#26
Posted: 11/2/04 at 1:45pm
A young woman we watch with great interest here at South Coast Repertory is Kate Whoriskey - she's also done work at the Goodman, and is a member of A.R.T.
Directors you respect — Page 2
#27
Posted: 11/2/04 at 1:51pm
Taymor built her reputation at The Public, the Mitzi Newhouse, the Theatre at St. Clements and other small Off-Broadway spaces with genre-defying productions that relied heavily on puppets, mask work and ritualized presentation (Juan Darien and The Green Bird most famously). Her being chosen for Lion King was incredibly controversial at the time at Disney, precisely because she'd never produced anything on such a scale before and was known primarily as a "Downtown" experimental artist.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#28
Posted: 11/2/04 at 1:56pm
Anyone with the skills to put together a show like that has my respect. It's by no means an easy job.
#29
Posted: 11/2/04 at 3:12pm
Sorry pab. I meant the "bobby baby" segment in the song COMPANY and throught the show.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#31
Posted: 11/2/04 at 7:00pm
a director thread? awesome! i want to direct!! joe mantello, des mcanuff, moises kuaffmen (sp?), david leveaux (sp?), hal prince... just to name a few... oh yeah: George C Wolfe...
and, off topic but Joseph Papp, talk about admiration!
and, off topic but Joseph Papp, talk about admiration!
"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed
#32
In a profession replete with charlatans, Michael Blakemore is a true-blue, honest-to-God director. THE LIFE had no stars, yet the strength of his direction was the one redeeming virtue of that substandard show (other than Lillias White's performance).
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:06pm
In a profession replete with charlatans, Michael Blakemore is a true-blue, honest-to-God director. THE LIFE had no stars, yet the strength of his direction was the one redeeming virtue of that substandard show (other than Lillias White's performance).
#33
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:08pm
kathleen Marshall, susan stroman, and fosse
(coincidentally they are all choreographers as well :))
(coincidentally they are all choreographers as well :))
#34
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:44pm
I thought that the Cy Coleman score for The Life was actually first-rate and that in addition to Lillias White (who was outstanding), both Pamela Isaacs and Chuck Cooper were real standouts. The book was awful, tawdry and pointless and went absolutely nowhere, Joey McNeeley choreography was just warmed over Fosse and Blakemore was at a loss as to what to do in terms of staging. The whole thing just sat there, like a concert because the book basically had nothing for anyone to do other than just sit there and be whorish.
I remember thinking at the time, imagine what Fosse or Bennett could have done with that score and some of that cast (they both at times had lesser material than The Life and still made brilliant shows out of it). Fosse might have topped Sweet Charity with this material (same basic genre; some great songs which were poorly staged; Fosse would have rewritten half the book, cast some first rate dancers and really made the show move, which it desperately needed to).
Blakemore tried his best, but developing and imposing a vision on a new Cy Coleman musical is hardly part of his set of skills as a director (it's no sin -- there's a reason Jack O'Brien, who's similar in many ways to Blakemore, doesn't go near a musical unless Jerry Mitchell is on board for the choreography and musical staging) . The Life should have been a dance show, but with Blakemore in charge it had no real identity and the energy just bled out of the production every night, eight times a week.
I remember thinking at the time, imagine what Fosse or Bennett could have done with that score and some of that cast (they both at times had lesser material than The Life and still made brilliant shows out of it). Fosse might have topped Sweet Charity with this material (same basic genre; some great songs which were poorly staged; Fosse would have rewritten half the book, cast some first rate dancers and really made the show move, which it desperately needed to).
Blakemore tried his best, but developing and imposing a vision on a new Cy Coleman musical is hardly part of his set of skills as a director (it's no sin -- there's a reason Jack O'Brien, who's similar in many ways to Blakemore, doesn't go near a musical unless Jerry Mitchell is on board for the choreography and musical staging) . The Life should have been a dance show, but with Blakemore in charge it had no real identity and the energy just bled out of the production every night, eight times a week.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/2/04 at 09:44 PM
#35
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:46pm
OMG, Margo...I love THE LIFE. Infact, I just listened to it about 10 minutes ago. There are a few songs I didn't like, but overall it is a great recording (I have never seen the show, though). But, I can totally see Fosse choreographing this. God, wouldn't that have been an amazing thing to see?
