Baker Street

[pethian]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 1:20pm

Has anyone ever seen  a production of BAKER STREET?  I would love to hear comments about the show. I've often wondered why Encores has never done it.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 2:22pm

Yes, I saw it but all I remember was the use if marionettes in it.

[lapinitsa]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 6:51pm

Dollypop said: "Yes, I saw it but all I remember was the use if marionettes in it."

Those were the Bil Baird Marionettes. Very famous at the time. That and the fact that the show won the Scenic Design Tony make me wish I had seen it too.

 

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/1/23 at 7:36pm

I saw it as a teen, I vividly remember Inga Swenson, she lit up the stage with everything she did. great costumes, great songs, and great scenery. But my faves were The Baker Street Irregulars, Whenever they popped up The show sparkled, they were very energetic and peppy dancers. Fritz Weaver was a terrific Holmes and the speak/sing voice was perfect for the roll. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/2/23 at 6:41am

Wasn't Tommy Tune one of the Irregulars?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/2/23 at 1:44pm

Dollypop said: "Wasn't Tommy Tune one of the Irregulars?"

Yes, I believe Christopher Walken was as well.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/2/23 at 2:02pm

I saw the show from the nosebleed section of the Broadway.  I was around 15 or so and still remember convincing myself to like it more than I did.  

The main thing I remember was the sets, which were definitely elaborate.  There was one scene where they showed what was essentially the equivalent of an aerial shot of a parade transitioning across the stage diagonally from high up in the rafters to stage floor.  Showy sets were still big in those days, which is why it beat out Fiddler's iconic sets; more than anything else, its win reflected a lot of money being spent.

Inga Swenson had a nice song in Finding Words for Spring, but the score overall was not very good.  Fritz Weaver was fine as Holmes, but did receive a Tony nomination, but it was a great year for that category, so his absence is not terrible.

The show was produced by Alexander Cohen and had a huge advance.  Reviews were very mixed (indifferent?), so there weren't many pull-quotes from the reviews.  As a result, the big ad in the Sunday Times for a couple of weeks was the declaration that Baker Street was the first show in Broadway history to break the $100,000 gross mark for a week.  Even at 15, I remember thinking that they were trying to get potential ticket buyers to forget the mediocre reviews by impressing them with box office,

[pethian]

Posted: 7/2/23 at 9:02pm

Yes, both Tommy Tune and Christopher Walken made their Broadway debuts in this show. And Bock and Harnick wrote additional songs. I wish Encores would take a look at this one.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 7/2/23 at 10:44pm

The score is absolutely not good enough for Encores.