Curtains On Broadway
Curtains On Broadway
BwayDreamer00
Understudy Joined: 12/14/16
#1Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 12:31am
Curtains-The musical comedy opened on Broadway in 2007 and follows the story of a mysterious murder that happens onstage of the opening night of a Broadway bound musical in 1959.....The music is by John Kander and Lyrics are by Fred Ebb (writers of Chicago and Cabaret) and a book by Rupert Holmes.....the show received really mixed reviews from critics but it did get 8 tony nominations and won one for Best Actor for David Hyde Pierce (which was his first tony!!) it ran for a little over year but ultimately closed due to steady falling sales week after week......
What do you guys think of Curtains??? Do you like it?? I personally love it....is it as amazing as Chicago or Cabaret? Noooooooooooooooooooo but to me its very underrated and forgotten....also why do you think it got such mixed reviews I read some and they were harshhhhh
Do you ever see this getting revived soon?
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#2Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 12:35am
I ADORE Curtains! I think it's a true gem of a show, and I love that it's gotten a great life in regional/school productions over the past decade. Though I don't see a revival coming anytime soon, I'm holding out for one later down the road. Definitely a work that deserves to be revisited.
#3Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 1:26am
Sorry to to be on the opposite end of the spectrum-- we thought it was one of the worst nights of professional theater we can remember here at the Ahmanson on its pre-Broadway tryout. David Hyde Pierce's appalling Boston accent was the only thing that distracted us from the litany of bottom drawer songs from Kander and Ebb-- it's a script and a score that frankly should have stayed in that drawer. (Apologies to broadwayconcierge.)
#4Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 2:58am
I have never been able to get into the cast album unfortunately. Though I love Debra Monk and David Hyde Pierce! The Pittsburgh CLO did it a few years back and I wanted to check it out but no one I knew was interested.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#5Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:12am
The only thing that I remember from it was me thinking "Raul Esparza's got that Tony in the bag" the entire time I was watching it.
Seriously though, how the hell did DHP win a Tony for that show and that appalling accent, while Raul was giving the definitive performance of one of the greatest male roles ever written for musical theatre?
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#6Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 4:43am
Ugh. One of my least favorite shows. I was bored silly.
The only good thing about it is the number of roles it offers which is a plus for high schools to put up. It just felt so hey-gang!-lets-put- on a-show!
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#7Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 2:16pm
This was DHP's SECOND Tony. His first was for the original HEIDI CHRONICLES.
#8Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 2:39pm
Dollypop said: "This was DHP's SECOND Tony. His first was for the original HEIDI CHRONICLES.
DHP was not in the original company of The Heidi Chronicles. Boyd Gaines won the Tony for Best Featured Actor for his role as Peter. DHP replaced him.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#9Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:54pmOops . Right award. Wrong actor!
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#10Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 3:59pm
Who was this conceived by? I prefer my Kander and Ebb dark - The Visit, Chicago, Cabaret - so this never appealed to me. But I do like "I Miss The Music."
#11Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 5:12pm
BwayDreamer00 said: "Curtains-The musical comedy opened on Broadway in 2007 and follows the story of a mysterious murder that happens onstage of the opening night of a Broadway bound musical in 1959.....The music is by John Kander and Lyrics are by Fred Ebb (writers of Chicago and Cabaret) and a book by Rupert Holmes.....the show received really mixed reviews from critics but it did get 8 tony nominations and won one for Best Actor for David Hyde Pierce (which was his first tony!!) it ran for a little over year but ultimately closed due to steady falling sales week after week......
What do you guys think of Curtains??? Do you like it?? I personally love it....is it as amazing as Chicago or Cabaret? Noooooooooooooooooooo but to me its very underrated and forgotten....also why do you think it got such mixed reviews I read some and they were harshhhhh
Do you ever see this getting revived soon?
"
No and no reason for it! Just an average show nothing special about it!
