Interesting Facts You Didn't Know About Your Favorite Shows..- Page 4

[wiggum2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 1:34pm

Colm Wilkinson was originally offered the role of the Phantom in POTO before Michael Crawford, however he was also offered Valjean in Les Mis and had to choose between the two.

I thought he was considered but didn't have the vocal chops according to ALW

[Dre2387]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 2:27pm

Colm Wilkinson did play the Phantom later on after Les Mis. So, i don;t think ALW not thinking he had the vocal chops is the answer.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 2:36pm

Is that true about West Side Story or are you joking?

[Jon]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 2:52pm

No, that is absolutely true. West Side Story was going to be East Side Story, set on the lower East side and dealing with a Jewish boy and a Catholic girl.

Also, during rehearsals, Jerome Robbins kept the Jets and Sharks apart. They were not allowed to talk to each other. He used to put up newspapaer articles about gang violence on the bulletin board.

During FIDDLER rehearsals, Robbins was asked by one of the dancers what they should do if a bottle falls off their head during the Bottle Dance. He replied, "If the bottle falls off your head, you're FIRED."


Harold Prince, who produced FIDDLER, insisted that if an understudy was going on for Tevye, the undrestudy's name be put up on the marquee outside the theatre - even if it was for one performance. "Anyone who can play Tevye deserves to have their name in lights" he said.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 2:54pm

The tapping on the CHORUS LINE recording during "I Can Do That" is actually Michael Bennett.

[mint0621]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:12pm

The umbrella in the final scene of DRS was bought last minute in San Diego (when it was in its pre-Broadway run at Old Globe) at Costco.

And covered with sparkles :)

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:18pm

That was kind of a d*ck move. Why didn't he let the actor do it?

Other random fun stuff:

-"Send in the Clowns" was written during rehearsals for A Little Night Music. Sondheim was trying to come up with a song for Frederick to sing in that scene, but ended up writing one for Desiree instead.
-The roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett were both written with Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury specifically in mind.
-They used real dirt for the grave in the opening scene of Sweeney, causing severe respiratory issues for Mr. Cariou. His doctor wanted him to take some time off from the show, but he refused, and never missed a performance.
-The Phantom in TPOTO was originally going to have a full mask, like he does in the films; it was the costume designer's idea to do a half-mask.
-Betty Buckley was supposed to be the original witch in Into the Woods, but was "let go" during the developmental phases.
-In West Side Story, at the end of "Gee, Officer Krupkee" Sondheim originally wanted to have the last line be "f*ck you," but was forced to change it to the more 1950s-friendly "Krup you." Which is actually funnier.
-Anthony Warlow would have been the original Broadway Jekyll and Hyde, but dropped out before the New York plans were made because he was sick of the authors' constant changes to the show.

I'm sure I'll think of more later...

[wickedfan]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:19pm

The original incarnation of LES MIS in London was well over 4 hours. In it, there was a scene where Javert is tracking down Valjean after Fantine's Death and is led to the Thenardiers and eventually follows Valjean and Little Cosette just as they are about to enter a small town where Javert has his troops gaurd the entrance to the town (it's surrounded by walls). Valjean then takes Little Cosette and climbs up the wall (which was made of the barricade set and in this moment, Little Cosette is replaced by a dummy) and they enter a nunnery (which was originally how Cosette gets the color scheme for her dress: black and white). The scene was wonderful, but unfortuantely was about 20-30 minutes long and was cut shortly after it opened.

Also regarding Colm Wilkinson and POTO, he technically was the first Phantom as he played the role in ALW's one act workshop of it in his home. And he wasn't offered the role silmutaneously with Valjean. He was already playing Valjean when POTO was starting to get cast.

Updated On: 10/15/06 at 03:19 PM

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 3:28pm

The tune of "Getting to Know You" was originally from a thrown out song from South Pacific called "Suddenly Lucky"

The beginning newscaster speech in the 1994 revival recording of Damn Yankees was done by Greg Jbara who was not credited for it on the album. I learned that factoid from the man himself

[wiggum2]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 5:52pm

Colm Wilkinson did play the Phantom later on after Les Mis. So, i don;t think ALW not thinking he had the vocal chops is the answer.

