Grand Hotel - anybody see it?

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 12:37pm

My school recently did this show and I wondered if anyone had the chance to see it while it was on Broadway. What did you think?

[matty159]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 12:50pm

Honestly, Grand Hotel is one of my favorite shows of all time. Saw it on Broadway several times as well as on several stops of the tour. I honestly couldn't get enough of it -- the music, the dancing, the staging. All of it incredible. I really wanted to see the revival at the Donmar, but sadly, lacked fundage to make it across the pond.

I just keep hoping for a Broadway revival!

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 12:54pm

I saw Grand Hotel on Broadway more than a dozen times, and one of the dancers was a teacher of mine. I enjoyed it every single time.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 12:54pm

What part did you play joizey?

The sexy theif?

Tune's staging on Broadway was great and the late Michael Jeter was pure magic.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 1:02pm

More style than substance but what incredible style! Tommy Tune did amazing things with the staging for that show. I saw it many times on Broadway and enjoyed it a great deal.

[D2]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 1:10pm

It was a beautifully staged show, and as Morosco pointed out it was most definitely more style than substance. But I couldn't take my eyes off it for one second - the level of detail in the staging was always fascinating. Michael Jeter certainly deserved his Tony, and Jane Krakowski should have won for her performance.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 1:16pm

"We'll Take a Glass" as both performed in the theatre and on the Tony's that year with Michael Jeter, gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. Jane Krakowski was wonderful as well. I saw the show again shortly before it closed and the replacement cast wasn't nearly as enjoyable as the original.

D2 - I remember the best feature actress category that year was very strong. I really thought Christa Moore would have won for her portrayal of Louise in Gypsy.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 1:19pm

Hey can anybody say something about David Carroll's performances? I have been enthralled by him when I heard him do "Love Can't Happen" on the bonus track of the Grand Hotel CD.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 1:22pm

Two of my favorite moments in the show:

1) The point when the orchestra stopped playing and the dancers continued to dance during a dramatic scene. The sound of their feet rustling was magic.

2) When the Baron sings "Roses at the Station/Love Can't Happen". The moment he starts to sing the "Love" refrain you start to see blood from the gunshot wound on his white tuxedo shirt. The spot grows larger and larger as he continues to sing.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 3:22pm

Never had the priviledge of seeing this show live but I can't stop listening to the cast recording. I'm not sure how it worked live, but comparing CITY OF ANGELS with GRAND HOTEL I can't help but think that Jane Krakowski should have won indeed.
David Carroll's "Love Can't Happen" is perfect, I like Barrett in the role but Carroll's rendition of the song is so heartfelt.
Michael Jeter gave probably one of the best Tony performances and one of the most emotional Tony speeches.
Love everything about this show, especially the NINE alums: Kathi Moss, Karen Akers, and Liliane Montevecchi (though I think she's not as good as the rest of the cast)

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 3:31pm

Just as an opposing view, I didnt like it at all. Compared to the film I saw little to keep me interested. I LOVED Jeter and a few others, and that's it. I couldnt stand Krakowski, after she had been hyped as a highlight I found her awkward and far too broad, and if she said "Mr. Kringelien" one more time...I expected more from this team, I dont even like the score.
Sorry, just my opinion.

[The Boy From Ohio]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 3:37pm

I saw it on tour long ago. I still remember the set and staging. Beautiful. I need to dig out my program...

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 3:45pm

Well, if Krakowski lost to Randy Graff that is very understandable, IMO. I consider Graff's rendition of "Youn Can Always Count On Me" one of the best musical comedy performances ever and that is only by listening to the CD. Plus I heard she stopped the show practically every night.

But, back on topic... Yes Michael Jeter seems wonderful (I too love his Tony speech) and Krakowski is very good. No memories of David Carroll on stage? Anyone?

[Glebb]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 4:06pm

I saw it on Broadway and was hoping to feel the same about it as I had with NINE. That did not happen but it was a wonderful show. Jane was so tiny back then. About year ago it was done in Chicago and I enjoyed it.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 4:13pm

I saw Carroll on stage in Grand Hotel and in Chess, jewishboy...he was a such a talent, but was ill by the time he opened in this...so sad.

Loved him as Anatoly...such a grand mess Chess was.

