Boy George in "Taboo"?

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 8:38pm

I was just looking at Broadway.com's video archive, and saw a clip of TABOO. I also saw an interview w/ Boy George. It wasn't until then that it hit me: He was in his own show.

It got me thinking: "Has this guy ever done a musical before"? I read a webpage that said the reviews for his performance were scathing. So, I'm curious; What was George's performance like in the show? Was he good? Apparantly, he missed every other show... or something like that. I wish I could've seen it. Oh, well. There's always the OBC.

[LC]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:20pm

"I was just looking at Broadway.com's video archive, and saw a clip of TABOO. I also saw an interview w/ Boy George. It wasn't until then that it hit me: He was in his own show."

You've really only just realized this now???

""Has this guy ever done a musical before"?"

No, just Taboo in London, and I doubt he has any plans to do another, or any acting aspirations.

"Apparantly, he missed every other show... or something like that."

Taboo ran for 100 performances in NY, and BG performed in about 90% of them. He missed a few performances in the last month.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:26pm

Did you seriously just repeat everything I wrote?

Anyways... since most of the publicity was on Euan and Raul (in fact, none of the TV ads mentioned that Boy George was actually in the cast).

My last comment about his attendance was only said because everytime someone posted something about the show on the board, they (more often than not) said that he was absent from that show.

I'm still confused as to why you didn't answer my original question. Thanks anyway.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:40pm

For the record, most of the ads *did* say "Boy George in TABOO."

Anyway, I saw the show in its last week, and George was *not* there, but a lot of people told me I wasn't missing anything other than being able to say I saw Boy George. I heard his acting was... well, not so good.... and I loved the understudy anyway.

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:48pm

Thanks for the response. That's very interesting.

I forgot who, but someone reported that they saw George in a bar and asked him "Aren't you supposed to be performing tonight?", to which he replied "God, no."

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:00am

I saw Boy George 7 times and his understudy once and while the Boy himself needed some help in the acting department I couldn't help but feel bad for his understudy. Certain lines (such as Leigh saying to George that Karma Chameleon was a dreaful song) just didn't fly as well as they did with the irony of Boy George playing Leigh.

I do have to say that I loved seeing Boy George do Ich Bin Kunst and thrilled on that scene because of the times he would just start making comments to the audience or about things.

[Kelly]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:48am

And I thought I was out of the loop!

Anyway, I saw Taboo seven times and I saw George seven times. He really didn't miss that many shows but, when he did, everyone in the world reported it so it seemed more frequent that it actually was, I think.
As for his acting, well, George has never claimed to be an actor! If I remember correctly, when he was first approached to take the role in London, he was very much against it. That said, I think he did a fine job with something that I doubt many people (least of all himself) ever expected him to try. Good on ya Georgie!

[bythesword84]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 1:45am

You're right, I saw an interview with him too where he said he was against the part, and it was because he didn't think he'd be able to act it well enough. Yet, I think he gave it a great shot and the show was not hurting from it.

[SweetCarolineFan]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 3:25am

yea he was in the show playing leigh bowery

-cj

[Ruffian]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 9:12am

I saw "TABOO" 14 times & only once was BOY GEORGE out....though it was true he did miss more shows towards the end of the run. The night he was out was the night ROSIE told the Cast the show was closing. His understudy is a nice guy, and a good singer, but frankly he did not have the "BIGNESS" to pull off Leigh.....its true GEORGE is not a great actor....but LEIGH was so outrageous & on another loop of life, GEORGE was quite fine. Would not want to see GEORGE play "HAMLET"....but he was perfect as LEIGH

There is so much juicy irony in GEORGE playing his old friend LEIGH......

[twogaab2]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:23am

I got the feeling that one of the reasons the book seemed rather "choppy" was because many of his scenes were cut because he wasn't quite up to them.

He was quite good in the scene where he got to "drop character" and talk to the audience (Ich Bin Kunst). However, Hugh Jackman does this all the time and no one seems to mind.

Just my opinion, I may be wrong. (Keep in mind, I only saw closing night).

[cabarethed]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 11:57am

I thought George did very well as time went on. He just seemed a little uncomfortable the first few times I saw it (I ended up seeing it 8 times, both shows on closing day), but he really improved. I noticed that his big scene with Big Sue (at the beginning of Act II) got much better once he finally added a jacket to cover the unflattering pajama-like costume he had on. He seemed extremely uncomfortable and folding his arms over himself the first few times I saw that scene. Otherwise, he learned to tap into the emotional bits well, had pretty good comic timing, and was just supreme during Ich Bin Kunst. The only u/s I saw were Brooke (2x) when Liz took maternity leave, and Donnie for Raul on 2/1.

[marcy marc]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:08pm

BOY GEORGE DID THE MOST PUBICITY FOR THE SHOW! and Euan was almost always asked what it was like to play George with him in the cast, or he would simply state that George was in it..

[EVGIRL]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 12:32pm

The only shows George missed was after Rosie had made the decision to close it. Apparently he was kind of sulking about that. As for his acting, he was good in the campy comic parts (in clubs) like Ich Bin Kunst and I'll Have you All, but he was atrocious in the emotional at home sections with Nicola and Big Sue. In the London show, Leigh Bowery was only in clubby scenes; it didn't have the emotional stuff. So while his acting worked fine in the London version, it didn't in the NY version. Also, he was not good with stage movement and choreography because of his weight. My opinion is George should stick to writing songs, and leave to acting to others. Updated On: 6/16/04 at 12:32 PM

[Kelly]

Posted: 6/16/04 at 10:24pm

Because of his weight? I don't think that has anything to do with it at all. Firstly, he's really not as big as people make him out to be. Secondly, there are PLENTY of actors who do just fine with a few extra pounds on them. I think a more plausible (and less silly, really) explanation is that George is not a seasoned actor. Simple as that.