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
#36
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:52pm
Lillias White doing "The Oldest Profession" just sitting there belting it out on a stool from a seedy hooker bar was worth the price of admission alone. She and Isaacs and Cooper did what they could but they desperately needed a director who connected to the material and knew how to focus it (and edit and rewrite it) and bring it to life. Fosse could have made the show a hit in his sleep. The score and the performers deserved better.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/2/04 at 09:52 PM
#37
Posted: 11/2/04 at 9:55pm
I heard the concept recording first and almost walked away from it for good (HORRIBLE). But, I decided to pick this version up and let me just say, Lilias White can sing the menu at Olive Garden and I would pay to see her. "The Oldest Profession" and "You Can't Get to Heaven" are my favorite songs, especially the latter. Man, I wish I could have seen it no matter how bad the book was.
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
Updated On: 11/2/04 at 09:55 PM
#38
A director should not, in fact, CAN NOT rewrite a show. The job is to fulfill the author's intention, for good or ill. As far as Blakemore's staging for THE LIFE is concerned, it was superior to the dated and sexist concept, dopey book and hackneyed score (not in any way comparable to SWEET CHARITY). Bennett found himself running on empty when confronted with the misconceived BALLROOM as did Fosse when he undertook BIG DEAL. It happens.
Posted: 11/2/04 at 11:34pm
A director should not, in fact, CAN NOT rewrite a show. The job is to fulfill the author's intention, for good or ill. As far as Blakemore's staging for THE LIFE is concerned, it was superior to the dated and sexist concept, dopey book and hackneyed score (not in any way comparable to SWEET CHARITY). Bennett found himself running on empty when confronted with the misconceived BALLROOM as did Fosse when he undertook BIG DEAL. It happens.
#39
Excuse me, but:
Bob Fosse didn't completely rewrite the book of Sweet Charity or toss out, completely overhaul, and in fact write the books of both Pippin and Chicago (Fosse officially has book credit on Chicago with Ebb and frankly most of Pippin's book should be credited to him and not Hirson, whose work was thrown out almost entirely)? Bennett didn't toss out and completely rewrite Seesaw or entirely impose his vision upon the books of A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls (his estate gets writing royalties on both -- apparently he wasn't "running on empty" as you say with Dreamgirls)? And let's not get into Robbins' influence on several of the books of his musicals.....
Robbins, Bennett, Fosse, Champion and Tune were the great stage director/choreographers, as well as, stage auteurs whose work, in addition to everything else, encompassed the dialogue and structure of the shows that they created -- they were in fact, responsible for the books of their musicals, especially in the latter parts of their careers.
Sorry, but IMO Blakemore's inept direction of The Life was what killed that show -- it's no crime, he's not a director who's ever shown any real flair for staging musical theatre (I thought his "Kiss Me Kate" revival just sat there as well, only enlivened briefly by Kathleen Marshall's choreography).
Posted: 11/3/04 at 12:18am
Excuse me, but:
Bob Fosse didn't completely rewrite the book of Sweet Charity or toss out, completely overhaul, and in fact write the books of both Pippin and Chicago (Fosse officially has book credit on Chicago with Ebb and frankly most of Pippin's book should be credited to him and not Hirson, whose work was thrown out almost entirely)? Bennett didn't toss out and completely rewrite Seesaw or entirely impose his vision upon the books of A Chorus Line and Dreamgirls (his estate gets writing royalties on both -- apparently he wasn't "running on empty" as you say with Dreamgirls)? And let's not get into Robbins' influence on several of the books of his musicals.....
Robbins, Bennett, Fosse, Champion and Tune were the great stage director/choreographers, as well as, stage auteurs whose work, in addition to everything else, encompassed the dialogue and structure of the shows that they created -- they were in fact, responsible for the books of their musicals, especially in the latter parts of their careers.
Sorry, but IMO Blakemore's inept direction of The Life was what killed that show -- it's no crime, he's not a director who's ever shown any real flair for staging musical theatre (I thought his "Kiss Me Kate" revival just sat there as well, only enlivened briefly by Kathleen Marshall's choreography).
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/3/04 at 12:18 AM
#40
Posted: 11/3/04 at 1:05am
Joe Mantello for his work on A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE.
(And for LOVE VALOUR).
(And for LOVE VALOUR).
"I am not 'a' Eunice Burns. I am THE Eunice Burns!!!"
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