I don't think he ever played the role on broadway. He did it in Canada IIRC where I'm assuming ALW didn't have say in the matter ala Lupone in Gypsy at Ravinia or Buckley at papermill

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 8:04pm

Not so much interesting facts but some interesting trivia. Tonya Pinkins and Idina Menzel both played Kate in the two musical productions of The Wild Party. Four years later, they were competing for the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical and Idina Menzel won.

[Junior]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 8:45pm

This may or may not be a well known fact (or even true for that matter) but I was just told by a friend who knows alot of Broadway trivia that in the original South Pacific, Mary Martin used a fake bar of soap and a little bit of shampoo hidden in her hand for "wash that man right outta my hair", and as a result of having to wash her hair so frequently, her hair was in such bad condition that she couldn't grow it out without it looking like a nightmare, so she just always kept it short. Like I said, I'm not sure how valid this bit of information is, but I still found it fairly interesting.

Posted: 11/25/06 at 10:41pm

Wicked:

-"The Wizard and I" replaced a song called "Making Good"
-The converstation between Boq and Nessarose about the punch was done in previews by Galinda and Fiyero.
-Many roles were recast entering Broadway's production. The Wizard and Boq are examples.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 1:18am

Adding to the Pirate Queen one that was mentioned:

In addition to Colm Wilkonson being connected to the role of Dubdhara, Brian D'Arcy James was thought to play Donal.

I thought that was most interesting (Stephanie J. Block mentions it on a "Cast Party" interview, for my source).

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 1:38am

I really love this blog its so interesting to find out fun facts
Sarah Brightman turned down a role in a verson of Phantom of the Opera that her and ALW went and saw which sparked him to write POTO

[qwerty2]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 2:11am

In the Putnam Spelling Bee Tour, Snack Break consists of Emer'gen*C* and Nilla Wafers. Panch also brings a cup of it for the conductor.

Urinetown creators, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, used Jeffrey Sweet's book to help write the show's story.

[AnythingCanHappen]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 2:49am

they wanted to have them be ruby slippers for the stage... but the ruby slippers are copyrighted. same reason for why glinda's dress isnt the pink one.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 3:57am

"In Wicked, Elphaba gets her name from the author of the Wizard of Oz's initials."

OMG! Like, totally? I LoVe Me soMe WICKED!








Sorry, I had to do that.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 4:05am

Mario Cantone was originally offerd the part of Carmen Ghia in The Producers but turned it down because (at the time) he was going to be in a revival of Assassins as Sam Byck but it got cancelled due to 9/11. He later got to re-create the role in 2004.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 4:35am

AnythingCanHappen: I haven't seen the show, but don't the slippers start out silver (like in the book), but change to ruby (like in the film) toward the end?

TheatreDiva90016: You're the c*ntiest c*nt that ever c*nted!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 4:45am

Careful how you say that, Kunt!

[Claire2141]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:00am

Yeah - after Elphaba puts the spell on the shoes they shine red lights on them to make them look like the ruby slippers.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 8:50am

It's because the "ruby slippers" are copyrighted. They can only shine a light on them.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 10:45am

a few wicked ones; (don't shoot they're just easy)
3/4 of the principals in lippa's wild party have gone on to star in wicked (idina menzel, taye diggs, julia murney)

3 Former Chicago Amoses, and one Billy Flynn have gone on to play the wizard (Joel Grey, Nigel Planner, PJ Benjamin, and Ben Vereen)

Performers who appeared in both rent and wicked;
Idina Mezel
Norbert Leo Butz
Taye Diggs
kristoffer kussik
telly leung (in reverse)
kendra kassebaum
sebastian arcelus

Avenue q;
theres are several repeating puppet colors that help tie the characters torgether visually;
-Nickie, and Rod's nose
-Princeton, and nickie's nose
-Kate's nose and Lucy's Eyeshadow

Lucy's Coloration was rick lyon's inside joke to make her look like "prarie dawn grown up and gone bad"

the only puppets in the show with teeth are lucy and trekkie

trekkie's purple hair is actually feathers

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 11:27am

StageManager2, actually the shoes start out jeweled. They're not red yet.

And I totally agree with your statements about TheatreDiva.