Profile for Hawker

This whole OBC thing, in my opinion, is overrated. When Les Miserables first opened in 1987 I was told by theater pundits that no one would ever match Colin Wilkenson (sp.). I thought Mark McVey was far superior. Then, in 1988, the same thing was said about Michael Crawford in POTR. Personally, I preferred Davis Gaines. I could go on and on with similar examples--Spamalot, The Jersey Boys, Carousel... . The latest "now and forever" is Bob Martin. He's sensational but will he be remmebered in ...

"Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man". Not vocally challenging but it really takes a certain type to pull it off. There is no wiggle room whatsoever for the slightest mistake. It's made a lot of performers sleep with the lights on.

"Monkey on a Pedestal". The set-up for that song by MIC was brilliant. I have no idea how Sutton Foster or Bob Martin can keep from cracking up when the latter begins to sing those diabolical lyrics.

I'd love to see what Sondheim could do with the 1951 film version staring Alastair Sim Musical, play, or film, no one has brought the Dickens' classic to life better than Brian Hurst who both produced and directed it. Richard Addinsell's adaptation is as good as any other piece of fiction brought to film and Sim is the gold standard for Scrooge. Every line of dialogue is delivered spot on and in addition to Sim's timeless performance there are five or six actors and actresses in minor roles t...

Having seen the RSC's "Nicholas Nickelby", and "Les Mis" subsequently and frequently, I really don't see how, for those who have seen both, it is possible to be very excited about the latter. The final scene of "NN" packs an emotional whallop that "Les Mis" couldn't have matched even if the character playing Jean Valjean actually died at the end of every performance. Bring back the RCS's "NN" and for those who haven't seen it, or have the money to see it, pick the pocket of a Salvation Army w...

Kristina från Duvemåla ("Kristina from Duvemåla") is a Swedish musical written by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus (book and lyrics) and Benny Andersson (music), based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century: The Emigrants, Unto a Good Land, The Settlers, and The Last Letter Home. The show premiered at the Malmö Music Theatre in Malmö, Sweden on October 7th, 1995 an received a rap...

Unsolicited advice: change the logo. That figure in the red looks like one of the corpses in "Bodies, the Exhibit". I'm not kidding. To me, it suggests something grotesque. Am I alone in this or does that figure put anyone else off?

Re: You can't handle "Temper Temper" As long as you want to make a spurrious political insinuation about Americans, how about addressing the documented 600,000 civilian executions in Iraq, the murder by Saddam of 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis, and the 500,000 Iraquis killed in Husseins incredibly ill-conceived war with Iran. And how about a little gratitude? Were it not for warmongering, bloodthirsty Americans, English audiences might have had to sit through "superkalifragilistisch-expealigorisch". ...

It's always tough to have a kid carry a musical. What (not as a musical) did you think of "Il Postino"? For what it's worth, I'd like to see a musicalization of Jean de Floret/Manon of the Spring.

Re: I agree with everyone... It certainly was marketing genius insofar as it subtley suggested it was a given that it was commonly seen more thanonce.

The most recent incarnation of "Cyrano" that ran in the 90's.

"Heaven Can Wait (the 1978 version)and "Working Girl". I'd also say "Moonstruck" but they'd never be able to come close to the film.

"I hate it, too. But I guess sex sells." Notwithstanding its merchandising merits, I think it by far captured the tone of the original source material. No other POTO marketing piece even hinted at the sexual obsession "Eric" had with Christine Daee." Like it or not, it's far more aligned with what Leroux was going for in his book.

"labels are for cans." They're also for biologists, botonists, psychologists, lawyers, clerics, pilots, and artists. Lighten up. David Shapiro in his classic work discussing modes of perception explained how some individuals have a predisposition to see the view the world in an "impressionistic" way. For example, whereas one person might enter a home and say, "I don'tlike it. It gives me a creepy feeling." a second might say "I don't like it. Too much stone for me. It reminds me of a room I s...

I think the mystery guest has largely been a weakness of the show since it opened here. This is NEW YORK CITY for God's sake. How many celebrities, athletes, politicians, or other well-known figures are floating around the city 24/7 and yet we get a lawyer from N.J and when I saw it, a Wall Street trader. Somebody is being lazy, I think. One would seem at least half the time Jimmy Glick could square off against a recognizeable character.

"Blood Brothers is not really the energiser bunny you make it out to be." Thanks for the clarification. I remember thinking as I watched it that I could appreciate it's popularity abroad. The composer/librettist/lyricist (Willie...?) really hit a home run with the anthemic finale "Tell Me It's Not True."

Re: Jerry Springer never transfered. You're spot on about the standing ovation business. On Broadway, it's almost obligatory now. I was referring to shows like "Blood Brothers" which I enjoyed and which ran briefly in New York but is the energizer bunny in the U.K. As I also mentioned once, another longstanding British drama, "The Woman in Black" seems to be going on forever over there but had a short run off-Broadway here. I'm genuinely interested in the differances between audiences and tha...

"I don't know how someone who professes to love theatre could dare to be so blatantly racist, not to mention downright rude and ill-informed! >:

Re: "Good points" I sincerely hope it's a blockbuster. It will bring a lot of young new kids to the theater (and make some other tickets easier to score.) There just seems to be such a vast differance, however, between what Brits turn into legends on numerous occassions and what is received with a lesser ovationary regard that I take such stellar raves less seriously than I once did. The early press on "Jerry Springer" was so ovationary that I felt certain it would make the crossing as a mega...

"Hawky, what musicals do you like?" "Carousel", "West Side Story", "Ragtime", more recently "Jersey Boys", "Contact", "Crazy for You", "Les Miserables", "Sunday in the Park"... . I much prefer drama: "Amadaeus", Lincoln Center's 50th Anniversary production of "Our Town", "Take me Out", "Don Carlos", "Mary Stuart", "Breaking the Code"..., "GlenGary GlenRoss"..."Metamorphoses".