Gender swapped Tell Me On A Sunday

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 3:24pm

Anyone else cautiously optimistic? Seems like it could be fun but they run the risk of falling into stereotypes. Thoughts?

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Don-Black-Reveals-Hes-Working-on-a-Gay-Male-Production-of-TELL-ME-ON-A-SUNDAY-20200720

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 5:48pm

It’s funny to see this. Because just last year we had done this as a gender swapped show.

[tourboi]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 7:27pm

I could be losing my mind but I seem to remember reading a several years ago about a regional company doing the show with a man - changing it from Emma to Emmett or something like that. My brain wants to say Seattle, but I'm not sure about that... 

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 10:25pm

tourboi said: "I could be losing my mind but I seem to remember reading a several years ago about a regional company doing the show with a man - changing it from Emma to Emmett or something like that. My brain wants to say Seattle, but I'm not sure about that..."

You're not wrong. This definitely happened and I remember everyone raved about it - I don't remember where either.

I find Emma to be the most challenging role in musical theatre, it would be nice to see a male performer do it.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 12:13am

Somebody call Andrew Rannells and Robbie Fairchild!

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 1:58am

I would like to see Gideon Glick or Damon Daunno . Rannells is a bit old by now.

[BJR]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 10:16am

I remained annoyed you can't license the Broadway Richard Maltby Jr rewrite from Song and Dance. Infinitely better.

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 10:38am

New dream role!!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 11:01am

BJR said: "I remained annoyed you can't license the Broadway Richard Maltby Jr rewrite from Song and Dance. Infinitely better."

Don Black has said he was not a fan of the Broadway version and preferred the original London version. The current version licensed by Concord Theatricals seems to be an amalgamation of various different versions and doesn't seem to include "Unexpected Song" either. At least, the song is not listed in the song list on the Concord Theatricals website.

[binau]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 12:38pm

Will they find a way to get grindr, substance abuse, truvada, RuPaul referrences in etc.? I wonder if the show is a little bit too wholesome to resonate for the 'gay experience' in either London or New York City (but I suppose everyone has different experiences). 

Updated On: 7/21/20 at 12:38 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/21/20 at 3:08pm

BJR said: "I remained annoyed you can't license the Broadway Richard Maltby Jr rewrite from Song and Dance. Infinitely better."

You could when it was at R&H. That was the only version they licensed here, per a friend who licensed it.

[BJR]

Posted: 7/22/20 at 9:48am

CATSNYrevival said: "BJR said: "I remained annoyed you can't license the Broadway Richard Maltby Jr rewrite from Song and Dance. Infinitely better."

Don Black has saidhe was not a fan of the Broadway version and preferred the original London version. The current version licensed by Concord Theatricals seems to be an amalgamation of various different versions and doesn't seem to include "Unexpected Song" either. At least, the song is not listed in the song list on the Concord Theatricalswebsite."

It would make sense he wouldn't much like someone re-doing his work. But it's a shame since it's without question superior. Hell, she has a name and a profession! She exists outside of the men she dates! And the later versions are pretty cringe-worthy. The speed-dating? Oy.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "You could when it was at R&H. That was the only version they licensed here, per a friend who licensed it."

Yeah, I think it's a somewhat recent thing, or in the last maybe 10 years. Perhaps even when they made the newer revision. But now, you can only license the 1979 original, which is pretty painfully outdated bordering on misogynistic now. The woman literally can only speak of men.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/22/20 at 2:22pm

Can anyone confirm "Unexpected Song" is actually cut from the current licensed version and it's not just missing from the song list on the website?

[Lot666]

Posted: 7/23/20 at 3:01pm

qolbinau said: "Will they find a way to get grindr, substance abuse, truvada, RuPaul referrences in etc.? I wonder if the show is a little bit too wholesome to resonate for the 'gay experience' in either London or New York City (but I suppose everyone has different experiences)."

If you read the BBC interview linked from the BWW article, they say:

"In 1979 it was a one-woman show about the romantic problems of a young Londoner living in the USA. The new version keeps the same basic era but makes the central character male and gay."

Most of the factors you mention weren't factors in 1979.

[Tateh]

Posted: 7/23/20 at 3:42pm

I have been dreaming of this forever!!!! 

[binau]

Posted: 7/23/20 at 4:23pm

Lot666 said: "qolbinau said: "Will they find a way to get grindr, substance abuse, truvada, RuPaul referrences in etc.? I wonder if the show is a little bit too wholesome to resonate for the 'gay experience' in either London or New York City (but I suppose everyone has different experiences)."

If you read the BBC interview linked from the BWW article, they say:

"In 1979 it was a one-woman show about the romantic problems of a young Londoner living in the USA. The new version keeps the same basic era but makes the central character male and gay."

Most of the factors you mention weren't factors in 1979."

Ah interesting. The key issues then are likely totally different, I imagine. I wonder how well it will work. 

Updated On: 7/23/20 at 04:23 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/23/20 at 10:45pm

I just find it funny considering I proposed this publicly years ago, though my idea included combining songs from all versions of Tell Me On a Sunday to make it a full-length evening.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/24/20 at 12:58am

I like it better as a one act. Apparently Song & Dance was Cameron Mackintosh's idea so there you have it.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/24/20 at 6:23pm

The company I work for requested permission to run a season with 3 different actors in rep: a young woman, an older woman and a man.  We were told to wait for a decision- it never came and we moved on.

No such thing as a new idea.

 

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/24/20 at 11:38pm

CATSNYrevival said: "I like it better as a one act. Apparently Song & Dance was Cameron Mackintosh's idea so there you have it."

Oh, I disagree. If anyone remembers the D'amboise siblings in it - they were mesmerizing. I also loved how both acts come together in different performance expressions. I just love the dance section.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/25/20 at 4:33pm

This is so funny.

For my high school senior project, I did a production that was recreated for a gay man. Did the entire Broadway first act, including the bonus song “Nothing Like You’ve Ever Known.”

I love this show. I’d love to see it return.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/25/20 at 5:31pm

CATSNYrevival wrote: Can anyone confirm "Unexpected Song" is actually cut from the current licensed version and it's not just missing from the song list on the website?

I can't imagine that number being cut...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/25/20 at 7:01pm

MichelleCraig said: "I can't imagine that number being cut..."

It is cut. It looks like the current version available to license mostly reverted back to something closer resembling the original 1980 Tell Me On A Sunday album, but it still includes "The Last Man in My Life" which wasn't on that album and a song called "Dreams Never Run On Time" for the finale sequence which I believe was written for the 2010 UK tour.

Updated On: 7/25/20 at 07:01 PM

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 7/27/20 at 11:58am

Actually, "Dreams Never Run On Time" was a rewrite of a song from the 2003 Denise van Outen revival.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/27/20 at 12:33pm

I understand. “Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime” was rewritten as “Dreams Never Run On Time” correct?