Are Goulet's lines fed to his ear via radio?- Page 2

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 1:23pm

I agree, after his latest tours , I don't know who would think that Goulet would be able to do the part.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 2:16pm

I'm sorry but Goulet's performance was so dry and bland I really felt bad to Gary Beach. He seemed to drag Goulet(no pun intended through their little dance together. I really missed Daniel Davis' performance. He was superior to Goulet in every way.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 2:57pm

Whether or not Goulet WAS a good musical stage presence before, there has been ample evidence to show that he has long since lost his spark and that he has trouble remembering lines and even moving around the stage.

Not only was Davis fired in the worst of ways and had the class not to get into a pissing contest...but no one ever really stated as fact that anyone had problems with anyone backstage...and Beach has made it clear that he had no problems with Daniel.

THEN they make the whole situation worse by hiring Goulet, who some of us on this board predicted would sink the show with his wooden performance, and inability to speak and move. Now that it's happening, I have to wonder where all the people who championed him have gone. There were some here who thought he would be brilliant. I have no malice toward the man but, like Sinatra, and several other performers before him...SOMEONE has to tell him that his career should come to an end before he is a total embarrassment to himself and the rest of the people on the stage. He should retire and let us remember him in better days. We all have to admit when we are ready to get some well deserved rest.

If they had kept Davis in the show instead of letting someone throw a temper tantrum, this show would probably have stayed for awhile.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 3:04pm

And after all this time, we have heard NOTHING SPECIFIC about Davis' supposed bad behaviour.

What EXACTLY did he do? If anything.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:16pm

I heard that Davis and Beach, once very close friends, were at each others throats so much that they never even spoke, unless they were on stage. I also heard that he gave the other actors notes on their performances.

These are all just rumors that have been stated at one place or another. They may be true; they may not be. I thought Davis was great in the show, and I greatly disliked Beach.

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:25pm

Even if true (and why not? He certainly wouldn't have been the first inflated ego to tread the boards) it's absolutely NO reason to fire the man. I'm still hoping that it doesn't eliminate any future roles for him on B'way. He's just too damned good to lose - particularly this way.

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 04:25 PM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:38pm

Agreed, Mamie.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:53pm

This is what I posted on May 1st after reviewing Goulet's performance and I stand by what I said...

It was BEYOND a JOY and the HIGHLIGHT of my Theatre Season! ONE HELL OF A SHOW! Those Girls/Boys - WHATEVER they are were UN-F***ing believeable! Gary Beach has GROWN LEAPS AND BOUNDS from where he started in November and it FINALLY shows! While I will admit that I did prefer Daniel Davis' Georges, this production is much better suited for Robert Goulet. It just ISNT time to find the inner meaning yet Danny - you were years beyond your time and I applaud you for it! Goulet on the other hand, is dashing, yes a bit too old (but who really cares), the man can sing like he is 40 again! WHAT A VOICE! My God! He sure as hell knows where each and every single Money Note* is and he SHINES in all of his songs! Davis' Song On The Sand was an anthem in its own, Goulets fits this musical to a tea! No Diva moments pulled here, but a true performer! I do love you Daniel, and hope you recover from whatever the trouble may have been - but Goulet, if he gave the performance he gave tonight to each of the critics this weekend - will be Lauded On Broadway as the best thing since sliced Bread! And wow, what it does for Gary's performance as ZaZa/Albin! He is soooooooo dead on now and hits every height (except for that entirely too rushed version of I AM WHAT I AM) that you want to just run up on stage and kiss him!

Ruth Williamson is still turning in the most consistant performance of the entire cast and does it will great vigor. Michael Benjiman Washington is robbed if he doesnt garner a Tony Nom and Gavin Creel has a voice that could put a Lion to sleep!

BRAVO LA CAGE! YOU DID IT! And after witnessing tonights show, YOU WILL WIN A TONY FOR BEST REVIVAL! ONE MILLION PERCENT!"
"

[grizzabella]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 6:57pm

Thanks Justthefacts2 for linking that Goulet article. Having read it, there is NO place to begin. Redhot, Mamie and lots of others have said it all. Goulet's performances are dreadful from all accounts. Mercifully, I saw La Cage with Davis, not him. He's simply past it. It's time to retire on the reputation he once had. As for Mr. Goulet's comments! When I consider what a truly class act Daniel Davis is, and then read Mr. Goulet's remarks,my stomach hurts.

[justthefacts2]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 7:44pm

Actually, Melissa, I can answer a couple of those questions.

"Davis and Beach were close friends for years" - Reidel said that in his column. I believe it is based on not reading the second half of a sentence spoken by Gary Beach in a Playbill interview given when he took on the part. What Beach himself said, and I'm paraphrasing, was "we've been acquaintances for 30 years - we have a close mutual friend." Somebody in Texas - I think he named him. If you'd like, I can find the link.

