Harry Connick Jr.-Led ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER to Play St. James Theatre; Opens Dec. 11, 2011

[Rob]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 12:53pm

Click Here to Read Harry Connick Jr.-Led ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER to Play St. James Theatre; Opens Dec. 11, 2011

[ncgator]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 2:34pm

Hey everyone. So does anyone have any thoughts on this show? I will be traveling up to NY for a weekend in January. Not sure if this is something I should buy tickets for right away. I've been burned in the past buying tickets before too much is known about a show (Dance of the Vampires and Lestat to name a few). What do you think?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 2:45pm

Don't worry, Clear Day isn't another LeStat. In its favor is a gorgeous score -- the original had book problems that led to its early demise (everyone thought it was going to be the hit of all time before it opened). It is my understanding that there have been major revisions to the book -- whether for the better or worse is anyone's guess. But you will get to see Connick and you will hear a great score.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 6:01pm

I never saw the original but loved the score. Would love to hear some of the songs from the original production that were cut during tryout/previews.

I alsways thought this would be a vehicle for Sutton or Kristin. This might work. At worst, you hear the score again so it is a no lose situation.

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 6:11pm

I think this would be the perfect vehicle for Rachel York to break through and become the star she should be.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 8:42pm

I can't wait for this

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 8:54pm

AHHHHHH saw the workshop of this last summer, it's brilliant. Excited to see what Harry Connick Jr. brings to the part (Brian d'Arcy James played the part in the workshop)

Anyone know Anika Noni Rose's fall schedule? Is she available?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:03pm

So...they are still sticking with the gay man and his inner-black girl thing, I'm assuming? And um, is she still black? Because that would put certain actresses out of the running for the role...

[theatreguy]

Posted: 6/29/11 at 9:13pm

Alysha Umphress (who is white) played the role when Anika Noni Rose had to leave for a performance or two last year. So there apparently isn't anything in the writing that requires it to be of a particular race.

Posted: 6/29/11 at 11:50pm

I was just going to ask if this was the revision with the gay man... Hrmm

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 12:51am

This sounds like one BIZARRE flop waiting to happen.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 12:51am

According to the playbill article, it's the gay version.

Is there any particular reason for this switch...I mean, does it serve the story in any way?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 8:16am

My understanding is that Anika Noni Rose is no longer attached to this project, which is a real shame, as she'd be just wonderful.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 2:47pm

I think changing Daisy and Melinda to a man could be interesting. But what I think is unlikely to work is having Daisy played by two separate performers. Daisy/Melinda equals a great star turn on which On A Clear Day relies. Cutting the role in two loses the point.

By the way Mr Roxy, as you may know, Kristin Chenoweth played the part at Encores a few seasons back.

Also, a gay man's unrequited romantic longing for a straight psychiatrist seems a theme more conducive to an Eisenhower era melodrama than a contemporary deconstruction of a 60s musical.

Then again, I obviously haven't seen the show and, even with these reservations, can try to keep an open mind.

[Johnnycantdecide]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:07pm

Thanks Rob for replacing my post with yours. Thats cute.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:14pm

Having seen the reworked storyline/production, I can say that it does service the story, and it does work.

I don't think that cutting Daisy & Melinda into two parts destroys the show, what is does is create two strong supporting characters who now service Dr. Bruckner. The right actress can turn the reduced role of Melinda into something bigger (Anika Noni Rose did just this in the workshop). I do hope they seek a African-American actress for the role, it added another layer.

The new book/reworked score also adds opportunities to showcase the actors playing Muriel & Warren (Sarah Stiles and Colin Hanlon in the Workshop).

I hope this is a success.

Updated On: 6/30/11 at 03:14 PM

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 4:09pm

Harry Connick Jr. plays a gay man???

Ask anybody who worked with him on PAJAMA GAME- he's not exactly gay-friendly.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 4:35pm

Remember during THOU SHALT NOT he called the (I think) conductor, "That faggot".

