Bothered and Bewildered- jv92 sees Pal Joey- Page 2

[jv92]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 7:02pm

Aside from the fact that Risch and Channing are awful, the book is a complete mess! The dancing is pedestrian. I'm a Daniele fan too! It's not good work. The cheesy nightclub routines Fosse staged for the film of Cabaret are better than the dances in this production. And those orchestrations! Can Don Sebesky please stop murdering classic scores? His work on Kiss Me, Kate was pretty good. Why did he have to butcher fine originals by Ralph Burns (for Sweet Charity) and now Hans Spielak? (sp?)
And the roles Carol Channing, Lauren Bacall and Kate Hepburn played were not written to be particularly well sung. Viviane Segal was a very good singer and Patti LuPone is a brilliant singer. Why couldn't they have simply cast Donna Murphy or Victoria Clark? They're just as good as actresses as Channing and far superior singers. (And is it me or does Vicki Clark bear a striking resemblance to Ms. Segal?)

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 7:10pm

"I don't think the Japanese 'Pacific Overtures' was in Japanese. The Japanese TV production is in English (and well-spoken, too)."

There was a production in Japanese directed by Amon Miyamoto, who later directed the Roundabout production. At this link there are links to reports on it:

http://www.sondheimreview.com/v7n3.htm

It was broadcast on TV in Japan, as was the original Broadway production. The telecast that you're thinking of is the one of the original Broadway production. (Yes, the show's been telecast twice in Japan, once in English and once in Japanese, but never here.) The telecast of the original production was cut down to 120 minutes when it was telecast, and for a time that was the only version that Museum of Television and Radio, now known the Paley Center for Media, had. Now they have a complete version.

The Miyamoto Japanese production played at Avery Fisher Hall in 2002 and then also played at the Kennedy Center as a special event in the Sondheim festival.

Here's a link to the Times review from when it played at Fisher Hall:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9402E6DF1230F932A25754C0A9649C8B63

"Aren't Carol Bruce and Carol Brice different people? Somebody help........."

They were different people, and I mistyped below. Carol Bruce was the white lady who played Vera. Carol Brice was a black lady who sang in classical recitals and with symphony orchestras, in some opera, and in musicals. Both had great voices. Both were contraltos, but they didn't sound at all alike.

Thanks for prompting me to correct myself.
Updated On: 11/24/08 at 07:10 PM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/24/08 at 8:44pm

Btw, Carol Bruce and Carol Brice were both in the first production of the musical version of The Grass Harp, at Trinity Rep in Rhode Island. Bruce played Verena and Brice played Catherine, as she did in the Broadway production five years or so later.

That was the production in which Elaine Stritch played Babylove, and Barbara Baxley played Dolly. As you might expect, the score was somewhat different than the Broadway version. Barbara Baxley was a great actress, but I don't think anyone wanted her to hit a high C.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 4:57pm

lol Bruce and Brice worked together???

lol Stritch was in "The Grass Harp"????

I just love BWW.......

[buddharich]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 5:21pm

I disagree about the original book of Pal Joey. It not only makes sense but more importantly there is no reason to have "updated" and/or PC book changes at all. I watch old movies all the time & they never change the screenplay for us people living in 2008! I WANT the original book!

I haven't seen this production yet so I don't know - I am disappointed that Christian Hoff has been replaced. Pal Joey is one of my all-time favorites - I'll be seeing it in December, assuming it's still playing! (:

[logan0215]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 5:40pm

Why on Earth would you be disappointed that Hoff was replaced?

You haven't seen him and about 99.9% of the reviews for him have not just been "mediocre," but stark-raving terrible and demanding a replacement.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 6:39pm

Peter Filichia discusses that first production of The Grass Harp at this link:

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/2988

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/25/08 at 6:52pm

Why on Earth would you be disappointed that Hoff was replaced?

You haven't seen him and about 99.9% of the reviews for him have not just been "mediocre," but stark-raving terrible and demanding a replacement.
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