Hal Prince Can't Take Half a Day Off?- Page 2

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 1:41pm

Maybe he'll surprise us all, sweep in from the loft on a mini chandelier and grab his reward when they announce it, only to fly off cackling into the night.

Hal Prince, man of mystery.

[Mamie]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 1:46pm

I agree completely with Rath. It is about the work and not the awards. For him to stop his work just to come to NY (at LEAST 2 days) would be compromising the work he's being lauded for. I think he's too much the professional to do something like that. I admire him for having his priorities in order.

As for the Kennedy Center - They would not give an award to someone who would or could not attend. It's part of the requirements laid down in the nomination process. This is why they refused to give their award to the 99 year old Irving Berlin. That was the year I stopped having any respect or admiration for their award.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 1:58pm

^That's poor what they did to Berlin, and he was probably one of the most deserving that year.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 2:07pm

PurdyBacall --- You said it best.

Can any of you imagine what it would do to a cast & crew's morale if their director said, "Sorry, gang, but I'll be missing our final rehearsal before previews start, so I can stand at a podium and accept an award on the other side of the country?"

So many of you seem to think it's egotistical for him NOT to show up.

I see it as just the opposite, under these circumstances. And this is not your "father's Phantom" here. It's been overhauled and reimagined for this inflated production. Good or bad remains to be seen, but they can't all go on auto-pilot right now. That would be suicidal.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 5:11pm

Mamie, you really had to work hard to find that one didn't you? By the time he was 99, Irving Berlin wasn't going anywhere. I wonder if Elaine Stritch or Carol Channing wouldn't take the day off, no mayyer what, fly across the country and walk onto that stage. This is supposed to be a lifetime achievenment award for the one thing that Hal Price does for a living, from his peers. Don't even pretend to tell me that everyone involved didn't know about this conflict in scheduling montha and months ago. When he said he was unavailable, they should have moved on. This sounds like a pretty hollow gesture on all sides.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 5:44pm

"...to accept an award that could have been given to 100 other people who actually would have shown up?"

That's an idiotic statement. The award's not being given because the person showed up but because of Prince's singular, significant, and historic contributions to theater.


Winston Smith
Oceania

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/11/06 at 6:13pm

Trust me, when you see his acceptance speech, you would never guess that he was grateful. Shortest Lifetime Achievement acceptance speech ever that segways into a marketing tool. You'll see.