Revivals They Should Do- Page 3

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 1:08pm

Ever since Seth Rudetsky brought it up, I'm gonna say The Most Happy Fella with Audra McDonald as Rosabella and Norm Lewis as Joe.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:16pm

Tick, Tick... Boom!

ah and if raul and amy would be in it again...!

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:20pm

Unrealistic, but Into the Woods with Sherie Rene Scott as the Witch.

[Born To Reign]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:22pm

ooh! I love BOTH of those last 2 ideas!!

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:31pm

Carrie
Fame
Ragtime
Seussical (The revised version)
West Side Story

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:38pm

I'm adding:

Caroline, or Change
Seussical with some rewrites
Ragtime
Fame

EDIT: just remembered: rewrite of High Fidelity Updated On: 6/8/07 at 04:38 PM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 4:43pm

Funny, whenever I think about the idea of reviving some outrageously unnecessary musical revival, I immediately think of BAJOUR. Or rather, Michael Reidel's eye-roller "I can't wait to see Heather Graham in a revival of BAJOUR."

Sure enough: The York Theater is doing BAJOUR in the near future. Auditions were just announced on the Equity website.

*blink*

On a serious note, FIORELLO! needs reviving badly. Apparently, the lead role is a bit of a problem...Kathleen Marshall is rumored to have wanted to do it with Jason Alexander who wasn't interested (!!). Such a lovely score!

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:18pm

I can't believe so many want Applause... Without the star (or Ron Field's staging) there's really not any decent material there. A few years back they did a tour of it with hopes of maybe a Broadway transfer and it was something of a disaster

E

[B3TA07]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:20pm

"They?"

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:22pm

Would love to see revivals of "Carnival," "Applause," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," and "The Robber Bridegroom."

[mortgageguy79]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:25pm

Whorehouse for sure!

Posted: 6/8/07 at 5:47pm

yes "they" B3 :P
The Weissler's produced the tour I believe...

*edit* and I was right--here's the info from a review of the OBCR CD by Suskin in his On the Record feature. I often don't fully agree with Suskin but here I think he's dead on.

"Applause was the twenty-second musical to win a Best Musical Tony Award, and I would not be so churlish as to suggest that it had the worst score of the twenty-two. I'd place it second from the bottom, myself. (If you think this is an exaggeration, dear reader, check out the list for yourself).

Lauren Bacall made her Broadway musical theatre debut in the show, and she was quite something. Bacall had appeared in two sex comedies in the past decade, but I don't suppose anyone was prepared for her to walk onto the musical stage with all the assurance of a lion tamer in a cage full of toothless tabbies lapping up warm milk. This despite the fact that Bacall had no singing voice to speak of. She pulled it off, that's for sure, turning Applause into a must-see entertainment and winning herself a well-deserved Tony Award. This was a two-year stretch in which numerous no-longer-in-demand legends stormed the Broadway musical stage, including Katharine Hepburn, Danny Kaye, Shelley Winters, Shirley Booth, Alexis Smith, and even Ruby Keeler. Not to mention Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali. But Bacall outclassed them all.

Applause had several relatively strong points besides its star. Most importantly, it was perhaps the glitziest show Broadway had ever seen, with first-time director/ choreographer Ron Field pulling out all the stops. Field was a strange case. A child actor from the original production of Lady in the Dark, he choreographed a string of dire failures like Nowhere to Go but Up and Cafe Crown before hitting pay dirt with Cabaret. That hit was followed by Golden Rainbow and Sherry!, two dire disasters from both of which he was fired. (His work, certainly, was not the problem. When a musical is in severe trouble, producers tend to first fire the choreographer or lighting designer.) The success of Applause momentarily placed Field in the top rank of director/choreographers, but his subsequent shows - starting with the Bernadette Peters/Donna McKechnie revival of On the Town -- all fizzled.

