06-07 Musical Season- Page 2

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 3:49am

The difference between the A Chorus Line revival and the Les Miserables revival is that there is a whole generation that has not been able to see a first-rate mounting of A Chorus Line with the original Michael Bennett staging (considered one of the best if not the best staging of a Broadway show) with the appropriate casting. I work at the drama & dance department of a university and although I know Baayork Lee has supervised countless of national and international productions, a great amount of our students are incredibly excited about the revival because they've never been able to experience A Chorus Line the way they believe they should, which is what this new Broadway production is going to do for them and other people like them. The show has been gone for about 16 years, so audiences who saw the original production are going to be nostalgic for it, and knowing it is going to be just like it was, they'd definitely be heading over to see it.
Les Miserables' original staging was obviously based on the idea of an epic spectacle. It wasn't anything groundbreaking and did not revolutionize Broadway in any way. Also, the show has been closed for 2 or 3 years of which it has been touring with the same exact creative team behind it. At this point anyone who wants to see it has seen it.
That is the major difference between reviving A Chorus Line by recreating Bennett's staging and bringing back Les Miserables after a mere couple of years.
Updated On: 7/28/06 at 03:49 AM

[bdwybug55]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 11:46am

Even though there isn't really a whole lot up my alley for next season, I am so excited that there is such a variety. The show I am really looking forward to is Audra in "110 in the Shade". Here comes another Tony Award. Although...it is shaping up to possibly be a very tricky Leading Lady category.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 12:17pm

I don't know. I think Les Miz has done a lot more for Broadway than people give it credit for. I understand "A Chorus Line" is groundbreaking and very creative, but Les Miz was one of the first of it's kind. I'm not trying to bash either show because I like them both, but both revivals seem sort of pointless to me. They both seem like huge ploys to rake in money off of a familiar brand. I don't think either are any artistic achievement.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 12:28pm

I don't think either are any artistic achievement.

I don't think either is an artistic achievement.

And while you're at it, pull the stick out of your 14 year old miserable *** and go take a lesson or two on spelling, grammar and anger management. Jesus.

Updated On: 7/28/06 at 12:28 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 12:33pm

Foster, the adults are having a discussion. Do you know what a discussion is? Okay, great. Jeez, I didn't realize this was GrammarWorld.com. I can't stand when ppl get onto other ppl about their spelling, that's so stupid. Wow, did you learn about noun and verb agreement in school today?

I don't understand why you felt you needed to correct my grammar, but thanks. Do you have anything intelligent to add to the discussion at hand or is that pretty much it? Updated On: 7/28/06 at 12:33 PM

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 1:28pm

I bet that RentBoy updated his last post because he spelled something wrong. He has to make himself look smart after being insulted about his grammar, don't you know?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 9:06pm

Actually I didn't. And I bet you like Brooklyn. So who just got punk'd?

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 9:54pm

Actually, no. I do not like Brooklyn.

Also, I think that you all might get a kick out of the PM that RentBoy sent me:

"way to suck at life. I never did anything to you. so leave me alone "

Exact quote, that's all it said. Heck, I didn't even PM him first.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 10:05pm

Just to clarify about "Cry Baby". It will premeire at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre February 13 - March 4, 2007.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 10:41pm

Play nice, girls.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 11:07pm

That's true. I sent it.

I think Cry Baby will probably play the same as "Sister Act: The Musical" because I think it plays its out of town around the same time. I think they're both aiming for fall 07. So does that mean Christopher J. Hanke is no longer attached to Cry Baby?

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 7/28/06 at 11:43pm

Les Miserables' original staging was obviously based on the idea of an epic spectacle. It wasn't anything groundbreaking and did not revolutionize Broadway in any way.

Wow, I really hope you are joking.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:04am

Well, Broadway had seen several large scale epic musicals prior to Les Miz -- many much much larger than Les Miz in terms of cast and scale (it wasn't unusual for shows back in the 30s through the 50s to have casts with 50 to 60 performers -- Les Miz had 30 or so). It was a great show and well-executed, but nothing that Broadway hadn't seen before in one form or another.

On the other hand, Broadway had never seen a show that looked like, was structured like, had content like or sounded like A Chorus Line before and in that sense was totally groundbreaking in ways few shows have ever been.

Updated On: 7/29/06 at 12:04 AM

[ChrisLK]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:39am

This season seems to have all the hallmarks of a good season: A stellar star turn (Christine Ebersole), showings from newer writers (Legally Blonde, Grey Gardens), and more established writers (Pirate Queen, Curtains, albeit posthumously), and some potentially stellar revivals (Chorus Line, Company).

I think if even half of this seasons musicals deliver on their promise, then this will be a stellar season.

