Drowsy's "Monkey Ballet" cut?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 9:07am

I read the BWW interview with Sutton, and she says the Monkey Ballet that they did in L.A. was cut for Broadway!

If anyone out there has seen both productions, I'd love to know what's different.

I can tell you that in Los Angeles, there is a whole section with "dream ballet" dancers taking the place of the leads (like in "Oklahoma!"), and lots of abstract sets and locations (including Paris), ala Gene Kelly's many film ballets. It was very funny and over-the-top. Is this all GONE now in the NYC production?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:28am

BUMP.

Any thoughts on this? I know many of you have seen the show in New York now. Did they cut the ballet after Sutton's "Monkey" song? Do they not have dream dancers taking over for the leads, crazy locations, etc?

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:32am

I saw it in April and I definitely don't remember that ballet. What a shame, because it sounds hillarious.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:33am

There is a Dance segment, but not like the one you describe.

[TicketMediaGuy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:39am

The dream/monkey ballet performed in Los Angeles was all about ROBERT and how he has to marry JANET or else GEORGE will die. All this while trying to recap the plot of the show. It was a funny sequence, but it was too long and drawn out. And IMHO that style of theatre was introduced in the 50's. The story of The Drowsy Chaperone was set in the 20's.

The new dance sequence on Broadway makes it JANET's dream with monkeys dancing all around her with cymbols crashing and stuff. There's no recapping of plot line, it's just a dance number now. It's a shorter dance sequence - shorter by about 3 days.

Actually, it's about 4 minutes or so. The Los Angeles ballet was about 8 minutes or so.

I'm proud to say that I've seen the Los Angles production and the Broadway production and that I'm happy with the new changes they settled for on broadway - especially the fact that they gave GEORGE a spotlight moment (he had this early on in Los Angeles, but was cut out during the regular run)... although... I miss the big round spikey globe structure that used to be in the Garden scene.

[leefowler]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 10:40am

Originally there was a long dream ballet that revolved around her "monkey" song. This was rewritten into a longer "monkey" song sequence which features Sutton to greater effect, and gives her more to sing.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:05am

TicketMediaGuy -- You know, you're right! While the dream ballet in L.A. was very funny, it definitely evolved out of the Oklahoma! dream ballet (1943) and several Gene Kelly films, starting with On the Town ( 1948 ), An American In Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Some of the dialogue was very funny though from Bob Martin. When he talked about switching to the dream ballet to use "better dancers" than the main leads. And when he said, "Suddenly... We're in Paris! And for no reason!"

The sets were very abstract... like the "illustrated" backdrops used in the film "Singin' in the Rain." And we were thrown into a cafe, ala "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" or the "Gotta Dance" sequence in "Rain" again. I thought it was hilarious! And the dancers had so much fun with it.

But it did go on for a long time (which was Man In Chair's point). So did many of the famous Kelly dream sequences. However, most these honored references were from decades later!

I'm glad I got to see it, and it was one of my favorite sequences, because it pulled the audience completely out of the old 1920s, show as well as Man In Chairs apartment. It all disappeared.

But I understand the reason for the change now. I need to see it on Broadway now to compare the two.

[TicketMediaGuy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 11:19am

best12bars - You know what I else I miss? Near the end of the show when ROBERT runs into the bridal suite and says, "Janet, I JUST had a terrible dream...[Robert faces audience] and there were MONKEYS in it!". I don't know why, but that line always made me laugh. I even quote it to my work buddies (they think I'm strange, anyway...). Now that the dream ballet has become JANET's dream, the line is no longer in use on Broadway. Oh well, the sacrifices I must make! LOL!!!

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:49pm

I definitely remember it from the L.A. show. It was called "Groom's Reverie", and it followed "Bride's Lament." However, it was just too long, and after hearing Sutton sing about monkeys with her beautiful voice, you're suddenly hearing this horrible voice (I don't like Troy Britton Johnson's faux-voice at all) singing about them, and it's just not funny. :)

[QMAN03]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 5:06pm

I loved this scene, but it was overly drawn out. I also love the spikey ball in the garden. I'm suprised they cut it out. Maybe it was dangerous?

[TicketMediaGuy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 5:43pm

"I also love the spikey ball in the garden. I'm suprised they cut it out. Maybe it was dangerous?"

My friend and I were both contemplating why they didn't have it at the Marquis. Could it be that there's not a whole lot of room underneath the stage at the Marquis? The Ahmanson is like a cavern under the stage. That thing was as tall as Troy was when he was on his rollerskates.

Incidentally, if you see the show at the Marquis and look at the boxes above the refridgerator, you'll find some of the arrows that were used in the spikey ball garden sculpter. They were there during the Ahmanson run as well. :) And there's TONS of Monkey motiffs all over Man In Chair's apartment... as well as the REAL Robert Martin's wedding photo. :)
Updated On: 6/2/06 at 05:43 PM

[TicketMediaGuy]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:30am

On another note.. .and probably due for another thread... CD UNIVERSE online is selling the Drowsy CD for $13.29. Anyone find anything lower than that? The Marquis is selling it for $25.00

[apdarcey]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 10:39am

ghostlight is 14.99

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/2/06 at 11:02am

$25.00??? That's highway robbery, since it's $6.02 higher than the FULL RETAIL price.

Amazon.com has it selling for $12.98, plus shipping. If you add another CD of $12.02 or higher into the order, you'll get free shipping as well.
Amazon.com