Chicago the Musical Appreciation Thread — Page 15

Apparently, that particular Toronto critic is known for not liking much of the shows he reviews. It's very odd that he was so enraptured by Stojko...who by then had 8 shows under his belt as Billy. Then, he doesn't say anything good about Terra C and her performance.

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"I noticed the little bit of video of Tony Yazbeck and Michael Berresse doing "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag" for Broadway Backwards. Is there any chance that a full video (from start to finish)will be released at some point? I wonder who played the Roxie and Velma character?

Yazbeck and Berresse have both played Billy Flynn (and Berresse originated Fred Casely in the revival). In Broadway Backwards, Yazbeck was Roxie, Berresse Velma. Interesting that you mentioned a male "Hot Honey Rag" on the first page of this thread, and I'd forgotten I'd suggested it would be a good fit for Broadway Backwards, over three years ago.

The entire show, btw, can be yours for $35.





broadway backwards dvd

Updated On: 4/2/14 at 03:29 AM

Honestly, gleek, we are lucky that they are available at all - and it is for a very good cause. I don't know of you can get to the flea market that is held every year, but BC/EFA often has a table where many of these dvds can be bought at a sharp discount - and the money still goes to the cause.

Could it be related to the fact that the following week they only have 7 performances scheduled? I'm going to guess it might be. They aren't doing a Sunday matinee on Easter so they moved that performance up to the April 13-19 week.

Updated On: 4/7/14 at 03:44 AM

Chicago needs a new/different/someone other than AFW Velma Kelly.....on April 28th. Leigh Zimmerman should/needs to make a return as Velma. She hasn't done the show since 2011! Come on Weisslers...sign her up! from RC in Austin, Texas

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Updated On: 4/7/14 at 05:39 PM

leigh's expression/ scream when they swing her off stage during "I know a girl" is almost worth the price of admission alone.

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^^ Can you cite some examples? I don't see how that would work out financially.

Maybe. In 2009, Charlotte d'Amboise had over 2,000 performances under her belt:
Link

With Bianca, Brent, and Carol scheduled for the next several months I get a funny feeling we may see a celebrity velma soon.

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Backing up to the Toronto critic--Richard Ouzounian is a know-it-all who has gotten progressively more bitter (probably due to the poor success his own musicals, such as Dracula--yes, another one--and Larry's Party have had.) I grew up with his CBC radio show Say it with Music, which exposed me to a lot of musicals as a kid, so I'm thankful for that, but yeah, I wouldn't put any weight in his reviews.

Thanks for the links, Phantom4ever. That's the opposite of what you originally said, but I still don't see how that works out. As far as I understand, if you drop a show from an 8 show week, you still pay for it, and if you add a 9th show, you pay a lot for the privilege. I guess there is just that much money to be made around the holidays.

"People like, Cady Hoffman- how great would she be as Velma! Or Rachelle Rak- what a Roxie/Velma they'd be! Rak I still hope will get a crack at Fastrada!"

Rak is due sometime in May, I think, so it might be awhile before we see her in anything.

Updated On: 4/8/14 at 04:51 PM

I realize this is a long shot, but considering her relationship with the Weisslers, It would be amazing to see Patina Miller come in for a few weeks as Velma, perhaps when her new show is on hiatus.

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"I originally said they do 7 shows Christmas Week and 9 shows New Years week. I noted where some of them do it the opposite."

Of the shows you mention, unless I counted wrong (quite possible) not one had a 7 show christmas week and a 9 show New Years. Christmas is the big money week, not New Years.

Only three shows had a 9 performance Christmas week and 7 performance New Years:
Gentleman's Guide, Mamma Mia, and Phantom.

Five shows added a 9th performance Christmas week, but had a normal (possibly rearranged) 8 performance New Years week:
Kinky Boots, Lion King, Newsies, Rock of Ages and Wicked

"I don't know about the financial arrangements, but since it's usually just a case of switching a Tuesday night show to Sunday night instead, it's not really that difficult to do. And they could sort of all out with Equity ahead of time."

There are several other unions to consider, but in any case switching any days around within the mon-sunday payweek, as long as there are still 8 shows isn't a big deal, and that's what After Midnight, Jersey Boys, Matilda, Motown, Janis Joplin, and Pippin did - they all had 8 performances at Christmas and 8 performances new years. They just rearranged the schedule.

The odd shows out were:
Betrayal (did the 9 performances at Christmas and 9 performances new years)
Big Fish (9 performances at Christmas, closed dec 29th)
Machinal (7 performances Christmas, 7 performances christmas)

tl:dr?

Adding a 9th show is doable but very expensive. You can't make it up by taking away a performance the previous or following week. The producers gain nothing by losing a performance. They still have to pay cast and crew for it.

eta: did Machinal only have a 7 performance week for the run?

Updated On: 4/8/14 at 07:09 PM