And it's a very diverse line up, so there's something for almost everyone. There's Mary Poppins for the family tourism crowd, Company for the Sondheads; Legally Blond could appeal to some of Wicked's leigon of fans, as Pirate Queen almost certainly will.

So all in all, I'm really excited about this season, and I'm pretty sure my iTunes account will be extremely busy over the next year. And, oh, yeah...

AUDRA McDONALD!

[AshleyBrownFan123]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 8:20pm

"This season seems to have all the hallmarks of a good season: A stellar star turn (Christine Ebersole), showings from newer writers (Legally Blonde, Grey Gardens), and more established writers (Pirate Queen, Curtains, albeit posthumously), and some potentially stellar revivals (Chorus Line, Company).

I think if even half of this seasons musicals deliver on their promise, then this will be a stellar season.

And it's a very diverse line up, so there's something for almost everyone. There's Mary Poppins for the family tourism crowd, Company for the Sondheads; Legally Blond could appeal to some of Wicked's leigon of fans, as Pirate Queen almost certainly will.

So all in all, I'm really excited about this season, and I'm pretty sure my iTunes account will be extremely busy over the next year. And, oh, yeah...

AUDRA McDONALD! "

Amen!

[coolphantom919]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:03pm

I can't wait for Les Miserables!!!!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:57am

Jeez, I can't imagine how many more cast recordings I'm going to own by this time next year! I can't wait!

[coolphantom919]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 2:24pm

On some FanFictions i've heard info about a joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat on broadway! who knows if it's this year or next year!

[way_to_spend_the_day]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:01pm

Okay, so I'm a little late in this argument, but to be fair, Les Miz and A Chorus Line, when being reviewed for best revival, should be judged on the shows themselves, not on how long they were off broadway. A Chorus Line may be introduced to a new generation, but if that is the main reason for bringing the show back, then possibly they should have updated the time period and costumes, at least...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:19pm

But ACL is as much of a period piece as Les Miz is. It's firmly set in 1975 and its costumes and dialogue reflect that time. You should no more update ACL than revive Les Miz with characters wearing bell bottoms and chinos -- it just wouldn't work.

[way_to_spend_the_day]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 4:29pm

I can see where you are coming from. I don't think that it would take that much altering to update ACL, just a few references here and there, but I do know that many people feel that it wouldn't be a show without the '70s time period. I guess I've just gotten used to the idea that revivals should be somewhat different, as they ARE generally meant to introduce new generations to the show. Les miz could never change time periods because the show revolves around the historical aspect. I don't feel that ACL would lose much by changing time periods, I actually think it would last longer on Broadway if set nowadays.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/2/06 at 5:03pm

The original creative team (Michael Bennett et al) tried to update it a few different times in 70s and early 80s and it just didn't work. The different references wound up being more distracting than anything else and when they altered some of the iconic names that the dancers mentioned (Troy Donahue, Robert Goulet, Steve McQueen, etc...) and replaced them with others more recent, it seemed jarring and out of place (and many names simply didn't have the same sort of resonance as the original ones). It's also nightmarish trying to almost daily have to update the birthdays (and other references like The Year of the Chicken) of all those characters on the line (remember they all give their precise date of births and matching ages).

And what of Paul's monologue? That story reflects childhood experiences of a young gay man who came of age in the New York and Times Square of the 1950s and 60s -- if it was set in 2006 would mean that Paul came of age in the 1980s and 90s and most of those places he describes didn't even exist anymore (I believe the Jewel Box Revue disappeared over 25 years ago).

Also certain attitudes and opinions the characters have (and the fact that the whole show resembles the sort of 70s group encounter therapy sessions that don't really exist in this form anymore) are VERY 1975, so updating just doesn't work, which is why Bennett gave up trying and set the show in 1975 forever.

While the show -- like all great works -- is timeless and universal, the specifics of it are very much of its time (how many 20-something dancers today have even heard of "The Red Shoes"? Other than maybe that it's a reference in ACL?) and were a group of dancers, writers and a director to try and create their own ACL today, they would come up with a very different show.

Updated On: 8/2/06 at 05:03 PM

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 7:21pm

Is "A Tale of Two Cities" still slated to be opening next year? Are the December previews still happening?

[jv92]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 7:46pm

To AshelyBrownFan-

There is no way in hell that your namesake will win a Tony. Sorry. Maybe next time. We all know Christine Ebersole will win. I haven't even seen her perform in Grey Gardesns and I know she'll win.
Your predictions seem highly implauseable (sp), no offense.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/6/06 at 7:48pm

It looks like about 6/7 have piqued our interests enough to say
on seeing them

I would say that give K & E record on Broadway vs the Sherman Brothers, that K/E has the edge re best score if it came down to these 2

Updated On: 8/6/06 at 07:48 PM