Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
#1Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:02am
The first show I saw on Broadway. Still love the musical. We performed it in college - (1972?). I think the political climate these days is ripe for some comedy.
A cool idea in it's time -- political satire in a musical. Anyone familiar?
My fave tunes - "Little Tin Box"
"Til Tomorrow" (one the most gorgeous ballads ever written for the stage, IMHO).
(Howard DeSilva - that inimitable voice!)
Updated On: 6/7/08 at 04:02 AM
#2re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:09am
I'd love to see a revival of this show. This was a favorite of my late father's and my only experiences with it are the OBCR and the Broadway's Lost Treasures DVD. With a few minor charges ie lyric changes in "I'll Marry the Very Next Man".
"If he likes me; I don't care how frequently he strikes me. I'll fetch his slippers with my arm in a sling just for the privilege of wearing his ring".
Satire or not that would not fly. There are some suggested line changes in the liner notes but I'm not looking now. I'll check it out when I wake up.
I love "Gentleman Jimmy" and "Marie's Law" along with the above mentioned songs.
Who do you think could come close to or top Tom Bosley from today's "crop"?
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
Updated On: 6/7/08 at 04:09 AM
#2re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:14amG-d, I can't even remember those "heinous" lyrics!
#3re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:15am
They're doing it in TX this year. I love the score.
'Til Tomorrow and Little Tin Box are such great songs.
....but the world goes 'round
#4re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:15am
I love Fiorello. I would see a revival of it in a second. I think the score is so much fun, from "Little Tin Box" and "I'll Marry the Very Next Man" to "I Love a Cop" and "Politics and Poker".
As to what Eris commented regarding the necessary lyrics change, I'm not entirely sure about it. If you look at Carousel, people perform it all the time and don't change the line about how a hit can feel like a kiss which is not too different a sentiment. I'm not saying I think it's a great lyric, but I don't think you can say it would HAVE to be changed. That's just my opinion though.
And hang on, when did you win the discus?
#6re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:21am
"As to what Eris commented regarding the necessary lyrics change, I'm not entirely sure about it. If you look at Carousel, people perform it all the time and don't change the line about how a hit can feel like a kiss which is not too different a sentiment. I'm not saying I think it's a great lyric, but I don't think you can say it would HAVE to be changed. That's just my opinion though."
It's two different women in two different situations. Marie's "desperate" while Julie is an abuse victim. That mentality is not uncommon among people in the situation so the lyric can stand without offending someone. But I think people would get up in arms over Marie's line. In fact, they already have which is why the line changes have been made.
I buckled down and got out of my seat to get the liner notes. The change was "If he proposes I'll have him send me tons of roses". It doesn't say what the second part was changed to. Yes, the original line was meant sarcasticlly but things have changed so much since then that it might cause some waves.
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
Updated On: 6/7/08 at 04:21 AM
#7re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 4:31amOh, it doesn't matter to me at all what lyrics are used but I just never underestimate people's ability to leave bizarre things within a show.
And hang on, when did you win the discus?
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#8re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 6:27am
Encores did it in 1994, something like that. I love the score, as well, but think the whole thing as terribly dated.
Updated On: 6/7/08 at 06:27 AM
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#9re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 7:17am
One reason it may be "dated" is it takes place in the 1930's
Other dated shows
Gypsy
South Pacific
Guys & Dolls
Poster Emeritus
#10re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 8:27am
Good point, Mr Roxy.
I saw the original production at the Broadhurst and loved it. Hearing the OBCR is great fun. The cast was just right, from Tom Bosley to the great Howard Da Silva, from the virtually unknown but wonderful Pat Stanley singing "I Love a Cop" to the always reliable 2nd banana Nathaniel Frey.
I also saw FIORELLO at Encores, with I think Jason Alexander in the title role. I am not up on most current performers. Does Nathan Lane seem unlikely as Fiorello? I think he would be great in the role.
"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"
#11re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 10:33am
It wasn't Jason Alexander. It was Jerry Zaks, directed by Walter Bobbie.
I'm not sure why the show felt "dated" but it did. It wasn't that it takes place in the 30s--it was more that the message about politics really wasn't that insightful in 1994.
The score is glorious: the ballads ("'Til Tomorrow" and "When Did I Fall in Love") are still gorgeous. The big numbers--"Little Tin Box," "The Name's LaGuardia" and "Gentelman Jimmy"--are still exciting, and Faith Prince was able to make "Marie's Law" a great Faith Prince number.
