Posted: 9/16/24 at 5:46pm
Unless The Notebook is allowing her out of the show the week following her debut, Anna Zavelson is probably going to have to dropout of this.
Posted: 9/16/24 at 10:50pm
How about Greta Lee? She has played the role before and mentioned on the red carpet she was returning to the stage soon but that it was the first time she was saying anything about it.
Posted: 9/17/24 at 9:58am
wsondheim94 said: "darquegk said: "It’s a question of, is the taking out emotional neglect/resentment, physical violence or sexual abuse?"
Ah, I see. Makes sense. Thanks!"
I've always interpreted this as meaning emotional neglect/resentment. I think if it was intended to imply physical violence or sexual abuse, that would be made more clear elsewhere in the material, because that's a very heavy topic to introduce into a generally uplifting/light-hearted show in a passive/ambiguous way. But I guess it's up for interpretation. I wasn't aware that this lyric had been "debated heavily."
Posted: 9/17/24 at 11:57am
Rentaholic2 said: "wsondheim94 said: "darquegk said: "It’s a question of, is the taking out emotional neglect/resentment, physical violence or sexual abuse?"
Ah, I see. Makes sense. Thanks!"
I've always interpreted this as meaning emotional neglect/resentment. I think if it was intended to imply physical violence or sexual abuse, that would be made more clear elsewhere in the material, because that's a very heavy topic to introduce into a generally uplifting/light-hearted show in a passive/ambiguous way. But I guess it's up for interpretation. I wasn't aware that this lyric had been "debated heavily.""
I'm of the same opinion. I don't think the idea that Olive's father is outright abusive is supported textually at all. Absent or distant, emotionally neglectful, frustrated, sure.
Posted: 9/17/24 at 11:33pm
Updated On: 9/18/24 at 11:33 PM
Posted: 9/18/24 at 9:51am
…You mean Drive Away Dolls, directed by 4 time Academy Award Winner Ethan Coen? It’s not great, but in what universe is it gross or a HORROR film???
Posted: 9/18/24 at 10:43am
Crazy that my post telling them to get a hobby and stop being weird gets deleted while people here just get to take cheap shots at Beanie for the crime of taking a role she was bad at on Broadway like 3 years ago and they can't let it go...
Updated On: 9/18/24 at 10:43 AM
Posted: 9/18/24 at 12:29pm
Leana Rae Concepcion replaces Anna Zavelson
https://playbill.com/article/leana-rae-concepcion-joins-kennedy-centers-25th-annual-putnam-county-spelling-bee
Posted: 9/18/24 at 1:11pm
Truly. She’s talented in the right roles. I thought she shined in Lady Bird. Weird people still talk about as if Funny Girl is still running.
Posted: 9/18/24 at 1:14pm
Finn's done significant rewrites on his other shows for their major revivals (the Broadway revival of Falsettos and the Encores revival of A New Brain). Do you think he'll do any for Spelling Bee?
Posted: 9/18/24 at 2:07pm
Kimberly Immanuel would be a great Marcy, though she's not a name. Not sure if Stephanie Hsu is around and available.
Posted: 9/18/24 at 3:37pm
Alex Kulak2 said: "Finn's done significant rewrites on his other shows for their major revivals(the Broadway revival ofFalsettosand the Encores revival ofA New Brain). Do you think he'll do any forSpelling Bee?"
I don’t recall the Falsettos revival having significant rewrites? From what I remember, it was very close to the original Broadway version. However, the original Broadway production was never recorded and it did have a lot of differences from the original off-Broadway versions of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, and those were the only formally recorded versions of the score until the revival.
I hope Finn doesn’t make changes. The changes implemented by he and Lapine for A New Brain were sideways moves at best.
Updated On: 9/18/24 at 03:37 PM
Posted: 9/18/24 at 3:51pm
If anything, I wish William Finn & Michael Starobin had taken a new pass at the orchestrations for the FALSETTOS revival (even if it didn't involve adding musicians). The sound of that show is so 90s.
