Profile for candydog2

Awful that they didn't hold the curtain! Even for those who already managed to get IN to the auditorium before the show started, they'd still have the constant stream of arrivals throughout the first act as people finally cleared security. Distracting for audience and actors.I hope you do get your refund or tickets to another performance! On another note I do see the need for security in the current climate, but I do feel that sometimes we can be so thorough in our approach to it as a society...

Someone suggested Dame Edna earlier in this thread, which I think would actually be perfect in a different production, but not this one. An entirely separate production, perhaps a tour or a regional production would be an excellent vehicle, but I think putting a drag star like Edna in the current revival would make it less about Dolly Levi and more about Dame Edna. It's a character, in character, playing a character.A real "Broadway star/legend" like Bernadette Peters would be incredible. Not...

I too would have loved to see her in Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's eccentric characters are so perfect for strong character actors, as Lansbury has proved in Death on the Nile and The Mirror Crack'd.I'm glad I got to see her in Blithe Spirit. At her age I'm not surprised that she doesn't want to lead a show anymore though! It would be wonderful if she continues to work in some capacity but she has certainly earned her retirement.

The Broadway Cast of The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper transferred with its American cast last year. That was the last one I can think of and that was only a year ago.And also, equity keeps tabs on how many actors are working from abroad and vice versa to try and give as much opportunity to American actors as possible. That being said, if Kelly is in fact now a full-time US resident then she has every right to pursue roles in the US just as any American actor would.

All the old-fashioned theatre puritans seem to like their plays unmiked. "A real actor can project to the back of the auditorium" etc etc.I am not of this mindset at all. Unless it is a genuine artistic choice or totally unnecessary I see no reason why there should be no technological aid for the actors when it comes to having microphones. They still have to play outwards to the audience, they just don't have to strain their voices in order to do it.When I saw Blithe Spirit in London it was c...

To be honest, I never go to the stage door. For me I'm content to just watch the performance and go home. I did once witness something at a stage door that really summed it up though.It was when Angela Lansbury was doing Blithe Spirit in London. It had been made abundantly clear that she DID NOT SIGN ANYTHING at the stage door. She has always been one of my favourite actresses and it was lovely to see her on stage, but afterwards I just started heading home. I stopped at a store just behind t...

You're right, awards don't make a show stay open, money does. The thing is though, the awards influence the money. People listen to the critics and the awards. We've all seen it happen. We've all seen the closing notices that get posted within days after the Tony Award nominations/ceremony.Same with reviews. I used to work for an off-broadway theatre. During previews, the house would be half full. Then the New York Times review would come out. If the review was good, the theatre would go from...

For me the most surprising thing about this thread is that Shrek3 doubt's Midler's comic timing. Or at least in comparison to Lupone's. I mean yes, both women can be very funny, but Bette Midler's skills as a comic actress are legendary! If anything this could be the funniest Dolly there has ever been!

If she's the star name responsible for pretty much every ticket sold then I'd be very surprised if she wasn't doing eight shows a week. Even if she takes vacations they're going to have to get someone pretty big to fill in for a few weeks like they did with Julie Andrews in Victor Victoria.As for discussing how much she's making: it may be none of my business, but to be honest, when big stars like this do Broadway shows I'm always curious!

American casts come to London pretty frequently actually. The whole cast of The Elephant Man came over for example, and the two leading men of Book of Mormon in London have always been played by actors from various US casts. I actually find it highly surprising that Steven Boyer and Geneva Carr are not being brought to London to do Hand To God.Equity been the UK and the US usually works on an "exchange" basis, meaning that they try to keep the numbers of actors working from each country as eq...

I know a lot of performers spit because they're enunciating and projecting, but the one show I remember where it was particularly noticeable was Newsies. Some of the guys in that spent half the show dancing in pools of there own saliva.

I guess it does seem unprofessional, but as long as it isn't noticeable does it really matter?As long as the performance is good, I'm not too concerned about how they got there.

Every now and then male swings fill in for female ensemble members if there aren't enough female swings and vice versa. It's not uncommon. Sometimes the ensemble member's "track" has to be split between more than one swing though in order for it to work.

Actually more than just the three leads transferred with The Elephant Man. Most of, if not all, of the ensemble went to London as well.

I'm stunned that they're not bringing Steven Boyer with the show. I assumed that the whole cast would go with it since all the news articles I've read said that the show was "closing on Broadway and immediately transferring to London". Makes it sound like they're taking the whole show, cast included, to the West End.

The high notes at the end of "No One Mourns the Wicked" and "Thank Goodness" are optional as far as I'm aware, and it would be silly not to cast an actress who plays the role perfectly in every other way just because she cannot hit a ridiculously high note that isn't particularly important to the overall show eight times each week.

"And I can't stand smelling food when I am trying to watch a show!" You can smell ice cream? But I do appreciate that if theatres did start selling ice cream in the US, they probably wouldn't be the small, discreet tubs that are sold in the UK. They would, unfortunately, probably be "supersized" into enormous chocolate fudge sundaes that would not be as appropriate.

I really don't understand the American reaction of disgust to ice cream being sold in theatres. I've worked in theatres in both New York and London and can assure you that the cleaning process is much easier in London! The ice creams sold here are small, served in tubs and eaten with a small plastic spoon, not a big dripping cone. It's very rare that you come across an ice cream spillage. Added to that the fact that ice cream can be eaten from a tub almost silently is what makes it a perfect ...

"On my trip across the pond I found the West End a bit more pedestrian friendly than BW, or maybe because generally speaking the streets are narrower." Possibly, but my observation on crossing the street in New York compared to London is that a New York cab driver will beep his horn at you but hit the brakes, a London cab driver will beep his horn at you and hit the accelerator.

The most noticeable difference to me tends to be that there does seem to be a lot more room for "less commercial" productions in the West End. A Broadway run of a play that was unknown and had no names attached would be very rare in New York, whereas in London it is quite common. Food in the theatre in London is a bit of a difference. You generally aren't allowed to bring in any hot food at all and theatres provide a more limited choice of snacks. People eat in the theatres, but generally onl...