Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
#1Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:22pm
Harvey Weinstein: "Rob and I talked about doing 'Kiss of the Spider Woman,' which was a musical Kander & Ebb did. We met with Arthur Laurents to maybe remake 'Gypsy.' We talked to him, told him our ideas -- he said he didn't like any of them. It was great to sit there with Rob Marshall after he'd won the Oscar and have Arthur Laurents tell us that we were absolutely wrong about everything. It's a good humbling experience, trust me."
LOL!
P
Great Interview with Weinstein here
#2re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:24pmLOL. Well Laurents hated their idea of Zeta-Jones as Rose. I wonder if he will take her off his banned Roses list after NIGHT MUSIC?
#2re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:32pm
I found this tidbit particularly interesting:
Weinstein: "And there was somebody from Broadway who's a big Tony Award-winning actress, who some people wanted to do it, but then Fergie came in and, like in the movie, blew us away. She was the right choice."
My first thought was Sara Ramirez, perhaps? Idina? Though she's not the right body type for the role (even pregnant). Any ideas?
P
BrodyFosse123
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/06
#3re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:32pmAlso, Rob Marshall never won an Oscar for CHICAGO. He was nominated for Best Director but did not win. The film won the Oscar for Best Picture along with other Oscars -- but none for Rob Marshall.
#4re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:33pmI think they wanted Angela Lansbury.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#5re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:33pm
So basically, Arthur put the kibosh on a Weinstein-produced, Marshall-directed big-budget feature film of Gypsy?
Smart, Arthur. Real smart.
TheatreFan4
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
#6re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:35pm
I think they wanted Angela Lansbury.
As much as I love her there is no way she could pull it off now at her age.
#7re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:37pm
Usually when a film wins Best Picture it's standard practice for the producer to consider the prize the director's as well as his, as long as they are on good terms, or it would at least be understandable given Marshall's contribution to CHICAGO as director/choreographer AND producer.
As producer, Marshall technically did win the Oscar for CHICAGO as did Weinstein as producer. Weinstein never specified that it was a directing Oscar.
Misleading, yes. Wrong? Not really.
P
#8re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:41pm
Why is Arthur such an ass?
After Chicago and Nine, I would love to see what Rob Marshall would do with Gypsy. I don't know who they would cast, but I'm sure I would like it either way, it is my favorite musical afterall. Hell, I even the Bette Midler Gypsy tv movie.
#9re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:41pm
I'm sure if Gypsy is ever re-made it won't be until after Arthur Laurents dies. He's stated in interviews that he "loathes" the two film versions and was quoted as saying that he thinks Catherine Zeta-Jones is a "second banana". I'd be willing to be that in his will, he'll have some kind of stipulation regarding any possible film version of Gypsy.
I wonder what he thinks of Zeta-Jones now that she's in A Little Night Music.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#10re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:42pmMaybe he didn't want to have all of the songs take place as a vaudeville act.
#11re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:45pmPhyllis, that thought occurred to me as well. Considering Rob Marshall's dislike for "book" numbers, it's surprising that he was drawn to Gypsy.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
#12re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 4:48pm
Doesn't Arthur hate ALNM more than Zeta-Jones though? I could have sworn I've heard him call it a "one song show" or something like that.
Anyway, he and Steve do not get along anymore so I doubt Arthur has seen it and it is unlikely they have discussed it, but who knows?
That being said, I think Arthur had relatively nice things to say about the SWEENEY film so maybe he just doesn't want GYPSY filmed.
And is there any truth to the rumor he is now the show doctor fixing ADDAMS FAMILY? He has expressed his desire to work with Lippa before so it makes sense. They're a good fit. 
P
Updated On: 12/11/09 at 04:48 PM
Brick
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/21/06
#13re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 9:23pm
Yeah, I bet Marshall wanted to conceptualize the songs into vaudeville numbers or something. I'm all for re-imagining a piece when making a film, but GYPSY is perfect. Perfect. Leave it alone.
Kiss of the Spider Woman? Yes, please.
#14re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 9:41pm
P, I definitely thought of Sara being the one to play Seraghina. If it were members of the revival who won Tonys (Laura Benanti or Jane Krakowski they would have had to have been mentioned). Harvey isn't that tunnel-visioned with just Hollywood. Sara was fresh off a Tony win playing diva personified and going to Greys when Marshall signed on so it would make sense the freshest face who would have been central casting for Seraghina was expressed.
Oh and I would completely welcome a movie production of Gypsy led by Marshall. The schadenfreude side of me would just want it reported that Sam Mendes would be interested just to read board reactions.
If Marshall is so willing to save the- no pun intended- sinking ship of a Pirates series he really needs to try to get Damn Yankees off the ground as he is familiar with the material.
Wait, Weinstein was offered Rent but he wanted to do another musical with Marshall? Huh?
Updated On: 12/11/09 at 09:41 PM
#15re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 9:43pmATC claims it was Idina.
#16re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 9:44pmThat would have been a total miscast.
#17re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 10:03pm
Idna would have just been wrong, in both the looks and the voice.
Kiss of the spiderwoman needs to be filmed, I would be happy with either Baz or Robb.
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#18re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 10:06pmArthur, does know the world does not relove around him, yes?
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#19re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 10:13pm
Wait, Weinstein was offered Rent but he wanted to do another musical with Marshall
According to Rob Marshall on my Chicago Razzle Dazzle edition DVD special features, Weinstein offered him Rent, but he wanted to do Chicago instead, so they passed on Rent.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
#20re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 11:02pmI'd rather see Marshall do Lady in the Dark with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline than Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Lady in the Dark is practically written WITH his concept in mind.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#21re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 11:10pmI'm not a huge Arther Laurents fan, but I'm sort of glad we won't have to sit through Rob Marchall's movie version of Gypsy with every song taking place in Rose's head.
#22re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 11:12pmI would love to see a GOOD Gypsy movie, but I don't know if Marshall is right for it. He would probably cut all but 5 songs.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#23re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/11/09 at 11:35pm"See, Rose is always talking about having a dream, so what if the movie is about the real Rose, and when she dreams, it's the stuff from the musical..."
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#24re: Arthur Laurents puts Rob Marshall in his place
Posted: 12/12/09 at 9:33amRob Marshall did not win an Oscar for producing CHICAGO. The Oscar went to Martin Richards.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
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