Daniel Davis fired from La Cage — Page 5

Well, I'll be . . . I saw the show just this past Saturday evening and everything seemed to be in order. I talked to Gary Beach after the show and asked him about the CD. He confirmed that no recording has been made and then he did something strange: He said no CD is in the works, then he went on signing other people's playbills for a few minutes and suddenly he walked back to where I was standing, and whispered "but it may not be too late" and walked away and into his car.

My hunch is that the producers might want to boost box office by giving Goulet a huge "back to Broadway" buildup and a CD of la Cage might just be a part of such buildup. Maybe that's why Gary had an afterthought and made that comment to me. I'm just speculating, of course.

By the way, Mr. Beach was extremely nice, humble and gracious at the stage door. Gavin was pretty cool as well. Mr. Davis had left the theater immediately after the curtain calls, while Gary was conducting the BC/EFA speech and fundraising.

As you can imagine, I was floored when I found out that if I'd waited one more weekend I woul dhave missed Daniel Davis, who was pretty good in the show. I was kind of hoping for a CD with him but something tells me Goulet will end up recording the part.

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This is very saddening. I often saw Daniel Davis going to work as I got my daily Starbucks tall caramel mocha latte.

He was superb in the show.

Ah the woes of showbusiness.

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Daniel was great! Too bad. Goulet will be - Well, "Goulet", I don't think it will work. Of course, They could always just put Elaine Stritch in Davis' suit and let her use Tony Roberts old wig he wore doing "Toddy" in Victor/Victoria - I'm sure it is still backstage there at the MM somewhere and all will be PERFECT! Or, Just call in Harvey Fierstien to fix it, He's the right age now! Jeez, Too bad Jack Cassidy is dead when you need him!!!

This really irks me-when I saw La Cage a few weeks ago, I really thought Davis did a splendid job while Beach was weak for the mascara song in particular and actually the entire first act except for I Am What I Am. So I'm devastated.

I still want to know if Equity allows producers to fire people because they are a SOB. There has to be more to this than that.

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Sueleen- His contract was paid out to the end so Equity can't say a damn thing. I guess the producers thought it was worth a few hundred thousand dollars to get rid of a toxic entity that was poisoning the atmosphere.

TheatreDiva90016- I agree with you 100%.

I would assume good riddance to Daniel Davis.

SueleenGay and Demitri 2, I am stunned that (unless I am mistaken which is very likely)you are the only two posters that seem to be as interested as I am in the "Manner in which Mr. Davis was publicly let go." SueleenGay you are correct. Even if a contract is "bought out," for Equity to "allow" or to standby and do or say nothing when one of their members has been damaged by public announcements of their termination--you BET YOUR BIPPY there was more written up/documentation to end Daniel Davis' contract than his being an S.O.B. We certainly have heard of missed performances, and unpleasant backstage behavior. But they surely had documentation for infractions far more serious.

I am still stunned at the level of anger and what we would often think of as the "lack of professionalism" by the person who had the final responsibility of how Mr. Davis' departure from La Cage would be explained to the public. In the theater there is a general tradition of public announcements of departures due to "other commitments," "artistic differences," "new opportunities," etc. It is very rare that it is publicly announced that a star of a Broadway show has been LET GO. Boy!--Mr. Davis suuuuuuuuuuuuure got at least one someone very, very angry.

Mamie, you mentioned that Davis was "sidelined by 6 years in THE NANNY." That six sidelined years earned him more money than ever before in his life. The residuals he is currently receiving from repeats of THE NANNY around the world certainly exceeded his La Cage salary. Additionally, Mr. Davis said in an interview a few years back that he knew he needed to become a "recognized television or film actor in order to get the parts he most desired in the theater." He indeed would not have been cast in La Cage had he not spent those six years on THE NANNY.

Mattvcrewse&The Distinctive Baritone--ZERO MOSTEL was never "let go" from any production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. He was worshipped by the creative team (including Jerome Robbins who tried to get Zero for three different projects after FIDDLER)and the "money people" obviously loved him. There was never a performance of Zero Mostel in FIDDLER that was less than over one hundred percent capacity. Even the last performance of Mostel's 1970s FIDDLER revival at the Wintergarden had a packed standing room.

Mr. Mostel was begged to continually renew his contract in the original FIDDLER. However, he declined to renew when he was offered a then incredible sum of money to star as Max Bialystock in a new Mel Brooks film to be entitled THE PRODUCERS. Part of the "inside fun" of the original film, THE PRODUCERS, is the audience knowing that the actor playing Bialystock (who is interfacing with a nazi,) recently took the theatrical world by storm with his already legendary performance of Tevye, the Jewish milk man in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

South FL Marc, you do seem to have a certain issue problem with senior citizens, it pops up often in your postings on this board. Mr. Goulet will indeed help to turn out the "blue haired" crowd as you rather disdainfully put it. Additionally, I suspect Mr. Goulet will also help to turn out at least one generation that is not quite grey haired as yet.

I am delighted Goulet is joining La Cage. As I previously mentioned, he is certainly the most gorgeously voiced actor to ever take on the role of Georges in a Broadway production of La Cage. Many used to find him and many still do find him, physically gorgeous as well. Robert Goulet is a star. It is wonderful that he is joining La Cage. It will be good for the show, good for him, good for Broadway, and good for the audiences. This perhaps may increase the chances of a revival cast recording taking place. If that doesn't happen, it isn't unlikely that Mr. Goulet would include Song On The Sand and Look Over There on a future album.

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Updated On: 3/30/05 at 01:25 PM

Well, if the goal was to get people talking about La Cage - mission accomplished - buzz, buzz, buzz.

I am still very curious to hear the real story of Davis' dismissal. I am suspecting we might have to wait for Gary Beach's memoir someday to get the inside track.

I saw Goulet in the South Pacific tour that many have discussed and thought he definitely still has "it." Yes, you youth obsessed darlings, he is older, but he still looked and sounded great. He is sure to create buzz for the show and that is never a bad thing. As previously mentioned I hope that he does help to "fast track" a recording.

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I was just out perusing the official "La Cage aux Folles" web site and found it interesting that any and all references to Mr. Davis have been removed. Text, Photos, Etc .... even the previously downloadable screen saver, which contained images of Davis has been revoked. Is this all just some bizarre dream sequence. For all of us who have seen the show already, were we all just experiencing the same dream, that we saw Daniel Davis as Georges? Odd????? Curious, have the pictures in front of the Marquis also been yanked?

I think it's safe to say that someone in this production, with much more pull than Gary Beach had a not so pleasant run in with Mr. Davis.

Updated On: 5/8/15 at 05:28 PM

My earlier post about the rubbish was directed at DD.

He did not get an attitude (I HATE it when bitchy behavior is refered to as being a "diva". A diva is a performer who is brilliant on stage, despite everything else. When did the term diva change to "being a bitch"?) after The Nanny...HE'S ALWAYS HAD IT. I worked with him some 20 years ago and watched him berate cast members as well as backstage crew members until they broke down in tears.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

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Perhaps his mid-show "voice troubles" that one time he left mid-performance were something other than voice-related.