"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
I loved Brent Carver and Chita Rivera performing "Where You Are." Ethel Merman looked so old! I was impressed but it's amazing how she could hold those notes and gave a great performance. They included some musicals that I think most people don't really care about though, like there was one-can't remember the name-that ran for like 200 performances in the 1960's. I loved Harvey Fierstein though!!! When are they releasing the DVD?
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Oh em gee... Ragtime is the equivalent of God on stage. That was incredible, even though it was shortened down. I wish I had seen this show on Broadway. Amazing.
I too was not crazy about this years. There were some great ones (i.e. Debbie Allen and Jerry Orbach), but there were some I just did not like. It was such a waste watching Gwen Verdon do "Whatever Lola Wants" when she is obviously dubbed (badly) and didn't do ANY of the famous dancing from the number. Broadway's Lost Treasures II was worse than this one, but my favorite remains the first edition.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
I forgot to mention. I enjoyed Debbie Allen, and Ethel.
But I like to see anything Gwen. In that time period she was suffering from MAJOR throat problems, and she lost most of her range, so I think that song would've been very hard for her to sing live.
Mr. Roxy... yes, you are definitely right. It is disgusting that a puppet show could beat Ragtime. Ragtime is one of the most intelligent shows written and Lion King... well, in the words of Forbidden Broadway... it's "Hamlet gone Safari."
I think Lion King and Ragtime were two spectacular shows that happened to come at the same time. Both were deserving of winning best musical and probably would have won in other years. Lion King was something that had never been seen before, so that novelty was rewarded (as was the fact that there was a lot of love for Disney for restoring the New Amsterdam). I also think Ragtime suffered from the fact that it premiered shortly after the very successful revival of Showboat, which also dealt with racial themes and was a Livent production. It truly is a shame that Ragtime became a victim of Livent's fall, because as the opening scene reflects, it was a powerful and amazing show.
Watching it right now. The Debbie Allen sequence was nice to see.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
Finally played in Chicago tonight! What fun! It was great to see Merman actually act a bit of Everything's Comin' Up Roses. Oh, to have seen that Mama! And Tony Roberts in How Now, Dow Jones - what a great number - it is a shame that the show wasn't better as a whole - Matthew Broderick could revive it in a minute.
Our PBS Hosts were mostly dreadful - one referred to the original Anita as Rita and another mourned the loss of the original Coalhouse, Howard Rollins! In shilling for the second collection they called the opening number from Cabaret, "Welcome."
Big mistakes in the narration - in introducing SPIDERWOMAN, Goulet said the character was a hairdresser. He's a WINDOW dresser!
Harvey introduced Merman saying she was doing a medley of songs by George Gershwin and Jule Styne. In fact it was one song by George AND IRA Gershwin, one song by IRVING BERLIN, and one song by Jule Styne AND STEPHEN SONDHEIM! Meanwhile, the caption just said it was a medley from Girl Crazy!
Meanwhile, on WTTW, the Chicago PBS affiliate, Sharon Carlson, the pledge drive hostess, said that "TONY Award" was short for "Theatre Of New York" Award! This is a professional actress with over 25 years experience!