Posted: 9/18/24 at 4:15pm
Not sure there’s much to play with for spelling bee anyway. The book is pretty tight structure wise.
Posted: 9/18/24 at 4:45pm
I wonder if they'll change/update some of the words and their definitions and sentence usage. There's usually some room to play around with that.
Posted: 10/11/24 at 10:47pm
Just saw the first performance at the Kennedy Center. Disclaimer: I’ve always been a super fan of the show, but can also be quite critical of some of the productions I’ve seen. That said, I think this production is nearly perfect. The only thing keeping it from being perfect is that it’s not the original Broadway production. The cast was tremendous, and it was as fully staged as you’d expect from a show that might have sights set on a NY revival.
Bonnie Milligan is a powerhouse, as always. Nina White is fantastic as Olive and shines in The I Love You Song, one of the best showtunes ever written.
There were very few changes to the script. As mentioned earlier, Mitch’s story has been revised, as he is now a gym owner whose business went belly up during COVID. The words given to audience spellers have been changed. One contestants introduction was that she has personally started three separate petitions to get Liza Minnelli a Kennedy Center Honors. Olive’s reference to the Bombay sun has been appropriately updated to Mumbai. Logainne’s liberal monologue addressed book banning (she couldn’t get The Feminine Mystique at her library), drag queen brunches, and Project 2025. But I didn’t notice much else.
I do wish they had a little more diversity in the kids. Other than Marcy, it was W-H-I-T-E. I thought Chip, Leaf and William all looked a little too similar.
The audience was beyond enthusiastic, and I wish I were staying in DC longer to see it again.
Updated On: 10/13/24 at 10:47 PM
Posted: 10/13/24 at 10:39am
Show was fantastic. Strong cast all around - no weak links. I thought Noah Galvin was especially fantastic, but everyone was wonderful. One correction to the above - it’s not just Marcy. Philippe Arroyo is in the cast too. It was a joyous experience.
Posted: 10/13/24 at 10:58am
Mickey3309 said: "Show was fantastic. Strong cast all around - no weak links. I thoughtNoah Galvin was especially fantastic, but everyone was wonderful. One correction to the above - it’s not just Marcy. PhilippeArroyo is in the cast too. It was a joyous experience."
Right, Philippe, who was tremendous. I wasn’t sold on the whole cast when they announced it, but wow, perfection, each and every one.
Posted: 10/13/24 at 11:10am
A lot of those “updated” segments and words are scripted as improv portions in the licensed version.
Posted: 10/16/24 at 7:52pm
any discounts other than TodayTix 60$ lottery?
Posted: 10/16/24 at 11:55pm
if their Spamalot can transfer to Bway, why not this?
Posted: 10/18/24 at 11:59pm
Just say the show tonight. Rushed and got 2 orchestra K tickets at 7:35p. Overall exceptional talents. I personally thought Bonnie and Beanie were the highlights of the show. I liked the update to Mitch. The audience loved it.
Updated On: 10/19/24 at 11:59 PM
Posted: 10/20/24 at 12:23am
Loved the show as well. Very strong cast! This was my first time seeing Kevin McHale perform live so as a Gleek I thought he was amazing! Other standouts for me were Bonnie Milligan, Beanie Feldstein, Taran Killam, and Leana Rae Concepcion.
I never saw the original Bway production so I thought it was cool how they selected 4-5 random spellers from the audience to join them onstage.
Posted: 10/20/24 at 1:10am
ACL2006 said: "if their Spamalot can transfer to Bway, why not this?"
This has no plans to transfer
Posted: 10/20/24 at 10:32am
The spellers selected from the audience is a normal part of the show. I was one of those in a local production a few years ago. Except that it wasn't so random. We were approached ahead of time and asked to volunteer. Before the show started we were briefed on the procedures, including that we would be given a few words to spell. It was fine if we got one or two of them correct, but we eventually had to get something wrong.
It was interesting that the judges in the cast had to cover all sorts of contingencies, ie: if we spelled our words correctly or not.
