BYE BYE BIRDIE first preview... — Page 7

This whole brouhaha has given me greater admiration for the late Gower Champion.

In this instance we have the same material put into the hands of two different director/choreographers with a span of almost 5 decades between them. In the hands of Champion, the material shone beautifully. His genius found clever ways of expressing ideas and the show had verve. Although I realize that the current production is still a work-in-progress, it comes nowhere close to what Champion achieved.

Maybe it all comes down to what Arthur Laurents said about having a show "in your bones". Champion did. Longbottom doesn't.

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Yeah, I was the one who said that. As someone with a very trained ear, I state again that I'd rather listen to Janney. Janney knew singing wasn't her strong suit, but it never felt forced. Her singing sounded effortless (when I saw it), and while she obviously wasn't in the same caliber vocally as her co-stars, she pulled it off.

Gershon was consistently pitchy (usually flat) and strained- when she actually chose to sing. Some of that could have been attributed to nervousness- it is natural to tense and close up when nervous, but... on Thursday she was just not good. Obviously, no one is exempt from nerves, but as a seasoned professional, I'd have expected it to wear off as the night progressed, and it just did not. I do wish her well, though, and hope she receives some great training over the course of the run to support and sustain her instrument.

Luvbrdway, a couple of answers to your questions:
1 & 3) Most commercial shows do have an out-of-town tryout. However, shows with Roundabout Theatre Company, a non-profit organization, usually have workshops that lead up to the Broadway run, rather than a full staging to work out the kinks. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

eta: edited for tense.

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Updated On: 9/12/09 at 10:08 AM

Hey Dollypop--Totally agree! When you see a show like this Birdie or last season's Guys and Dolls or Pal Joey, you realize how easy it is to do something pretty pedestrian, and the talent and skill that must be involved in order to put on a truly terrific musical. And you appreciate guys like Champion even more.

Songanddance, I thought Gershon was indeed going for it last night, and if she could sing and dance it well, that would've been great. I agree with Mike, Stamos' character is all over the place, he needs to find this guy Albert Peterson and stop mugging like he's on a sitcom. BJH, yes, it's true! I don't know if I'd find Janney more listenable only hearing the audio versions, but she just plain sold that character in 9 to 5 and had so much joy in her performance. Granted, I saw 9 to 5 at the end and Birdie last night, so the performances will only get more assured.

Luvbrdway, Roundabout is a nonprofit, subscription-based theater company based in New York City. Their shows don't have out-of-town tryouts, since they're performed exclusively in theaters Roundabout owns in NY. I don't know the rules, but the out-of-town tryout seems to be reserved for new, original musicals like "Catch Me If You Can." But yes, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try out a new cast in a musical revival, given some recent productions! The other problem with that is that if you have actors who do a lot of TV/movie work, they're probably not gonna want to make the time to do a show in Seattle for a month or two before their B'way commitment.

As far as them booting out Gershon, that would be a very delicate question, as she is a respected actress who has been great in other things and seems to be trying hard here--not to mention that they'd have to find someone better in a hurry. But because Roundabout has subscribers and is not that dependent on word of mouth, plenty of people will see this show even if it's not so good.

None of this, however, explains why people make such questionable casting decisions in the first place! I'm assuming nobody asks Gina to sing a song or two from the show before placing her in the role, right? Now if somebody here can tell me how THAT transaction typically goes down, I am wondering...

I made the same joke, luvbrdway.

Gina may go for it but falls completely flat. I've never hated Rose before.

A May-December relationship might just be the little something extra this revival needs!

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What's wrong with this show? Just about everything per Rob. http://www.robwillreview.com/?p=1565

That person lost all credibility when he said Spanish Rose was moved to the end. The song is always performed at that point of the show. Maybe the idiot has never actually seen the show.

In some shows, yeah. In others, not so much.

LOL... fair enough. I meant recently.

What show did Ashford choreograph and direct?

Didn't Ashford direct the recent London production of PARADE? It's the same production that is opening in LA with TR Knight in the main role.

EDIT: Smaxie beat me to it.

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Also director/choreographer Tommy Tune

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