BROADWAY BARE OF CURLY HAIR?- Page 2

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 6:49pm

Ahhhh, Julian...

It sounds like your director has a sad case of narcissisticurlipsychtosis.

Stiff upper lip, old chap.

At least it's not contagious except between directors and their occaisonal deranged fans.

Yet the larger question looms...

Of what UTILITY is curly hair to men on Broadway?
Updated On: 9/11/05 at 06:49 PM

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:23pm

My favorite picture of Matty Fresh

Not all Broadway men need curly hair, just the one in my life already does
--korenglish

[Phantom2]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:38pm

Fascinating thread...
Perhaps I shall get a perm.

Updated On: 9/11/05 at 07:38 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:41pm

I dunno, korenglish, that guy looks like the leaning tower of Piazza in that photo.

And frankly, curly haired men should always give a serious pose for posterity (except in the posterior).

Somehow I picture them in serious dramas like Shakepeare's Hamlet, Henry V, Coriolanus or maybe even Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You.

Again I query--

Of what utility is curly hair to Broadway men?
Updated On: 9/11/05 at 07:41 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:47pm

...Only for the lead in Oklahoma! And I noticed a little "non-traditional casting" for the revival.

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:49pm

hey! I really like that picture. It's actually cropped, which is why it may look kind of slated...

[Phantom2]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:51pm

Matt's hair is pretty tame these days. It was wild (in a good way!) a couple of years back.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:54pm

But-- korenglish, can't you turn it upright? (I can't really tell if the hair is curly because you mostly cropped it out.)

Here's a thought--what about SPITCURLS?

Do you think the presence of a few more SPITCURLS in Broadway stills would somehow boost the business?

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 7:58pm

hmm...I rarely post on BWW, but this thread has kept my attention for a few hours now.

Can someone please tell me that this thread is a joke
or
is something really wrong with nomdeplume?

You can PM me if you choose but please let me know because if this poster is really saying these things in honesty and not joking, it's quite a bit frightening.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 8:01pm

Reality is terrifying.

It takes courage to confront a sinister wit.

Or a canister to stuff it in.

Which brings up the possibility--

Do you think Broadway men would benefit from curly-haired wigs?
Updated On: 9/11/05 at 08:01 PM

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 8:15pm

There is food for much thought in this thread. My greatest question would be: where is the line drawn between what is curly and what is straight? Does the aspiring Broadway actor with pleasantly wavy hair have any hope? If he is able to achieve a semblance of curls with the use of such styling products as gel and mousse, should he pursue his chosen vocation? What if his hair will hold a curl, as created by an iron or hot roller, but does not curl on its own? Would he be considered a viable candidate for any role on Broadway?

As far as what use curly hair can have to a Broadway actor, I believe it has something to do with his ability to fill the theater. As we all know, over half of the world's population is female. The female of the species is not only always attracted to those males with curly hair, but they are known for basing their ticket purchasing choices on just such an attraction. Hence, producers feel the need to hire curly-haired actors over their straight counterparts because of their superior box office power. I know it is not a just system, but we have seen many times that selling tickets is paramount to the Broadway producer, over other questions of artistic merit.

How sad, this world we live in!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 8:21pm

wickedwitchofthechest, I know not how to address your sheer genius and depth of contemplation on this troubling subject.

I humbly offer that certainly such devoted styling efforts should be applauded by all audiences, even casting directors.

I also proffer for meditation that famous quote from Buddha:

"The male of the species requires a curly mane to attract the female; the lioness may be close-cropped, particularly one who is a pride unto herself."

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 8:51pm

Spookie my poohkie
Will you curl your hair?
And if I curl mine
Will you look, will you care?

[moowithme111105]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:01pm

why would they?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:04pm

No moo for you, moowithme.

French cows "meu."

Meu!

Comment ca dire "curly" en francais?

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:09pm

En francais, le mot pour "curly" est bouclé.

Does the French theater suffer from this same curly-headed mania? Is this a worldwide phenomenon?

[BwayLeadman]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:13pm

Damn it, i cut my curly hair. Now i have to grow it out again.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:14pm

J'adore le phantome avec le cheveux boucle--
Je pense qu'il m'aime, mais pourquoi je ne pas sais...


wickedwitchofthechest, it is perhaps a Natural Worldwide Phenomena (NWP)...I'm not sure I'd classify the Overall Grand Desire for Curly Hair (OGDCH) as a mania...

