Interesting Article About STATE FAIR

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 3:53pm

I ran across this column on OnStageblog.com.  I saw the tour at the Kennedy Center and loved it.

http://www.onstageblog.com/columns/2016/6/30/our-state-fair-by-tom-briggs

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 3:57pm

Wilmingtom said: "I ran across this column on OnStageblog.com.  I saw the tour at the Kennedy Center and loved it."

You ran across it, or you wrote it? (Or is the Wilmington/North Carolina/Tom portmanteau a... coincidence?)

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 5:44pm

That's a very sweet article. Thanks for sharing it Wilmington. 

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 6:29pm

Lizzie, I'm in Wilmington, DE, not NC. And I'm by no means a writer. 

[brdwybound04]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 7:15pm

I would kill to see a non-profit like Lincoln Center produce a revival of this show. The perfect director in my mind that could refit the material in a more cohesive order would be Bartlett Sher. Any hope that LCT may produce this now that King & I is closed? Kelli O'Hara would make a lovely Margy too... This cast recording is a guilty pleasure of mine from time to time!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/30/16 at 9:09pm

Kelli O'Hara as Margy?!?!?!?! She's about 3 decades too old for the role. Margy is supposed to be a dewy corn fed 19-20 year old.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 12:28am

Let's be fair to Ms. O'Hara. If the character is only 19 or 20 then she's only two decades too old for it, not three (she just turned 40 in April).

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 1:03am

I saw it on its pre-Broadway run here in Southern California.  I thought it was a really good show, and a real treat to see the star power it had going for it.  And to see a "new" Rodgers and Hammerstein musical put forth was pretty special.  I know it's always been the "lesser" of their biggies by comparison to Oklahoma, Sound of Music, Carousel, et. al.  But I found it quite refreshing. 

I was bummed to hear it closed so quickly once it did hit Broadway, but I seem to remember people talking about how old-fashioned it was at a time when such shows as RENT were becoming the new trend.  And RENT was big that year.  It almost appeared that this was the biggest complaint about it.  Too provincial, too quaint, too outdated….and at the wrong time.

But to see this take on it makes it an even more interesting story to me.  Gets great reviews around the country. It hits Broadway.  The group of seasoned vets behind the curtain hear about all the critics out front. They get nervous.  Davidson drops a rope, and it all goes downhill from there.  The NY critics pan it.  Odd.

An interesting read indeed, as this has always been a musical that I found to be most charming, and I really was disappointed to hear that a refreshing R&H musical didn't make it.

 

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 4:22pm

"The perfect director in my mind that could refit the material in a more cohesive order..."

I'm not sure what you mean.  As I recall it's a pretty linear narrative.  I'm interested in how you'd rearrange the material.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 5:10pm

Has anyone read the script to the show? I'd be interested.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/1/16 at 5:10pm

Has anyone read the script to the show? I'd be interested.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 7/2/16 at 12:38am

You can get a perusal copy from RNH.com.  Briggs did some interesting things like bringing Margy's hometown boyfriend into more of the story and giving the band singer at the fair a backstory.  Really a sweet and entertaining show.