yes, although the play takes place in a time when being gay and gender-non-conforming were typically conflated, and “non-binary” wasn’t really in our lexicon yet. Casting Molina with a GNC/non-binary actor wouldn’t necessarily be more authentic, as Molina wouldn’t think of himself that way."I'd like to push back on the idea that Molina doesn't think of himself that way. In the musical, I agree that he doesn't: he's written as a gay man. I also think your readin...

Understood, but is it a done deal that this workshop is coming to Broadway, or just that it would come with this cast if it did?

I don't really have an issue with those casting rumors, except that they're disappointingly conventional. I'm with the couple people who mentioned they'd like to see Mason Alexander Park as Molina (although they're too young). The novel makes it fairly clear that Molina is not cisgender (although how they'd identify today is ambiguous), which is a topic that both the film and musical weren't really able/willing to address. But I think the musical could support that reading ("She's A Woman" is...

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but Fall and Spring would still have them competing for the same season in terms of Tony awards? The cutoff this year was late April. (EDIT: I realize June is the end of Spring, but I just find it unlikely Cabaret would open so early in the season, as shows that open right after the Tony awards risk being forgotten about for the next season)I do think it will need more than one name to be financially successful, although I'm not sure I agree Aurora only appears "occas...

Very good points! I suppose we'll have to wait and see.My main fear for this production is that it's going to try to open the same season as the Cabaret transfer, and just be absolutely forgotten in the wake of all the star-power and name recognition of Cabaret. As I said in another thread, Cabaret is perhaps my favorite musical, but I worry it will absolutely eclipse Spider Woman (which, I would argue, is a more ambitious show in certain ways).

Yeah, that makes sense. My impression is that the vast majority of critics had objections towards Bandstand's book, and I don't think even the best director could have made it a good show. Now, if there was a case where he took proven good material and ruined it, that would be different.

I'm genuinely confused about the intense skepticism towards Blankenbuehler. Is the issue just that he's primarily a choreographer so people are questioning his directing ability, or did he direct something awful that I'm unaware of? For me, Spider Woman is such a dance-heavy show that it makes sense to have a director/choreographer. Obviously I'd like it to be well directed, but I also feel like the book is strong enough that it will shine through with a good cast.

Slightly off-topic, but I really hope the rumored Spider Woman revival is still a ways off and doesn't try to compete with this. Cabaret is possibly my favorite musical of all time, but it feels like hardly a month goes by without some major regional production being announced. While I wouldn't say it's 'over exposed', since its message is so important, it certainly has been in the spotlight. I'd love to see other equally potent Kander and Ebb shows, like Spider Woman, get their chance.

Sutton Ross said: "How thrilling to finally have an Audrey that is woman of color. She is gorgeous and sounds beautiful!" I 100% agree it's great to finally have a black Audrey! However, Lena Hall is a WOC (her father is Filipino). Not to take anything away from Joy, I just think it's important not to erase someone's background just because they're light skinned.

I do think people are jumping to conclusions here. The location change could just as easily be a mistake or miscommunication rather than an actual change. It’s one job listing for one workshop.Also, frankly, even if it was intentional, it wouldn’t change a word of the show. There is no indication of what country the musical takes place in, aside from the fact that it’s a Spanish-speaking one. The only way the audience would know the exact setting is if they wrote it in the playbill, which mos...

Yeah, that seems to be a typo. The book and straight play both explicitly take place in Argentina. The musical is ambiguous, but since it is based on the book I assume that’s also where it takes place. The movie changed the location to Brazil, but that’s a change just made for the film.

As well as Ariana DeBose, I've also heard some people tossing around MJ Rodriguez as an option. Entirely unsubstantiated, as far as I know, but I've seen two people mention they've heard rumors MJ might be involved. The fact that this is being directed by Blankenbuehler makes me think Audra is out--I heard the workshop with Audra was interested in making it much less of a dance show, and I can't imagine that Blankenbuehler will tone down the choreo like that.

No guns in JC's time. Sound is amped up and watch out for those 39 lashes! If you are a sensitive soul stay home. I mean, this is a pretty reasonable question considering I've seen multiple productions of JCS with guns (although no gunshots). It's pretty common to modernize the setting. But yeah, no guns in this production. The lashes are bloody and it goes on for a while. Judas hangs himself--it's done very symbolically and isn't graphic, but the implications could be disturbing to some.

Yeah, not arguing with anything you said! I’m not going to judge her without seeing her in the role, and she certainly has the voice to pull it off. I hope she pulls it off well! There’s also no knowing what take on the show/character they’re going for. The Regent’s Park production with Sam Pauly leaned into a much younger-feeling Eva and I thought that worked really well. I was mostly just saying why I thought people were perceiving Zegler as too young for the part—I don’t necessarily think ...

I think Rachel maybe feels young because the actors who’ve played her before tend to be older (with many being older than 33, even). However, for the vast majority of the show, she’s between 15 and 26. Still, I think the second act does require a certain gravitas and maturity that tends to come with age.

Apologies if anyone pointed this out earlier in the thread, but it seems that Rachel Zegler has changed her Twitter bio to "Welcome to the gutter theatrical", which is a clear Evita reference.