Revivals yet to be

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:07pm

Dropping out a few titles of great shows I think deserve a revival sometime soon:
"The Ritz" (Still a Hoot!)
"Torch Song Trilogy" (It was said a year or two ago that John Cameron Mitchell was looking at this for Broadway, He would be fabulous!)
"Who's life is it Anyway?" (This is well written stuff!)
"Agnes of God" (More great writing!)
"They Mystery of Edwin Drood" (20 Year Anniversary!)
"Woman of the Year" (This great Kander & Ebb Musical would have a whole new audience today!)
"The Little Foxes" (Every age deserves a 5 star mounting of this!)
"Piaf" (This would be a hard one to re-cast but would work!)
"Equus" (It would be even more shocking today!)
"Gemini" (Just a wonderful show!)
"Grand Hotel" (You know why...)
"The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (Great feel good show!)
"The Tap Dance Kid" (This should have been redone already!)
"The Rink" (It would have a bigger run now)
"The Grand Tour" (This, I feel, Never got the chance it deserved)
"A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine" (Another great show!)
"Sunday in the Park with George" (great show, If done well it would run!)
If we have Revivals of such great shows, Our new young folks today will have more options to enjoy them too.
(I guess my list was longer than I thought!)

Updated On: 1/30/06 at 04:07 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:14pm

A BYE BYE BIRDIE revival must happen soon. It has been too long.

It would also be wonderful to do while Strouse & Adams are still alive, also Chita & Dick.

[respeck]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:15pm

This isn't really a revival, but is Zanna Don't ever going to make it to the Broadway stage?

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:16pm

funny girl

Updated On: 1/30/06 at 04:16 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:16pm

The problem with Bye Bye Birdie (along with Pajama Game and South Pacific) is the fact that it's too dated. Birdie is probably the least dated of the bunch, but it's still....old. A great production, with a better-than-words cast, can overcome that, though.

I, too, would love to see a revival of Sunday in the Park....with Raul and Melissa reprising their roles from the production a few years ago.

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:18pm

As far as "Zanna", They keep saying it is coming but I have no hard copy on it. (Not yet at least)

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:19pm

Bye Bye Birdie but Kathleen Marshall or Wayne Cilento can't be involved.

Funny Girl as long as Shoshana Bean is kept at least 500 feet from the theatre at all times.

Grand Hotel as long as a director/choreographer with great style is chosen.

Mack and Mabel

Mame

[respeck]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:20pm

Thanks jimmirae.

[dotvmike]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:20pm

CHESS!!!!!

[jimmirae]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:21pm

If something cannot be "updated" or if that ruins it, you'll just have to set it in it's own period to make it work.
Love the suggestions you guys!!

[LostLeander]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:22pm

I think Bye Bye Birdie done, to the hilt, as a grand period piece would be wonderful.
There are so many great songs to be choreographed, so much fun.
Jerry Mitchell would have a BALL.

[respeck]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:23pm

Aida. It's already been too long.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:24pm

Well, if Baranski's MAME works out in DC, I'm hoping for a transfer.

I loves me some Harriet Harris and Emily Skinner and they both need to be back on Broadway.

Now, as for my choices:

HELLO, DOLLY - With Bernadette Peters as Dolly.

FUNNY GIRL - With Stephanie J. Block as Fanny. (I know it won't sell, I'm just picking the right girl for the part.)

[Scottie310]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:26pm

They need to revive Funny Girl with Ana Gasteyer as Fanny Brice. I know she played the part in Pittsburg a few years ago but I'm not sure what kinds of reviews she got. I really think she is the only person who would be able to do the show without being trashed because she isnt like Barbra. She has the look, and anyone who has ever heard her sing knows she has the voice for it.

A revival of Pippin also needs to happen with either Michael Arden or Gavin Creel as Pippin.

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:31pm

i stand by FOAnatic, stephanie j block deserves the part. she sings dont rain on my parade on her website, its amazing.

http://www.stephaniejblock.com/dontrain.mp3

Updated On: 1/30/06 at 04:31 PM

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:38pm

Ragtime!