I ask again, do Broadway men need curly hair to be successful on the stage?


Updated On: 9/11/05 at 09:14 PM

[Phantom2]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 9:51pm

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 10:15pm

I ask again, do Broadway men need curly hair to be successful on the stage?

I just don't know the answer, and think that's because I'm very tired. I've had a lot of trouble sleeping this past week and I know realize that it's this very question that has been troubling me.

Many great works of art have shown us, though, that the move to curls (for women as well as men) is the ultimate transformation. See, for example, Annie (it's clear that Daddy Warbucks will never love her like his own until she curls her hair), The Wizard of Oz (The Lion gets his mane curled in The Emerald City and I think we all know things would have turned out differently if he hadn't. I know Elphaba wishes the lion hadn't gotten that perm) and Sleeping With the Enemy (Julia Roberts goes into hiding from her abusive husband. What's her big disguise? A spiral perm!)

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 10:29pm

Kringas, I do think in The Wizard of Oz that the Lion's getting his hair curled is the source of his courage, his verile maneliness. It's a fact.

Do you think in Annie that Daddy Warbucks suffered from ringlet envy?
Updated On: 9/11/05 at 10:29 PM

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 10:30pm

And, of course, let us not neglect the fact that curls are, historically, the ultimate symbol of beauty and thus power. This desire for curls dates back at least as far as Michaelangelo's David and Botticelli's Venus, proving once again that curls have for centuries been the ultimate asset for anyone wishing to enter the world of the arts.

(Man, am I good at procrastination! Shakespeare, you will never be read!)

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 10:40pm

wickedwitch, I am once again astonished by the depth of your cultural and historical associations! Ah, you make me reflect on my forays through the Louvre and the Galleria...

Do you think that male curls on the stage have made a great contribution to Western Civilization?

Surely pretenders to greatness like Napoleon (think of the Turner painting in the Tate) copied his curls from the great artists of the stage...

[wickedwitchofthechest]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 11:17pm

Your question is, indeed, an interesting and somewhat troubling one, nomdeplume.

I believe that, yes, male curls in the arts have had a significant effect on Western culture. In perusing the collected works of Shakepeare conveniently situated on my bed, I have noticed that the common denominator between most actors pictured on its pages would seem to be curly hair. Can this be coincidence? Given this startling trend, it would seem to me that some of the great works of the theater were written specifically for the curly-haired male. Without him at the basis of our dramatic structures, we would in all likelihood not be able to enjoy the theatrical experiences that link us all together in this little corner of cyberspace, and therefore the curly-haired male's cultural influence is by no means insignificant.

The lack of curly hair in many historical figures is somewhat troubling. Take Napoleon as an example. His obviously unnatural attempts to create curls point to a deep-seated psychological trouble, and is at the root of his destructive path. Another obvious example would be Mussolini, whose curl bereavement very likely began his obsessive grasps for power.

Therefore, while the perfectly spiraled male coif has been a beneficent influence on our society, we must be very careful in allowing such a trend to continue. It would be shocking, indeed, in our supposedly broad-minded society, to allow the continuation of discrimination against the straight-haired, as we have seen the horrors this can lead to. We must strive for a society, at least within the theater, where the curly and straight-haired can work together, for the betterment of all.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 9/11/05 at 11:41pm

wickedwitch, my shabby intellect staggers in awe at your proposal for theatrical oneness.

Do I understand your razor sharp wit in accuracy--do you mean we should accept Broadway males for their curly, straight or sans hair as equals on stage au naturel? Or do you mean that we should adorn them all with curly hair as they tread the boards, curling iron, wig or rien as required by illusion of stagecraft, making explicit references in the text to the societal equality of those who suffer the lack of frill, shall we say?

Need we denude our masterpieces of the stage of their swirling tresses to supplicate the political correctness demands of the spike-haired barbarian hoardes? I fear the decline and fall of the Roman Empire can be traced to a similar precarious slip in standards...
Updated On: 9/11/05 at 11:41 PM