Profile for mathewbrock

"So has it always been the case that shows can be nominated for both their Off-Broadway and Broadway productions? Cause my memory is telling me that it has not. So was there a rule change? Do they just take things on a case by case basis? Does this mean Hamilton could win this year and next year? Weird." I believe shows may be nominated for both their Off-Broadway and their Broadway productions, unless the show wins for it's Off-Broadway production. It would then be deemed ineligible to win t...

The only time I've seen the show was the Original London Cast in 1997. I seem to remember a large sheet onstage with lots of people pressing different body parts out towards the audience. Does anyone know if this is how it was staged for the London production? Or am I making that up in my head... it was a long time ago...

Whoever said "ANNIE" should really do their research... It's playing RIGHT NOW at Madison Square Garden. It comes around once every 10 years or so, the last time I can remember it being revived was 1997, I think... Coincidentally, I believe the same actor is playing Daddy Warbucks in this production. It's like "PETER PAN" - it never really goes away and definitely DOES NOT need a full-scale Broadway revival. And there are rumors circulating already about the return of "ANYTHING GOES" starring...

Is there a Winter Garden theatre in Canada? I had no idea.

Benjamin, if you do get the rights, don't expect it to be a direct translation from the movie. The stage production was vastly different from the final cinematic work. It includes songs never heard in the movie, and the movie has got songs (like "Mary Jane/Mary Lane") that were never included in the show. Be sure to listen to the LA cast recording for an idea (although the show was developed further upon it's move to New York and the rights available for purchase might be to the production la...

After the line, "...my wife!" Did the Emcee gesture to slit Sally's throat or his own? Either way, perhaps it was meant as an aside to the audience at the Kit Kat Klub that his wife would kill him (or Sally) if they were to sleep together. Whether or not the Emcee has a wife is never known, but irrelevent. It's the sort of slapstick, goofy humor that Joel Grey brought to the role of the Emcee that has been missing from recent productions of the show. I'm not commenting on whether that is good...

Why would you have the Emcee pantomime slitting her throat? What does that signify? Would it be clear to the audience? In my director's head, "I Don't Care Much" comments on the relationship of Sally and Cliff, but also is relevent for the Emcee himself. At this point in the play, the world in which the characters live is falling rapidly apart... Definitely a situation that can be relevent to the song. But that's just me.

I don't think this is the kind of Off-Broadway production that usually fosters Broadway development. With only a handful of performances over one week, it seems like a special event. Who knows, though? I don't know a lot about the production. Maybe someone who does can shed some light on the subject further.

I'm thrilled. Ana was, by far, the best Elphaba I've seen in the role. Her acting is stellar and she's got some pipes, too. Maybe not as vocally strong as Shoshana or Eden, but it doesn't matter because the audience is so connected to her acting she could squawk onstage and make it believable. Her distinctive looks only add icing to the cake. CAN'T WAIT!

Jenny Fellner is a fantastic young performer! Not only is she a friend, she's one HELL of a singer, too! Gotta love those kids from the midwest. I am only a little sad that PRINCESSES couldn't have made it to Broadway this season with Jenny in it, but am happy to know she's got another lead role under her belt. Well done! (Oh, and go see her.)

I must give a plug for GO-GO BEACH here. In college, our senior practicum was the "premiere performance" of Go-Go Beach. I think preliminary scripts had seen full productions only twice before. We workshopped it for over 4 months with the writer and composers (all of whom are amazing people). It was thrilling to have collaborated on the end result (which, I think, is the script being performed at the NYMTF); to work so closely with the creative team to flush out and give birth to a new work. ...

I recently saw this show for the first time. I must admit, I was moved by the opening number and the show in its entirety is visually stunning, but I couldn't help wondering if Julie Taymor was ever kicking herself when she started rehearsing with the script. I mean, you've got BRILLIANT puppetry and then a fart joke. I'm sure Disney wanted to keep most of the original movie script, limiting the artistic lisence of those who adapted the story for the stage. But, wow. Nonetheless, it's a wonde...

"A Change in Me" isn't on the OBC recording of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST because it was added to the show years later when (I think) Toni Braxton came in. The original 42ND STREET recording is jumbled and out of order (most likely because it had to fit neatly on an LP). Also, the "Audition" sequence is only piano, and is missing 16-32 bars from the middle of it. The revival restored it to the way it is originally scored. The recording of SIDE SHOW lost a lot of sung-through dialogue, but what I mi...

After the rehearsal process, Broadway actors work - roughly - from 7:30 pm to 11:00 pm five nights a week, and 1:30 to 5:00 three days a week. (Shows have different schedules - I'm just estimating here.) That's 3.5 hours 8 times a week. 28 hours a week. Equity minimum is around $1350 to $1400 (based on the lastest stats I could find), so that equals about $50.00 an hour. Of course there are other considerations such as rehearsals and put-ins to keep in mind, but these schedules can be very ir...

I applaud everyone on this post who, whether gay or straight, admits to having some INTEGRITY. Specifically, I mean the straight guys who say, "I'm straight and I love Broadway and I don't care what people think." I also mean the gay guys who say, "I'm gay and I get made fun of for being a theatre queen and who the hell cares?" Integrity is being true to your word and to yourself. Thank God most of the Broadway community has an ounce or two of it. Life is way too short to worry about what peo...

Maybe HOUFlip04 is talking about one of the many recordings of Miss Saigon? I've owned the Symphonic Recording for many years. I was reading the liner notes on it, and I believe it says something about how the producers of the album wanted to choose actors different or complimentary to the ones already preserved on a cast recording of Les Miz. Kaho Shimada, the Japanese Eponine, didn't know a single word of English when she recorded this album. She had to record each phrase phonetically. Whil...

Margo, I love you and agree with everything you said. In my 4 years of attending theatre in New York, I've only walked out of LESTAT. I feel completely justified in doing so and have no regrets. In college I left a production of THE GRAPES OF WRATH at intermission. Getting drunk at a college party was way more rewarding than watching that damn pickup truck crawl across the stage again in Act II.

From what I remember, the first act contains lots of songs that Big Eadie and Little Eadie sing together, and mostly reflect the time period. Remember, Act One takes place in the 1940's, long before the documentary finds the two living together in the dilapidated mansion. Sara Gettelfinger and Matt Cavanaugh have a cute duet as lovers. Act Two takes a strange turn (as do the lives of the characters) and mixes eerie tones with jovial numbers and throws a few sweet ballads into the mix, too. Ch...