Okay, so maybe it hasn't been closed long enough to warrant a revival yet.... but I want it back so badly!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:39pm

I think I saw the original productions of every show on jimmirae's list:


Given the realities of AIDS, The Ritz will never be revived on Broadway given its gay bathhouse setting and depiction of promiscuous unsafe sex, orgy rooms etc... Many see it as being in bad taste now.

Gemini had a successful revival off-Broadway at Second Stage about 5 years ago. It was fun, but I don't see it coming back to Broadway anytime.

Little Foxes was unsuccessfully revived by Lincoln Center just 8 years in a critically-panned production starring Stockard Channing. Don't expect to see it on Broadway again for another decade or two.

Not sure about The Rink. It flopped even with Minnelli and Rivera in the lead roles, so I can't imagine any producer wanting to spend $10 million to bring it back. Same with The Grand Tour which starred Joel Grey. Broadway producers have zero interest in remounting shows that ran three months and lost their entire investments the first time around -- it'll NEVER come back.

The Woman of the Year was a pretty lousy show. It worked as a star vehicle for Bacall and later Raquel Welch, who's names guaranteed it would sell tickets, but the show itself was quite mediocre (the only first rate thing about it was Marilyn Cooper stopping the show with "The Grass In Always Greener").

Sunday is one of my all-time favorites, but I wonder if it can ever be a hit with mainstream audiences (the original was a flop). There's a critically acclaimed scaled down version about to open in the West End. Perhaps that'll come over at some point. Or else, maybe a not-for-profit like Roundabout will mount it. I think most commercial producers would avoid it considering its less than promising financial prospects.

I fondly remember seeing Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Ashley and Amanda Plummer in Agnes of God. I thought the play was a bit creaky and exposition heavy (Ashley's monologues seemed endless), but it made for a decent vehicle for the three stars. Get three names together for it and perhaps it could come back. Same with Equus -- the play is a bit creaky and maybe a little dated, but Dysart and Alan Strang are extremely juicy roles. Get a major name for Dysart and it could come back. Whose Life Is It Anyway also is reliant on a big star if it is to be revived.

There was talk of Reba McIntyre doing Molly Brown after she triumphed in Annie Get Your Gun several years ago, but nothing came of it (I believe she passed on the show). Not a great show, so it would only be revived if a truly HUGE name star wanted to bring it back.

Tap Dance Kid was OK. Some good dancing and a couple of good songs. Nothing special. I don't think it would be worth the trouble of reviving it.

Updated On: 1/30/06 at 04:39 PM

[Dame Fanadette]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:46pm

Hmmm Bernadette as Dolly. Not yet... in ten years. But I could see it.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:50pm

"A revival of Pippin also needs to happen with either Michael Arden or Gavin Creel as Pippin."

Gavin recently made the decision to move out to L.A., so he could be out of the NY theater scene for a bit, though I would LOVE to see him in a Pippin revival.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:52pm

Piaf is a tiny little show that probably belongs Off-Broadway, rather than On these days.

I suppose Drood and Hollywood/Ukraine are revivable, though I doubt either would be particularly big hits.

Torch Song might work. Does it come off as dated now? Especially the opening act's drag queen monologue and depiction of back room sex? It's definitely of another era -- almost a period piece now. I wonder how audiences (especially gay audiences) would react to it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 4:58pm

Why would Peters need to wait 10 years to play Dolly? Channing was 42 when she created the role. Peters is 57 (58 next month).

And speaking of ages, isn't (the nearly 40 year old) Gasteyer a wee bit old to be playing Fanny Brice? Isn't Brice supposed to be in her late teens when the show opens and just mid-20s by the end?

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 5:02pm

HAIR!

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 5:03pm

I'll add my vote for a revival of SITPWG, please.

I believe we are getting South Pacific at some point.

Can we get Evita? Please?

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 5:06pm

Can we get a West Side Story please.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/30/06 at 5:10pm

Lincoln Center is producing South Pacific in 2007 (after Coast of Utopia finishes at the Beaumont).

I wouldn't be surprised if the UK Evita, which just finished casting, eventually makes it over here if the reviews are good.

There's long been talk of a 50th anniversary production of West Side Story (helmed by Jerry Mitchell recreating the Robbins choreography), but I haven't heard any news on that in several months.