Debra Monk was the best thing in the show and her It's a Business:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC_VuAqaNKA
Show People from the TONYS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj1hzFmib9M
#12Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 5:26pm
yeah i mostly agree with the others here. i've never seen it live but the recording is among my least favorite Kander & Ebb recordings (and i love most of their work). idk it's kind of like Steel Pier in that there's a lot of material that's kind of just bleh (though not as must as SP imo). I do enjoy the counterpoint version of In the Same Boat! I Miss the Music is also pretty good. overall a pretty mediocre score
#13Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 5:29pm
I found it a heap of harmless fun with a few really funny gags and a lot of passable material.
Not their greatest work, but the hanging sequence at the end of Act 1 was genuinely hilarious.
#14Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 5:49pm
GeorgeandDot said: "Seriously though, how the hell did DHP win a Tony for that show and that appalling accent, while Raul was giving the definitive performance of one of the greatest male roles ever written for musical theatre?
Because not everyone believes Esparza's performance was "definitive."
The show itself was far from brilliant, but it was certainly a fun night in the theater, and had one heck of an original cast. Besides the aforementioned Pierce, Debra Monk, Jason Danieley, Karen Ziemba, Edward Hibbert, Jill Paice, Megan Sikora, and Ernie Sabella were all in the original cast.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#16Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 6:08pm
adamgreer said: "GeorgeandDot said: "Seriously though, how the hell did DHP win a Tony for that show and that appalling accent, while Raul was giving the definitive performance of one of the greatest male roles ever written for musical theatre?
Because not everyone believes Esparza's performance was "definitive."
Yeah, well many people do. DHP wasn't anything special in Curtains, while Esparza was brilliant in Company.
#17Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 6:22pm
GeorgeandDot said: "adamgreer said: "GeorgeandDot said: "Seriously though, how the hell did DHP win a Tony for that show and that appalling accent, while Raul was giving the definitive performance of one of the greatest male roles ever written for musical theatre?
Because not everyone believes Esparza's performance was "definitive."
Yeah, well many people do. DHP wasn't anything special in Curtains, while Esparza was brilliant in Company.
You've seen Dean Jones and Larry Kert?
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#19Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 6:34pm
Adamgreer isn't the one declaring a certain performer as giving a definitive performance.
#20Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 6:42pm
GeorgeandDot said: "^Did you?
No, did I ever claim to? That is exactly, by the way, why I won't declare that performance definitive.
To use another example, having seen both Peters and LuPone in Gypsy, I found Lupone to be far superior. But, since I never saw Tyne Daly, Angie, or Ethel, I would never declare LuPone "definitive."
Or O'Hara in King and I. Great performance, but seeing as how the only other Anna's I saw were Donna Murphy (when I was something like 13) and Jill Van Velzer on tour, I won't call her definitive.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#22Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 6:56pm
GeorgeandDot said: "I still stand by my statement.
Ok, kiddo!
#23Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 8:27pm
Honestly, this show has a special place in my heart. I knew nothing about it, but knew I couldn't miss the original Broadway production of a new Kander and Ebb show. I thought that it was a transport back to a simpler time in the musical theatre. There was something about the image of the four leads holding the newspapers in front of their faces that I will never forget. I love it. The cast album is a great reminder of the show, and like they said in the set up for the Tony Award performance: it's a Valentine to Broadway.
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#24Curtains On Broadway
Posted: 7/8/17 at 8:31pm
fashionguru_23 said: "Honestly, this show has a special place in my heart. I knew nothing about it, but knew I couldn't miss the original Broadway production of a new Kander and Ebb show. I thought that it was a transport back to a simpler time in the musical theatre. There was something about the image of the four leads holding the newspapers in front of their faces that I will never forget. I love it. The cast album is a great reminder of the show, and like they said in the set up for the Tony Award performance: it's a Valentine to Broadway."
Couldn't have said it better myself. I adore Curtains...it's a true gem.
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
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