"Nine" - original 1982 Production- Page 2

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:30am

Oh, Bob... I've also seen every musical that opened on Broadway in the last 30 years, but that original production of "Nine" is my absolute favorite. It was stunning, in every sense of the word. I sat in the fourth row with my mouth hanging open for two hours.

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:30am

Oh, Bob... I've also seen every musical that opened on Broadway in the last 30 years, but that original production of "Nine" is my absolute favorite. It was stunning, in every sense of the word. I sat in the fourth row with my mouth hanging open for two hours.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:44am

Sadly never saw the original production, loved the Australian one. Saw a awful ( I left at intermission awful ) production in LA last year. They based the production on the mess that was the film.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:44am

No, Montevecchi won over Morris which surprised the hell out of me. When I saw the show the audience went wild over Morris. She tread the line of going a bit overboard with her performance yet had the audience cheering her on. Before the show toured I ran into Morris and asked her if she was going to be part of the tour. She said no and that it wasn't the same show that played Broadway. And it wasn't. Though Sergio Franchi sang well, you realized how much Raul Julia made the book work. But most disappointing was the set. It was redesigned for the tour and nothing like the original. Wasn't too keen on the revival but it might have been because I only got to see the replacement cast. Plus getting drenched in the first row wasn't particularly pleasant.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:54am

The original production was stunning. The Tony win was a surprise, mostly because the show had only opened a month before and Dreamgirls was already a big fat hit. The Dreamgirls cast album was played all over and "And I'm Telling You..." was a hit single.

Us theater folks fell in love with Nine too, but it didnt get anywhere near the exposure Dreamgirls did.

I'm amazed by the comparison to City of Angels/Grand Hotel. I know I'm biased because I HATED Grand Hotel. Angels got great reviews, and was actually anticipated. It was on the talk shows before it opened. A friend called from Philly wondering if I'd seen this cool new show yet. Grand Hotel opened and immediately was mocked for the staging with the chairs and the annoying clanging of silverware. A few performances were standouts, most especially Jeter. I love the film and found most of the characters annoying, and I'd have to fault the actors, most especially Krakowski and Akers...although Karen's Rafaella was so poorly written.

Funny, I also liked the revival of Nine, but my disappointment was Krakowski again, and Benanti. I thought Jane's entrance was phenominal, but will give Leveaux and the stagehands more credit for that.

And if you had seen Harney's performance, I'm not sure you'd be so surprised about his win. He was stunning.

[evic]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:05pm

I am also a big fan of the original....so stunning and brilliantly staged. They moved the tour locale to a train station which I thought was bizarre. Camille Saviola who was Mama Magdalena on Broadway was Saraghina on tour and I heard she exposed her breasts for some perfomances..lol I saw the revival production in Buenos Aires before it came to Broadway It was much better there because the women were more "Italian" in style. Jane, Chita, and the rest did not hold a candle to the women in BA and a big star-Juan Darthes played Guido brilliantly. Elena Roger was in it too as a minor character. The less said about the movie, the better-I was so angry on how Marshall destroyed it.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:07pm

The original production was one of the most stunningly imaginative musicals I've ever seen. Easily one of the top musicals I've seen on Broadway. Does anyone remember the doves (homing pigeons?) flying from the balcony onto the stage and then off into the wings near the end of the show? There was one showstopper after another. Anita Morris' Call From the Vatican left me and my friends speechless. We could hardly applaud as we were so stunned with what we just witnessed. Simply fantastic. Karen Akers singing My Husband Makes Movies was a tour de force. And what can I say about Liliane Montevecchi's Folies Bergere? She had the audience eating out of her hands. In the middle of the number when she came to the front of the runway and spoke to the audience.... it seemed so impromtu and everyone in the audience felt like she was talking just to them. A magical intimate moment. I especially loved the black costumes and loved the way all the women wore all white copies of them at the end. I have so many specific memories that still to this day give me chills. A brilliant production. If I had a time machine I'd take you all back in time to witness for yourselves, or to relive what you already love.
NINE overture

[morosco]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:15pm

[tazber]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:17pm

The Overture Delle Donne is still my favorite overture.

