Like... do i wanna try lottery so I can see the disaster myself? I honestly don't know if its worth the effort...
CoffeeBreak said: "If the production keeps Billy, he is currently scheduled out of the show
August 21st - August 24th & October 9th - October 11th"
If the production lasts until October, I might actually go back on these dates.
Seeing him do this show in London, I was reminded (again) that his voice is just gone.
Marisha is the one you go to see. She's doing good her usual great work, solid acting, superb vocal.
Billy needs to just go away.
BenjaminNicholas2 said: "Seeing him do this show in London, I was reminded (again) that his voice is just gone.”
The first thing I noticed in that interview was that his speaking voice sounded very, very gravelly, like a heavy smoker sounds. He’s always had a bit of roughness to his sound, but not as much as that. If he sings like that now too, I can’t imagine that being very pleasant to listen to.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
The Distinctive Baritone said: "Watching the whole clip where he also reveals his nonsensical “backstory” for his version of the Emcee as an American fleeing the Jim Crow South of the 1930s leads me to believe that he really has no actual “take” on the character - at least not one that is based on the text or the much documented history of how Hal Prince came up with that character and why. As a result, he is unable to answer the interviewers’ questions with any clarity or depth, and his statement about Jews is just him trying and failing to come up with something meaningful to say."
Want to grab him (and almost any other POC who is playing a character non-traditionally) and let them know that they are actually playing WHITE. It's pretend. As much as we're pretending this is Weimer Germany, Billy Porter is playing a white person. As is Marisha Wallace. Especially in this production where the MC is more likely than not an actual Nazi! And if not a Nazi, the character is complicit with its all-Aryan desire for Germany!
I can’t really fault Porter for taking that approach to the Emcee given the production’s take on Cliff, who is explicitly intended as not being white despite the fact he needs to be friends with Ernst and generally blend in. It’s a production that is incredibly superficial.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/14/22
There were SO MANY Black people in Weimar Germany and they were all artistic bohemians!!
Actually, there were only about 25,000 in a country of 109 million and they mostly came from Africa.
Swing Joined: 7/18/25
Kad said: "I can’t really fault Porter for taking that approach to the Emcee given the production’s take on Cliff, who is explicitly intended as not being white despite the fact he needs to be friends with Ernst and generally blend in. It’s a production that is incredibly superficial."
How is the Ernst Cliff dynamic superficial? One of the critical points is that people in the show and also the audience get a little taken aback when the armband is revealed, because Ernst has been projecting nothing but bonhomie. He's lulled them into ignoring signs about him. He also doesn't seem to have any qualms about Cliff's queerness. His being American was more important to his cause at that point.
Cliff's background makes his read on the situation and his pleading with Sally land with more weight.
Ernt is very willing to use him and then punch him when he stops being useful.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/29/23
MezzA101 said: "Billy scheduled to sit with the Jew Seth Meyers tonight."
Surely there was a better way to phrase this.
MezzA101 said: "Billy scheduled to sit with the Jew Seth Meyers tonight."
weird
Featured Actor Joined: 8/28/03
We thought Seth Meyers was Jewish too, but the other month heard him say he is not. His grandfather was Jewish, but he wasn't raised Jewish. Here's more info: https://hollywoodmask.com/p/is-seth-meyers-jewish.html
Broadway Star Joined: 4/30/22
NYCtheater said: "We thought Seth Meyers was Jewish too, but the other month heard him say he is not. His grandfather was Jewish, but he wasn't raised Jewish. Here's more info:https://hollywoodmask.com/p/is-seth-meyers-jewish.html
"
“He should change his last name then. No non-Jew is allowed to use the name MYERS!”
- The kids over on the Maybe Happy Ending Instagram, probably
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/27/19
MezzA101 said: "Billy scheduled to sit with the Jew Seth Meyers tonight."
Kad said: "I can’t really fault Porter for taking that approach to the Emcee given the production’s take on Cliff, who is explicitly intended as not being white despite the fact he needs to be friends with Ernst and generally blend in. It’s a production that is incredibly superficial."
I know Cliff was intentionally cast as a black man here and in the West End, but in my viewings on both sides, I’ve actually seen a totally mixed group of Cliffs now that I think about it
U.K: Chris O’Mara (U/S), Taite-Elliot Drew (U/S) - both white
U.S: Ato-Blankson Wood, Calvin Leon Smith (both black), and Pedro Garza (Hispanic)
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