Oh, and I'll agree with you on Graff's perf. Remarkable. She was a terrible Fantine, however, imo.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 4:23pm

David Carroll was still with the show the first two times I saw it. He was wonderful. Both times it was amazing when Carroll hit the big money note at the end of Love Can't Happen ("...and IIIIIIIIIIIII KNOOOOOOOOOOOW") the cast members that were sitting off to the sides (like they do now in CHICAGO) applauded just as wildly as those of us in the audience. I don't know if they were staged to do that but it seemed both times it was as if they were rooting Carroll on at a time when his health was beginning to fail him. It was a magical moment.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 4:25pm

I feel like the material itself does is not enough to make the show succeed and you need some kind of innovative or unique staging to keep the audiences attention.

Ken Jennings, who was in Grand Hotel, came to speak to our cast about his experience, and he said that the original cast didn't even receive the scripts and music until weeks into the rehearsal process. He said they would do box steps all day and Tommy Tune would move them around and tell them to keep going as he created his visionary staging. There was a lot of rewrites and revisions and supposedly Tune would ask the composers to think of new lyrics on the spot and there was a lot of stress. He said even the leads didn't get their scripts for awhile.

Apparantly some of the lyrics were so bad that Liliane Montevecchi would put on such a thick accent that nobody would understand her and therefore hear the bad lyrics. I think they ended up changing those lyrics.

Fun backstage stories.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 4:26pm

I saw it on Broadway and the Tour.

Can't pinpoint why.. but Tommy Tune's direction never seems as focused to me as it should be.

To me, he seemed to adapt the ideas of others enough to make them seem like his own.

I'm in the minority here.

[scooter38432]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 5:24pm

I had the pleasure of seeing the pre-Broadway Boston tryout twice. David Carroll was, indeed, outstanding. Such a voice. And hot!

Unfortunately, I felt that some of the tweaks they incorporated for the Broadway version made the show lose a little in the story-telling, but I still enjoyed the show a great deal.

I'm not a Krakowski fan. I feel that she's very weak, vocally, but I thought her acting was fine. I did not feel that she was paticularly Tony-worthy (for GRAND HOTEL or for NINE). I think that Randy Graff and Crista Moore were better choices for that year -- and that Mary Stuart Masterson should have won for NINE -- especially since I can't get Anita Morris' unbelievable performance as Carla in the original production out of my head. Morris kicked Krakowski's ass, and STILL lost the Tony to Liliane Montevecchi for some Godforsaken reason.

But anyway...

Yes. GRAND HOTEL. Enjoyed it. David Carroll left us way too soon.

[alterego]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 10:13pm

Saw it on Broadway and found it all a bit tiresome. It didn't engage me for a minute.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 10:30pm

morosco-what else was done with the staging for "Roses at the Station"? It's such a long (though great) song and it's right after he's been shot. How did Tune make it work? It's always intrigued me.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 11:04pm

"morosco-what else was done with the staging for "Roses at the Station"?"

The scene preceding the first gunshot (more about that later) takes place downstage left. That's when the Baron comes in to rescue Flaemmchen from the clutches of Preysing. The rest of the cast is lined up in a straight line across the entire stage representing the hallway of the hotel. The Baron and Preysing begin fighting and Preysing pushes the Baron out of the room (through the actors that are lined up). Preysing then goes out of the room followed by Flaemmchen. The three of them are now in darkness but we can still hear them argue. The wall of actors now moves down to the very edge of the stage. They are whisper-chanting "charleston...charleston...". Flaemmchen (still in the darkness) screams "Mr. Preysing....what are you doing with that gun?" and we hear the first gunshot. Silence. Then Dr. Otternschlag says his bit about "no creature on this planet, etc". Then the orchestra starts to play the beginning of "Roses" and the cast that are still in formation along the downstage breakup and scurry about the stage as if they are in a train station. The Baron is standing upstage center and when he sings everyone freezes in place. On the second verse he moves downstage center and the cast starts to leave our view. When he gets to the "Love Can' Happen" reprise he's the only one onstage. His shirt starts to bleed. He notices it. When he sings "I can't see you" he starts backing up while still facing front. With each step he struggles more and more and at the very end of the song that when we hear the second gunshot. Blackout. Then next is the Death Bolero.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 11:11pm

Thank you so much for that! I really wish I could go back in time.

[morosco]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 11:17pm

Oh.... I should also add that Jules Fisher's lighting design for Grand Hotel was endlessly stunning. I think Fisher's contribution to the show was just as important as Tune's.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 5/22/07 at 11:48pm

It sounds to me that we need Tommy Tune back on Broadway, with an original musical, pronto!