But his character is the straight doctor, not the gay, whatever he is.
I thought for sure with Connick attached, they would go back to the two female Daisy/Melinda version.

How much of the score is intact? I know it's been discussed before.

[newintown]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 4:55pm

I truly loathed this new Clear Day, mostly because the doctor simply isn't interesting enough to be the center of the story. He also is most definitely not gay, another problem with the new book - there are no sparks at all between him and Davy.

It's just a boring mush of clichés.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/30/11 at 11:52pm

Aw, it saddens me to think Harry's anti-gay. I like him.

[Branson East]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 8:54pm

This will probably be yet another unrecognizable corpse of a score, and yet another undeserving hit.

Consider: You're replacing the big, virile voice of John Cullum with a crooner. This means changing the orchestrations, and changing the keys. This powerful music thus becomes a nightclub act. How do you make a propulsive, dramatic tune like "Come Back to Me" into crooner stuff -- or has that been erased? And what of Barbara Harris's numbers? How many of those get washed out to sea with this sex-change gimmick? What's more On a Clear Day wasn't orchestrated by any old hack; it was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett. According to IBDB.com it was the last totally new show he worked on. I'm guessing by the time the re-orchestrators finish their demolition work practically nothing will remain of Bennett's -- not even the Overture.

But I say this will be an undeserved hit because of How to Succeed. We all know of that other Harry and his army of fans. But remember that triumph involved no fewer than three orchestral demolitions experts; I would not be surprised if they've worked on this implosion. Said army could not hear the kabooms over their ecstatic screams; Mr. Connick's fans won't care either. There was no way of course the How to Succeed gang could work with the brilliant Robert Ginzler charts; a show had to be shoehorned to fit the talent, and the casting was all; never mind if from many accounts it fit as well as Cinderella's stepsisters' feet in the glass slipper. Ditto this; and this may be worse because of what sounds like a preposterous book. I see the point of reinterpretations; the '71 No, No, Nanette would surely not have been quite the smash without Ralph Burns's crowd-pleasing anachronistic charts. And yes, Alan Jay Lerner's original book was a drug-induced mess. But at what point do people rebel against this constant decimation of such fine musicals? This ain't Bajour -- and even that would deserve better.


Updated On: 7/1/11 at 08:54 PM

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/2/11 at 12:35pm

Saw the original several times back in the 60s, and it had two amazing pluses: Barbara Harris and the score. Produced a small revival of it in NY in the early 90s, with Burton Lane's approval and input, and the results were the same: Jennifer Prescott a great Daisy, and the score beautiful and beautifully sung.
Saw the rewrite at Vassar last summer, and the changes don't work at all. Splitting Daisy into two not very interesting characters adds nothing to the piece, the gay theme feels very old-hat, and making Mark the central role is a mistake. They try to give the role some life by giving him an unrequited girlfriend (and of course, the now-gay "Daisy" character is hung up on him), but none of this works.
This show was beautifully served at Encores with a scaled-down book and the magical Kristin Chenoweth singing the hell out of it. Best to have left it at that.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 7/2/11 at 12:35pm

Saw the original several times back in the 60s, and it had two amazing pluses: Barbara Harris and the score. Produced a small revival of it in NY in the early 90s, with Burton Lane's approval and input, and the results were the same: Jennifer Prescott a great Daisy, and the score beautiful and beautifully sung.
Saw the rewrite at Vassar last summer, and the changes don't work at all. Splitting Daisy into two not very interesting characters adds nothing to the piece, the gay theme feels very old-hat, and making Mark the central role is a mistake. They try to give the role some life by giving him an unrequited girlfriend (and of course, the now-gay "Daisy" character is hung up on him), but none of this works.
This show was beautifully served at Encores with a scaled-down book and the magical Kristin Chenoweth singing the hell out of it. Best to have left it at that.

Updated On: 7/2/11 at 12:35 PM