Len Cariou, in the somewhat underwritten role of Bacall's boyfriend, managed to hold his own against the star (and soon graduated to leading man status with A Little Night Music). Penny Fuller made a strong Eve Harrington, although the abrasiveness of the character prevented her from coming across as sympathetic. She gives a gritty reading of "One Hallowe'en," though. (Fuller and Cariou are presently back on the boards together, opening this week in Neil Simon's The Dinner Party.) Sparking things immeasurably was Bonnie Franklin, in what was little more than a glorified chorus role. Franklin — as one of the backstage gypsies who added color to the proceedings — stepped out of the line to lead the two big production numbers, brightening the show up immensely. But that was it. The score is exceedingly weak. The love songs are especially bland; compare them with Strouse's four stunning songs from Golden Boy (1964) and you'll wonder what happened to the emotion, where did melody go. "Welcome to the Theatre" is favored by some as a show biz anthem, but it pales in comparison to "Everything's Coming up Roses" or "There's No Business Like Show Business." The score includes one charmer, a delectably jaunty throwaway called "Good Friends." That and Bonnie Franklin's two numbers — "She's No Longer a Gypsy" and "Applause" — are the only songs worth repeated listening. (The latter featured a wild dance ending with bare-bottomed chorus boys dancing on the tables; it was that kind of show.) "Bonus tracks" include the composer's rendition of the title tune, and three cut songs.

While Hair and Company and even Pippin have been performed again and again over the years, Applause is one of the only Tony Award-winning Best Musicals which has had virtually no afterlife. The show finally reappeared in 1996, in the form of a pre Broadway "Weissler" revival tour starring Stephanie Powers, staged by Gene Saks and Ann Reinking. Did anyone listen to the score and read the script before deciding to do it? Or did they just go on the fact that it was a Tony Award-winning hit? Once they got the thing on stage it became apparent that there was no show, no applause. Three weeks, and out. "

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 6:12pm

I couldn't agree more with that article, APPLAUSE is one of the most mediocre Tony-award winning musicals. Unless Meryl Streep were to star in a revival (please don't, Meryl, there are much better musicals for you) I wouldn't put my feet anywhere close the theatre where the show is playing. The only gem? "One Halloween" fiercely performed by Penny Fuller in the OBCR.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 6:16pm

With some re-writes, I think "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" should be revived. Maybe Roundabout could do and continue with their slightly flopish musicals from the 1960s with a stellar cast theme.

[Belleof14thStreet]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 6:22pm

I honestly wish that "The Last 5 Years" had had more of a run. I think it is a fantastic show, and was, thankfully, lucky enough to see it at Minetta Lane while it lasted. At a small enough space it could maybe do a Broadway run. It's just a shame that not very many people are familiar with Jason Robert Browns smaller shows. Love'em!

[i.heart.link]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 6:55pm

Yes Seussical should come back!!!

and so should the Last Five Years! But i can't picture it with any other cast!

[dramarama2]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 7:02pm

The only thing good about Seussical...in my mind...was the score (with brilliant orchestrations). Maybe with a different cast it could work. Maybe one of those all-broadway star casts.

[sanda]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 7:11pm

The Secret Garden
City of Angels
Kiss of the spider woman

[tinkerscanne]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 7:30pm

West Side Story - this is without a doubt my all time favorite musical!!!

I wish I had seen Urinetown on Broadway, so I'd love to see it brought back. A local community theatre is doing it in the fall and I'm planning on auditioning. Man, what a great show that is!

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 7:49pm

Ditto to West Side Story and Bye Bye Birdie. Somewhere I read that some college did Bye Bye Birdie modernized with Birdie as Clay Aiken....that should never ever happen again. Keep it original, plain and simple, but a few rewrites wouldn't hurt I guess.

[glimpseofstocking]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 10:57pm

I'd love revivals of Mame and Funny Girl (I'm convinced that Julia Murney would make a fantastic Fanny)

[HDThoreau2]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 11:26pm

Funny Girl

West Side Story

Camelot

Call Me Madam

Bye Bye Birdie

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 11:42pm

I would love to see a revival of The Wild Party, even though I like Lippa's music better. I just want to see the show. Is there any truth to the rumor from way back that Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party will be making its Broadway bow by the end of the decade with Julia Murney reprising her role? If I remembered the source, I'd give it, but I unfortunately don't

[balletandbroadway]

Posted: 6/9/07 at 12:22am

I'd love to see West Side Story back on Broadway. Tick, Tick... Boom! would be nice to see off-broadway again too. That was a great show!

Posted: 6/9/07 at 1:05am

lion king