"Davis was passing out notes on people's performances." I found this being discussed on another board, which I'd have to try to find again, when the whole Daniel issue exploded. Someone was talking about stories they had heard about OTHER actors who were hard to get along with backstage, and one of the things that was done was writing critiques on their fellow castmembers' performances and passing it out to them. I even think the actor in question was named, I got the impression it was a well-known story. The story then started popping up attached to Davis. I'd really have to do some digging to find that one - it's actually another Theater Message Board that I haven't been able to find since, but I'm willing to try if anyone would like

Hope this helped!

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 07:44 PM

[snookyookums]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 1:10am

NO, they are not. If they were, don't you think they'd be completely correct? He tends to improv a bit...
Regardless of this, by all accounts Goulet is absolutely lovely to work with, Gary Beach has a ball with him, and it is NOT his fault the show is closing. The show was not selling well when Davis was still there. The closing has much more to do with not enough advertising and not advertising to the right people, and money issues. Don't believe everything you read, guys!

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 1:16am

Snooky -
The one thing I can read AND believe are the grosses posted in Playbill and now here. The show dropped 22% the week after Davis was fired. It's wavered since then but never came close to recovering.

Goulet may be an absolute saint to work with, but that interview speaks volumes. Like it or not.

[kyle.]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 2:15am

i dont mean to add to all of this but there really was alot of backstage drama with davis. a friend of mine is good friends with one of the stagedoor men at the theatre. we went to see la cage together in april and talked with him before the show. he was telling us how davis was a horror to be around and he was so glad they finally got rid of him.

one interesting thing he said was that the only person davis got along with backstage was gavin creel....

Updated On: 6/22/05 at 02:15 AM

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 9:34am

Sorry guys, but these are still all rumors...postings on other theatrical boards and rumors spread by the door man and chorus kids...if you've been in and around theater as long as I have you know that if you talk to enough people you can find someone who will bad mouth even Mother Teresa. And this is also true in the corporate world or any microcosm of society.

If you couple that with a rumor spread by our friend Riedel is not famous for his research or for being objective, then it's a natural combination for someone with an axe to grind to jump into the soup. The fact is that Davis had JUST done Frogs and while he is known for having high standards and for speaking out when he feels something is wrong in the show, he is no more difficult than a lot of other actors.

If there were real substance to this claim, the producers would have made a statement through the press that formally said 'creative differences' or some such code speak for 'the guy was a bitch to get along with' but NOTHING was said, which is even worse because it leaves things open for people to make up stories and the stories get bigger as they are told.

This is unfair to a man who should have a successful stage career and how has a lot of talent. If he did something wrong he deserves to be formally accused...or leave the guy alone.

Lastly, to compare Goulet's wooden performance to Davis and say that he shouldn't be looking to find the inner character is pretty sad...aren't all we actors and performers supposed to be playing a role...not just walking across the stage and delivering lines?

To each his own but I really have to say that in my opinion Goulet should have retired 5 years ago and left us with great memories instead of becoming a caricature.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 11:00am

Well said, SamIam! Bravo! So, so true!

[broadwayman]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 11:07am

I actually was talking to one of the cast members, (whose name i will not reveal, to keep privacy), but they said it was not joyous to let Daniel Davis go, They were not happy to see him go.

[Social*Dynasty]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 12:58pm

I don't know the details, but i think it's funny that no one has ever considered this reason for the show's demise:

We're in the midst of a literal culture war with Fundamentalist Christians, and a totally right wing Congress. Middle America is the bulk of the B'way ticket buying public. Super Gay Contented Musical...at the wrong time.

Sounds like more of a culprit than a wooden performance or a diva stance.

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/22/05 at 6:03pm

You know, SocialD, normally I would agree with you...and I CERTAINLY agree that we are living in scary times, given the advent of the evangelical or bust presidency...and all the surrounding nonsense that is now pushing out anyone who is different than THEM...

But, I don't think La Cage is threatening in that way. Sure...I Am My Own Wife and countless other shows like Assassins were pushed off the stage prior to the RNC, and that was definitely a bad sign, but La Cage is not really in that category and it IS New York City after all. If this show was on the road, I'd say it would die immediately because of the climate in the bible belt, but here in NYC, I think we have to attribute its closing to the horrendous reports of bad performances.

A friend of mine who is in the theater industry as well, and who shall remain nameless because he also posts on this board, recently saw Goulet and said he got 'frozen' on the stage and couldn't move...and that his performance was wooden. I feel for the man, but he's getting paid to do a job.

And look at the videos that have been circulated on the internet. The clips of Goulet singing, with hands uncomfortably placed on Beach's shoulders, are really not fun to watch. He looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.