I get chills every time I hear it, even after the hundreds of times I've listened to it.

Hell, even the movie couldn't ruin the overture. It was the best part of the whole film.

Updated On: 3/14/14 at 12:17 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:19pm

The Overture in the film is wonderful, I agree.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:26pm

I bought the BD of the film just so I could watch the overture in HD sound.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:51pm

For those that saw this, was the stage kept like for the whole ( white boxes ) show?
And I wish that you tube clip was clearer, but than again happy that someone taped it and kept it.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:17pm

Don't wish to hijack this thread, but it was brought up and as someone who didn't love, Nine, but do admire Tommy Tune's body of work, Grand Hotel, is one of my most favorite musicals. IMHO Grand Hotel was far superior to, City of Angels. As I wrote earlier, Dreamgirls, was robbed by, Nine; Grand Hotel, was robbed by, City of Angels.

I miss David Carroll.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:21pm

rosscoe(au) yes, for the first act of Nine, the set did not change and was exactly as the picture above. The second act had a drop that came in. I thought the set dull although functional.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:33pm

Can you guys just imagine what Tommy Tune could do with a production of FOLLIES? I'll bet it would be amazing.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:10pm

I fear that "could have done" would be more accurate.

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:20pm

Speaking of Tommy Tune, whatever happened to his Studio 54 musical that played in Florida? I could have sworn that it got good reviews and was Broadway-bound.

[Huss417]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 5:14pm

I also saw the original production and loved the look and acting of the show but it left me sort of ho hum. I am thinking it had to do with my age at the time.

The revival all of a sudden at the end of the show I had tears streaming down my face and was moved more than I thought I would have been. Also this time probably age related. :)

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 5:25pm

I didn't see the original production of NINE, but I rank its Original Broadway Cast Recording as one of my all-time favorites. The cast is so great and the performances come through spectacularly on the recording. I purchased it on a whim after I heard about the film version and proceeded to become absolutely obsessed with what a wonderful score, cast and recording it was.

I've also always loved the scant footage that exists of the actual production, including those grainy YouTube clips, the Tony performance and a press reel that was used in a TV interview I saw once. I wish I could have seen it.

I do agree that the Overture was the best part of the film. It all went downhill from there.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 9:53pm

To answer Rosco about the 1982 set, the gridded boxes you see in the photo were there throughout, up until the Grand Canal sequence, when 2 or 3 rococo portals flew in (Follies-like) along with a shredded drop upstage. As I said in my earlier post-- eh...

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:14pm

I would assume the locale (from spa to train station) was changed for the tour to reduce trucking and load-in/load-out times. Did Tune also direct the tour or did they bring somebody else in to start from scratch?

[nicnyc]

Posted: 3/15/14 at 12:47am

I saw the original production when I was nine years old and ended up graduating from Northwestern in Theater and getting an MFA in Acting as a direct result of seeing that production. My lifelong dream has been to make some other child feel the way Raul Julia & Karen Akers made me feel when I saw that show. I cried my eyes out when she sang "Be On Your Own" and this performances created memories I'll have forever. I think being up against Dreamgirls for the awards (which I also saw and was also fantastic in its' own way) hurt Nine's place in history - as Dreamgirls deprived it of many awards it really should have won.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/15/14 at 7:31am

The tour set was changed to a train station because it was thought that it would be impossible to maintain the pristine cleanliness of the white tile spa set while touring. The staging was Tune's original. The floor plan was identical, with the white tile seats replaced by grey steamer trunks.

[morosco]

Posted: 3/15/14 at 11:00am

The Grand Canal

[morosco]

Posted: 3/15/14 at 11:01am

Liliane Montevecchi