Cabaret previews - Page 3

[Zoot]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:29pm

I can not wait to read comments from tonight. I'll be there, front row mezz, in mid April and I'm already ridiculously excited so I hope it lives up to my hype!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:35pm

I'll be there April 12 and couldn't be more excited. I was fresh out of high school when the original production closed, I never thought I'd get to see it on Broadway, let alone with one of my favorite actresses (and someone I consider to be one of the best of her generation). This is so ridiculously exciting. Cannot wait to hear how the first preview goes.
MichaelBennett, thanks for that article. I never saw Richardson obviously, but reading it gave me goosebumps. I can't imagine how thrilling it must have been for you to be there at that first preview.

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:58pm

I still get chills thinking about Natasha Richardson's final moments in the show. So incredibly moving.

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:02pm

Riedels column this morning seems to suggest no elements of this production will be eligible for nominations
Tony nominations may elude Roundabout's 'Cabaret' revival

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:03pm

^ I'm sure I've told this story on here, but I was at the opening night in '98. A friend who ran a non-profit off-Broadway theater took me as his date. As soon as the final scene between Sally and Cliff started, he turned to me and whispered, 'There's no way she'll be able to keep that up through the rest of the scene.' It was so raw and difficult to watch. And not only did she keep it up, but she capped it off with the most devastating 'Dedicate your book to me' I could ever imagine.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:08pm

Everyone I've spoken to seems to think Cabaret will be ruled inelligible for anything aside from its non-Alan Cumming performances. But I don't think it needs Tony nods to do well.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:08pm

There were all kinds of things Richardson did that are blazened in my head all these years later - I will never forget them.

The moment during "I Don't Care Much" where she stood solo downstage smoking a cigarette vacillating with the decision to abort her child and her final apathetic resignation to do so so was sad, scary and incredibly moving.

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 03:08 PM

[Alix]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:30pm

Hi, folks! I haven't posted anything on this message board in years, but I just need to voice my excitement about this for a moment. I first saw the revival on my fifteenth birthday, in the summer of 2003, and then twice more before it closed the following January. My love for (read: obsession with) it has never waned, and I have waited ten years for this day, which I thought would never come. I kind of still can't believe this revival is happening, honestly, but could not be more thrilled. I'm not going until April 19 (then again on June 1), but cannot wait to hear all of your reviews and experiences until then. Have an AMAZING time tonight, to all who are lucky enough to go! It is perfect.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:32pm

Everyone I've spoken to seems to think Cabaret will be ruled inelligible for anything aside from its non-Alan Cumming performances. But I don't think it needs Tony nods to do well.

Yeah, I was just thinking that: I know that Michelle Willaims will be eligible unlike Alan Cummings who won the Tonys for this part. And I know that this will eligible for Best Musical, but since this has the SAME creative team, will this be eligible for the creative Tonys since they got nominated the last time?

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:34pm

"I know that Michelle Willaims will be eligible... And I know that this will eligible for Best Musical"

How do you know that? Riedel's column indicates that this is all still TBD.

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 03:34 PM

[jaxandmci]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:35pm

I'm jealous of all of you going to the first preview! I don't go until early April and my subscriber tickets landed me in those Floor Banquettes halfway back in the Orchestra. From what I remember of the former revival, when seated in those banquettes you had a helluva obstructed view because you were sitting lower than those at the tables in front of you. I'm anxious to hear from any early attendees if this is still the case.

In the meantime, I'm trying to move closer but the available tables are still reserved for the big donors. I'm checking every day . . .

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:36pm

'How do you know that? Riedel's column indicates that is still TBD.'

No matter whatever that nonsense column says, Williams will certainly be eligible. Under what rule could she be deemed ineligible?

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:39pm

It won't be elligble for Best Musical. It would be considered a revival, and even then its elligibility is dubious.

There's a good deal of - I don't want to say negative feelings, per se- but... questioning about this remounting in the industry. As Riedel's column indicates, a lot of people, sight unseen, consider it a lazy money-grab from Roundabout. It may be able to have lightning strike twice and wow a lot of people. But there's still that pushback it'll have to contend with when it comes to awards.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:42pm

"No matter whatever that nonsense column says, Williams will certainly be eligible. Under what rule could she be deemed ineligible?"

I'm curious how if you know that she will be eligible, it is my duty to find the rule disproving it. Wouldn't the person be claiming to know something for a fact be better equipped to prove it?

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:43pm

Kad, that's a fair point. I, for one, am just thrilled to be seeing it on Sunday as I've never seen any production of Cabaret! I've only seen the movie, so it's going to be thrilling to see the show in the way it was intended (at least when compared to the film). I don't know if Roundabout was thinking that mainstream audiences were going to be thinking, "Yes! I finally get to see it!" but I know I sure am!

