A CHORUS LINE Questions- Page 2

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 12:40pm

Uh-oh, now PJ's gonna have to declare YOU a liar, too.

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[shpants]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:10pm

I have a lot of trouble believing that Lopez left the show to go talk on his cell and missed his cue to come back.

Sorry!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:16pm

shpants-
I wouldn't be surprised if he did. The night I saw him there were no problems with him being late, but he did go to and from the lobby several times during the "Down" time, and paced the other parts.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 1:22pm

I think PalJoey owes Fosse76 an apology.

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[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:36pm

Foss and Husk speak the truth, sorry to break it to some of you. Lopez used to go outside and stand on the sidewalk and wave at passers-by. If you happened to be on 45th Street at the right time, you would see him out front, on TWO cell phones, trying to draw attention to himself.. until someone would recognize him and ask for an autograph or pic, which he would refuse on the grounds that he was "doing a show".. or stage management would walk outside, see him, and shoo him back in.

He also used to text message from the Zach table.. he would actually get up and stand in the middle of the aisle and flex his bicep if he saw a woman getting up to use the restroom..

The killer though.. and I couldn't believe it when I saw it.. was when he brought his girlfriend / play thing (whichever) to the show. She didn't sit in a ticketed seat, no. Her seat was literally on his lap whenhe doing dialogue.. or they'd sit on the mezzanine stairs during his quiet moments and speak.

Yes, there were a few times where Zach would miss a cue and the cast would be fudging it until Mario would come running back into the theatre, throwing open the lobby door and casting a wall of light across the theatre, drawing further attention to himself.

If I remember correctly, the infamous day that he left Bryan Knowlton crying onstage for a while, he was so late that stage management were looking for him and when he ran in, he didn't bother walking over to the aisle zach is supposed to walk up. he ran up the first aisle he came to and jumped onto the stage.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:37pm

"Every word of Fosse76's post is a lie."

Nope. I was there. I watched him read from the script...which he relied on less later in the run, but was still with him in the back through closing night. And I was there when Bryan just stood there sobbing after his monologue while Lopez was nowhere in sight. Lopez NEVER stayed in that chair when he was not in a scene...he frequently went into the theater's outer lobby or in the lower lobby. At least in the beginning, he frequently missed his cues.

I'm not quite sure why you defend him. I remember a post I made when he took over and mentioned all the changes he demanded...which you dismissed as lies...which were published by Reidel himself only days later.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:39pm

Fosse,

I recounted a few other tales in the post directly above you.

You musthave been typing just as I hit 'post'.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:48pm

That Mario sounds like a real "prize". I'm glad I saw it before he went into the show.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:56pm

I also saw Mario leave the back of the house and disappear into the lobby, only to come back with his cell phone in hand. He was reading from the script, and during periods of the show when we didn't have any lines, he and Nick Adams would do crunches in the back of the house, in full view of standing room and anyone who went to the restroom. A real pro.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 2:58pm

Can you guys imagine:
1) Michael Bennett ever hiring a pop celebrity?
2) Michael Bennett ever allowing that kind of behavior?

Did John Breglio only care about the dollars? Did he even care that Michael Bennett would never have allowed these things to happen?

[morosco]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:03pm

Speaking of Nick Adams...is this really his website? When the page loaded I thought that I was at Sean Cody's website.
http://www.nickadams.biz/

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:04pm

To hear that Nick Adams was doing crunches in the back is even more disappointing. I really wouldn't expect that kind of behavior from a Broadway professional.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:10pm

In Nick's defense, Mario liked everyone in the show to at least try out, if not follow, his fitness routine and most of thecast just went along, as in this case, to just not rock the boat.. because he was, and is, a fit-pitching 'diva'.


Bennett would never have allowed it.
Breglio DID just want the bucks.
Lee is not good at maintaining the show.
Nuff said.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:15pm

If Michael Bennett were alive today he'd have to concede to the times, at least to some degree. It's a different world. He would have had to adapt. I'm not saying that means he would have hired Mario Lopez, but it's not like the world would have evolved differently if Bennett hadn't died.

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[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:18pm

I don't think, and I think Bennett might see it this way, that the issue is Mario's status. After all, it's the logical role to star cast. I think the issue lies in the way that the show was altered when Mario was in it, especially the making him the focus of the One finale, and his behavior in the house. bennett would never have allowed that.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:21pm

Yeah, I see your point.

But it's all moot, because everything said about Mario is a lie, right?


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[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:25pm

If they were lies, I'd be relieved. LOL.

Sadly, I played witness to it.

One of my favorite places to see A Chorus Line at the Schoenfeld was the front boxes.. you were almost literally on the line, and you were able to watch Zach as well. It wasn't a great thing to turn to see when Lopez was there.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:25pm

Breglio comes off as being so passionate about protecting Michael Bennett's works but I think he let Bennett down on this one. Because of this I've lost any enthusiasm for a good DREAMGIRLS revival.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:27pm

If Michael Bennett were alive today he'd have to concede to the times, at least to some degree. It's a different world. He would have had to adapt. I'm not saying that means he would have hired Mario Lopez, but it's not like the world would have evolved differently if Bennett hadn't died.

That brings up an interesting point. I wonder how musicals would have evolved if Bennett were still alive today?

[nealb1]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:27pm

The tour of "Dreamgirls" is coming here to The Ahmanson Theatre in LA. Really looking forward to it as I've never seen it on stage before.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 3:46pm

Just to verify: every word Fosse, husk, and broadwayguy2 posted in this thread thus far have been accurate. I saw all of those behaviors and more. I have no idea why they let him get away with it time and time again.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 4:18pm

I made a definate point of seeing the show several times during Lopez's vacation so that I could see Grant Turner (an amazing Zach) and get as much Lopez as I could out of my mind.

[broadwayrob]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 4:58pm

I will echo the sentiment that I am really happy I saw Michael Berresse his final weekend. I saw Mario on closing night.... just awful.. I mean some of these behaviors MIGHT be something that we could somewhat look over if the talent was there to back it up. His dancing was sloppy and all over the place..his acting was ok.. but seemed forced so much of the time.

I hope that the man never returns to Broadway...ever.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 5/13/09 at 11:42pm

I can also vouch for everyone who said that Lopez would abandon his post during the show to go use his cell phone/walk around/whatever. Even if I happened to pass by during a show he would be sitting in the lobby.


He was particularly awful at the final performance, and was in such a rush to get offstage that he ran into a wall.

[bordeaux]

Posted: 5/14/09 at 10:20am

I have to admit, I'm biased in favor of this show. I've seen more productions of this show than I would ever admit. I could probably put Bob Avian's nieces and nephews, if he has them, through college. I was present on the final night of the original AND the recent revival and Mario was a disappointment. He doesn't sing in the finale and during the finale the staging is altered so that in the final kick line he ends up at center stage.

Saw "Every Little Step" last weekend and it was awesome, but I wondered why they had notning about the casting of the role of Diana. Huge role in this show, but not a mention. Rachelle Rak, who got cut at the end for the part of Sheila, was really living the story of Sheila. As for Charlotte, love her. In her 40s doing this can't have been easy but that woman is a die-hard trouper and more power to her. Can't be easy on her body.

ACL to me, should always be on Broadway. It just should. It's the Bway story of anyone who ever tried to get there. Jessica, who got the "Val" role, said in the movie that she didn't have anything to fall back on. "If you have something to fall back on, you'll fall back." Maybe, but that's why I could never be in this business. To me, ALL dancers need a plan B. Maybe the only people who should do this are the ones who will do it no matter what anyone says.