Crazy Concepts of Classic Shows

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:52pm

What weirdo ideas for productions of shows have you had? I, for one, would love to do a revival of "Company" that begins and ends with Robert's suicide. Each "segment" is a flashback at his funeral.

I would also love to do a Sweeney revival where all the leads also do ensemble parts, with the concept being that the cast is a traveling troupe of low-rent actors weaving a classic ghost story.

Updated On: 3/9/09 at 04:52 PM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:54pm

Although I think it's already been done, I'd love to see a production of OUR TOWN where the Stage Manager is played by a child in their early teens and George and Emily are played by older actors in their 70s.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:58pm

This isn't a classic exactly, but I've always wanted to see a really minimalist production of Phantom of the Opera. Very basic costumes, not many special effects or set pieces, tiny cast. I like the music from Phantom, but I feel like the show itself is just ridiculously overblown.

[rich.hanson59]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 4:58pm

Pirag- I really like both of your ideas. I would definately see both of them.

[PattiLover]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:04pm

I'd like to direct a really racy no-frills production of Guys and Dolls. Kind of like Mendes' Cabaret. Picture opium addicted hookers straight out of a Somerset Maugham story and blood thirsty gangsters. Adelaide's lament would obviously be syphilis. Sarah would be a lost tortured soul, destroyed by sin. Jo Loesser would love it!

[philly03]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:05pm

FAR FAR away from Classic, but I would love to see them do something with The Scarlet Pimpernel that we necessarily do not know that Percy, Grappin & the Scarlet Pimpernel are all the same person -- more suspense perhaps? Even if it was one rescue in the beginning (such as during Madame Guillotine?). This wasn't really crazy, either, just a very different view of past Pimp-y stuff (film/book/musical(s))

I like Pirag's idea for Comapny as well!

[PattiLover]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:07pm

I too love Piragua's idea. I'd happily pay top dollar to see Bobby kill himself.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:13pm

MacBeth in space, complete with space pirates, a weather machine and a balcony scene between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:19pm

Sondheim has said he HATES the idea of Bobby committing suicide because it misunderstands the point of show entirely.

The song is called "Being Alive," not "Being Dead."

[Calvin]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:24pm

PJ, how about Rip Taylor playing the title role in your namesake show?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:25pm

If it weren't for the fact that Sondheim is fervently AGAINST Bobby comitting suicide, and against the whole concept of "Being Alive," not to mention a complete and total downer, it could be an interesting take on Company.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:26pm

Thanks PJ, I knew I read somewhere that a production with Bobby's suicide had already been done and Sondheim thought it was ridiculous but couldn't remember where. He used that line at his talk with Frank Rich, yes?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 5:31pm

I've always wanted to see a minimal production of Aspects of Love in an intimate space using perhaps a string quartet and a piano. NOT the actor/musician thing, though.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 9:55pm

My sister and I were talking about the Sweeney Todd revival, and we had a ridiculous idea for a production of "CATS" that is set in a mental hospital, and nobody wears cat costumes-- they are all mentally ill inmates. Old Deuteronomy is a senile old dude who believes that he (and everyone else there) is a cat, and he has managed to convince some of the other inmates so over the years. Other inmates go along for the ride because they're afraid of what Old Dude might do if they don't play along.

Munkunstrap is a nurse at the facility who the other characters believe is a cat as well. The audience is a panel of medical experts to whom Munkustrap is reporting this bizarre delusion that the inmates share, and he has to mingle with the inmates to get information from them.

Grizabella is a washed-up former star who suffers from dementia and has no short-term memory, only that of the past. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer are kleptomaniacs. Jennyanydots is manic-depressive (she sits and sits and sits and then she's super active.)Skimbleshanks is obsessive-compulsive and obsessed with cleanliness and orderliness.

Victoria is a recovering anorexic ballet dancer and Bustopher Jones suffers from binge-eating disorder. Rum Tum Tugger is a sex addict rock star. Bombalurina is a former prostitute whose multiple STDs are affecting her mental functions.

Gus was never actually an actor. He just wishes he was and hallucinates that he was once famous. Mistoffelees is a poor insane man who thinks he has magical abilities. He is also a pyromaniac. Macavity is a murderous psychopath. Demeter is one of his former victims who is mentally scarred for life.

Uh... I can't remember any of the other cats.

Updated On: 3/9/09 at 09:55 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 9:58pm

"What weirdo ideas for productions of shows have you had? I, for one, would love to do a revival of "Company" that begins and ends with Robert's suicide. Each "segment" is a flashback at his funeral."

But he sings "Being Alive"!? What sense does a suicide make? Steve is dead right. This was discussed at the Sondheim/Frank Rich evening at Avery Fisher Hall.

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 10:11pm

I would pay to see that Cats. That could be fascinating.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 10:15pm

The Sondheim/Rich exchange summed it up:

SOND: "There was a production where at the end of the show, Bobby shot himself."
RICH: "SOO, wait, he SHOT himself after 'Being Alive'???!"

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 3/9/09 at 11:09pm

i'd like to see schmerg's CATS and Pirag's Sweeney.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 1:47am

People have already said everything I would have, but please, God, may nobody ever let you touch Company.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 7:30am

It was just a "crazy concept".

Schmerg, I would go see that production of CATS in a second. It might actually make the show non-ridiculous.

[jasonf]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 8:04am

Wow - I would actually find that Cats interesting! What a great idea!

[whatacharacter]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 8:25am

I would love to see an updated , relavent, revival of west side story with the sharks (a la MS13) and the jets, african american thugs (a la crypts). It would need to be reorchastrated, which could be really great if someone like Stew got their hands on it. That would really build much more tension in Tony and Maria's relationship for the audience, and would bring enough controversy to bring in a new audience to the theatre...I was hoping Laurents' "updated" version would contain such relevance.

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 8:49am

I think I remember reading that when A Chorus Line was in development, they toyed with the idea of having Zach choose different dancers each performance, but had to discard the idea because it made the finale impractical. However, it would be interesting to leave it up to the actor playing Zach to choose his dancers each performance.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 8:57am

^ They did something similar with Spelling Bee in it's early days, too.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/10/09 at 9:14am

I have always wanted to stage Cats in concert. No costumes, no set, and no choreography. But it would be taken very seriously.