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 03:43 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:45pm

I find it VERY unlikely Williams will be found inelligible. The logic in the Riedel column is that because this remounting is the same physical production as last time, it can be seen as a continuance of that production and that, therefore, Williams (and all the cast) are replacements.

I just don't see that logic carrying through. It's mean-spirited and not based in precedence or rules.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:46pm

I don't think reviving that version of Cabaret is necessarily a new idea. When I interviewed Cumming in 2007, he said: "I might do it again. It's a possibility. They want to do it again next year. It's the ten-year anniversary of it."

So, it certainly isn't something Roundabout cooked up due to any recent financial issues.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:52pm

The first revival production also opened 16 years ago and closed 10 years ago.

The idea that this is 'return engagement' doesn't hold water. Not when that amount of time has passed between productions.

Riedel's article is stupid - just spinning air for a story when there isn't one there.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:57pm

"So, it certainly isn't something Roundabout cooked up due to any recent financial issues."

They've had financial issues since before 2007.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:58pm

I believe she will be eligible because it's been a decade since the last performance of the '98 revival has played. Here's the paragraph regarding eligibility for revivals from the Tony website:

'Revivals. Each year the Tony Awards Administration Committee shall determine
whether there shall exist in quality and quantity a sufficient number of Revivals to merit the
granting of an Award for Best Revival of a Play or Musical and, if so, the Tony Awards
Administration Committee shall also determine whether there shall be a separate Play and
Musical Revival category; provided, however, that if there are at least three such plays and
three such musicals, there shall automatically be separate Play and Musical Revival categories.
A “Revival” shall be any production in an eligible Broadway theatre of a play or musical that: (A)
is deemed a “classic” or in the historical or popular repertoire in accordance with paragraph 2(g)
above; (B) was previously presented professionally at any time prior to the 1946-47 Broadway
season in substantially the same form in the Borough of Manhattan (other than as a showcase,
workshop or so-called “letter of agreement” production) and that has not had a professional
performance in the Borough of Manhattan at any time during the three years immediately
preceding the Eligibility Date; or (C) was previously presented professionally at any time during
or after the 1946-47 Broadway season in substantially the same form in an eligible Broadway
theatre and that has not had a professional performance in the Borough of Manhattan at any
time during the three years immediately preceding the Eligibility Date. The determination that a
The Tony Awards®
• Rules and Regulations 2012–2013
10
play or musical is ineligible in the category of Best Play or Best Musical shall not, in and of itself,
make the play or musical eligible in a Best Revival category unless the play or musical also
meets the requirements of this paragraph. Regardless of whether a production of a play or
musical is eligible for a Best Revival category, the elements of the production shall be eligible in
those categories in which said elements do not, in the judgment of the Tony Awards
Administration Committee, substantially duplicate any prior presentation of the play or musical,
except as prohibited by paragraph 2(l) of these Rules; provided, that the play or musical
otherwise meets all the requirements set forth herein for Revivals.'

They may not want to nominate her out of animus of some sort, but there seems to be no way to make her 'ineligible.'

[Kad]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 4:04pm

"Regardless of whether a production of a play or musical is eligible for a Best Revival category, the elements of the production shall be eligible in those categories in which said elements do not, in the judgment of the Tony Awards Administration Committee, substantially duplicate any prior presentation of the play or musical,
except as prohibited by paragraph 2(l) of these Rules; provided, that the play or musical otherwise meets all the requirements set forth herein for Revivals."

I think there is wiggle room in this paragraph that can be used to argue against Williams and the production as a whole.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 4:09pm

Are we arguing that an actress with a full rehearsal period opening a show on Broadway a decade after the show closed is going to be judged a 'replacement'?

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 4:15pm

I don't think anyone is necessarily arguing FOR that side of things, only questioning what the specific ruling will be.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 4:17pm

Riedel is simply spinning the story to make it sound like Williams might be considered ineligible, but if you even look at what he wrote, he says something along the lines of "If you ask me, she'll be eligible along with Linda Emond, Danny Burstein, etc," which to me, pretty much indicates that even while writing the column he is very much aware that the performances are eligible. The picture caption re Williams is just a headline-grabber more than anything. We all pretty much had speculated that there's no reason why the design elements or the direction should be eligible. Clearly a slow news day for Riedel.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 3/21/14 at 4:17pm

I guess I just can't get wrap my mind around an actress creating a role during an entire rehearsal process and having an opening night 10 years after the last revival closed being considered ineligible. If people think the Roundabout is doing this as a money-grab, I can't imagine how the Tony nominating committee would come off. That would be ugly.