"Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" Revival...(Not a big deal?)

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 5:58pm

How come so many people are getting angered and making such a big deal that GYPSY is being revived again after just 4 years....

But no one is really talking about CAT having a revival again after 4 years? I understand it's with an all black cast, but it's still the same show.

Plays just don't rile fans up like the musicals do!

Updated On: 1/7/08 at 05:58 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:02pm

Race card...

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:03pm

I think people are making such a big deal about GYPSY because LaLupone is in the title role, a role that Arthur Laurents SWORE she'd never play on Broadway or in any professional production.

There's just not enough..."controversy"...around the CAT revival. It just seems kind of sudden and random.

I'd much rather see a revival of Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS, which hasn't been on Broadway in over twenty years. THAT I'd be going nuts for.

Updated On: 1/7/08 at 06:03 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:05pm

Good points. It just seems like if musicals come back rather quickly (Les Mis, Gypsy) people go into a rage.

It's interesting to see how many people could care less about plays.

[fbueller]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:08pm

What's the beef between Laurents and Lupone?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:08pm

AMS was apparently in the planning stages for this season...with John Lithgow.

[ljay889]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:09pm

Oh lord, can we not make this thread about the Laurents vs LuPone drama?

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:10pm

Really, Yankee?

Commercial or non-profit?

I think it'd probably do best in a limited run for the Roundabout/MTC.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:27pm

I actually couldn't be more excited about the CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF revival. Probably because I don't get why Ashley Judd, who played Maggie in the last revival, was allowed anywhere near this masterpiece--save for the fact that she is southern.
To me this revival feels like an event. The main cast couldn't be better: Howard, Rose (especially Rose, God I can't wait to see her take on Maggie!!!), Jones, and even Rashad will all be marvelous. Give me this revival over the LuPone GYPSY any day of the week. Any play that manages to bring Anika Noni Rose back to Broadway merits this much excitement.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:38pm

ALL MY SONS got a first rate revival 10 years ago by Roundabout at the Pels, starring John Cullum, Michael Hayden and Keira Naughton.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:41pm

This CAT bothers me because it's an all-black production of a play that is set on a plantation and has chracters named Sookey and Lacey.

I'm sure the cast is excellent, but the vehicle seems like an odd choice for an all-balck cast.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:48pm

Dollypop, I see your point re the all-black cast. I wonder how it will look when James Earl Jones as Big Daddy has that speech where he says something to the effect of: "I worked my ass off like a n*." Though I think if played well (and it is James Earl Jones so chances are it WILL be played well) it could be a comment on racism among people of the same race but different class.
I do think the fact this is an African-American cast will bring some interesting layers to the competition between Maggie and Mae (issues like their poor backgrounds and Mae's fertility), the relationship between Big Daddy and Big Mamma, and especially to the issue between Brick and Maggie (especially with the DL phenomenon among African-Americans).
I'm a bit afraid of Allen's direction and Howard's lack of stage credits, but I have a good feeling about this revival.

[NYC4Life]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:49pm

"This CAT bothers me because it's an all-black production of a play that is set on a plantation and has chracters named Sookey and Lacey."

Maybe you should read more. You can find MANY books about this subject! Many black families lived on plantations, had a lot of money and had black servants, that yes they called by names like that. I know a lot of people are just not informed, but they even had rich, free and land owning blacks pre civil war.

This is a great book on the black upper class in the 40's and 50's.
Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Kind-People-Inside-Americas/dp/0060984384/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?
ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199749439&sr=8-2

Here is another great one about rich blacks from 1880-1920!
Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880-1920

http://www.amazon.com/Aristocrats-Color-1880-1920-Community-Studies/dp/1557285934/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2


I read a lot about this not talked about group of people so if anyone needs a history lesson, you can pm me!


Updated On: 1/7/08 at 06:49 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 6:52pm

The Denver Center Theatre Company (DCTC) opened their 2005-2006 season with a production of All My Sons. I didn't get the chance to see it.

http://www.mscd.edu/~themet/TheMetropolitan/archive/05_06/Vol28_issue09/m3.shtml

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 7:20pm

Foa, it was a Riedel column where it was mentioned, so make of it what you will.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 7:35pm

All other considerations aside, the role seems tailor-made for James Earl Jones -- I'm going to see him and if the others work out, it's a bonus, as far as I'm concerned. Actors of Jones' caliber come rarely and any chance to see him, I'm going to do my damnedest to see.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 8:40pm

I think people feel sorry for the production because it looks like it's going to be really bad. It's Debbie Allen trying to direct and sister Phylica playing a role she's not suited for.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/7/08 at 8:40pm

There are so many good plays & shows that do not get revived . Instead the same shows keeping getting revived over & over again.

How many times will Guys & Dolls & Man Of La Mancha be revived?Give it a rest guys. They will than wonder why the revival flopped. I would love to see many of Tennessee Williams lesser know works staged - off broadway if need be.

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 12:10am

NYC don't try to educate, people want to see what they want to see and early New South rich Black people isn't it. It's an impossible concept for people to accept.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 6:54am

Did anyone else notice the close timeline of both GYPSY and CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF productions on Broadway over the years?

-CAT... opened on Broadway in 1955, followed by GYPSY only four years later in 1959.
-Both shows were revived for the first time in 1974.
-GYPSY received its third revival in late 1989, while CAT... received its third revival shortly after in early 1990.
-Both shows were revived for the fourth time in 2003 (and both revivals closed in 2004).
-Both shows will be revived for the fifth time on Broadway in 2008, with both productions scheduled to open in March.

Pretty fun coincidence.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 6:54am

Double post.

Updated On: 1/8/08 at 06:54 AM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 8:57am

We did a all-black cast production of CAT here in Richmond almost ten years ago, starring Tamara Tunie as Maggie. The plot and dialogue all work extremely well with the casting ... I think there was only one specific reference that needed changing, but it was not at all plot essential.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:09am

I think it's psychological. Plays don't have anywhere near the staying power of a musical, so when the same plays are produced over and over again people barely notice. They'll close soon and another one will replace it. Musicals, on the otherhand, don't generally sneak in under the publicity radar, and people tend to want more new musicals than people want more new plays. Plus, I think, people are always curious about old plays with stellar casts and whether or not they can be pulled off. Musicals can generally hide a bland performance better (acting-wise).

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 11:23am

"Plays don't have anywhere near the staying power of a musical"

I assume your speaking of recent history (say, the last 30 years) and lenght of runs on broadway. Because, historically, plays have a bit longer of a shelf life than musicals.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/8/08 at 12:37pm

I am obviously talking about contemporary times.