Maybe it would do better in 2008 than in 1994.
truk777
Chorus Member Joined: 4/19/06
#12re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 11:36amThe TimeLine Theatre in Chicago is currently producing it. I saw it 2 years ago when they first did it and won the Jeff Award. I almost went kicking and screaming to the show, but now it is one of my favorites.
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#13re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 12:05pm
Sheldon Harnick changed that lyric in 1984 at the request of Tom Bosley's daughter, who was playing Marie in a school production. It went from:
And if he likes me
Who cares how frequently he strikes me?
I'll fetch his slippers with my arm in a sling
Just for the privilege of wearing his ring.
to
When he proposes
I'll have him send me tons of roses
Sweet-scented blossoms I'll enjoy by the hour.
I won't restrict myself to one Little Flow'r!
Here's an article from The New York Times about it.
NY Times article
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#14re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 5:20pmWho sang "When Did I Fall In Love" at Encores?
#15re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 6/7/08 at 6:51pm
FIORELLO! will reach its 50th. Anniversary next year and should be revived. It is one of only 7 musical plays that have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick's score is one of their best but, like "Les Miz", the songs are so perfectly woven into the framework of the play that few of them went on to become pop standards and the music is virtually unknown today. Today's audiences are more likely to accept Fiorello's superb story and score for that very reason.
Although he is primarily known as a film actor, I think Robert Downey, Jr. would be superb as Fiorello. Downey would infuse the character with a dynamic that would allow LaGuardia's life to touch today's audiences in a way not possible in the original and he is a very good singer. Nathan Lane & Jason Alexander are fine performers but I'm convinced that they would play Fiorello in the traditional way as a bigger than life cardboard cutout. Robert Downey Jr. would play Fiorello as a living, breathing real person who also happens to be bigger than life. That is only my opinion, of course.
"I long-ago realized that this country is a nation of
morons, when it comes to knowledge of anything outside, or beyond, pop culture." Steve Slezak
#16re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 3/9/12 at 4:58pmYes, this thread is close to four years old but I bumping it because I came across it while googling some Fiorelle lyrics. While rereading it I realized the need for a revival is much more stronger than it was four years ago. I think it would "fit" more now with the more kookoocrazy politicians coming out of the woodwork than ever before. "Politics & Poker" are happening more than ever it seems
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
#17re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 3/9/12 at 6:55pm
I love seeing older musicals that I've never seen before. Looking forward to Pipe Dream in a few weeks.
I caught this Muscial in Los Angeles at Reprise with Tony Danza as Fiorello.
It seemed not only dated but hokey by today's standard.
While Tony Danza wasn't very good as Fiorello, the script seemed embarrassingly dated.
For example.. the His Name's Laguardia song... He sings in Yiddish to the Jews and in Italian to the italians and in Chinese to the chinese New Yorkers. This may have seemed fresh in 1960 but no its just hackneyed and old hat as we have seen it so many times since then.
Don't think it works. Some musicals are like that.
Gypsy while set in the 30's, still has themes that speak to us today.
Fiorello is about wide eyed idealism in politics.. That doesn't fly in todays theatre.
Updated On: 3/9/12 at 06:55 PM
#18re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 3/10/12 at 4:10pmI don't know the show well at all *hides head in shame* though I have a "taped off record" casette somewhere that I made from a library LP as a kid ages back. But is there anyway to re-incorporate Where Do I Go From Here? I know the song from Liz Callaway's performance on Lost in Boston and it's *phenomenal*
#19re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 3/10/12 at 5:00pmI remember hearing Jason Alexander say in an interview that in the early 2000s (01-02?) He was approached to do a revival of the show, but turned it down. It's been a decade or so now, I wonder if he'd be interested... He's certainly perfect for the part.
#20re: Fiorello. Would it fly as a revival?
Posted: 3/11/12 at 1:58pmFIORELLO! is a great show. I saw it as a kid very late in its run, and I loved it as much as I had loved the OBCR. Saw it again as the first Encores! production, and it played well, although in its earliest stages Encores were pretty much semi-staged concerts with everyone's head pretty firmly in their books. Maybe it's time for Encores to take another look at it? Their productions are so slick (in the best sense of the word), and as a multi-award winner (Pulitzer, Tony, Drama Critics), it deserves a more full-scale production. I can see Jason Alexander as the perfect Fiorello, and Walter Bobbie would make a great Ben.
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