Is A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC coming back? — Page 4

AC126748 said: "Fiddler is a show that I can understand them non casting POC (although I hear the show was hugely popular in Japan) because the story has to do with their Jewishness.

Fiddler on the Roof is hugely popular around the world and has been performed by casts of all ethnic make-ups. The themes of family, faith and tradition transcend specific races and cultures.



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Yes but not on Broadway.

AC126748 said: "Fiddler is a show that I can understand them non casting POC (although I hear the show was hugely popular in Japan) because the story has to do with their Jewishness.

Fiddler on the Roof is hugely popular around the world and has been performed by casts of all ethnic make-ups. The themes of family, faith and tradition transcend specific races and cultures."

If anyone on this board hasn't already read it, I would strongly recommend picking up Alisa Solomon's Wonder of Wonders, about the genesis and legacy of Fiddler on the Roof. It's a great read anyway, but there's a wonderful story about a school in the Brownsville (I believe) neighborhood in Brooklyn that did Fiddler on the Roof with primarily minority students. (While the original was still on Broadway, at that!)

from this old SUNDHEIMMANIAC I say let it come back in any form...i really didn't like the cast recording of the recent Broadway revival as compared to the OBC which in my mind is perfect in every way...i do hope they produce it for either live tv or a new movie version.. also i do think that ALNM is the most perfect show combining book and music that SONDHEIM has ever written...it is seamless in every way!

Updated On: 8/5/16 at 10:07 AM

Nothing about Annie Golden suggests world-weary former courtesan to me.

Annie Golden is really not right at all for Madame A. Plus, she's only 64 and doesn't have the right kind of voice for the role.

Glynis Johns should just do it.

Trevor Nunn's original concept was to cast EVERY role younger. Hannah Waddingham was only 34 when she played Desiree. Nunn maintained the younger casting on Broadway with the exception of Lansbury. The most brilliant choice was finally casting a CHILD as Fredrika, not a woman playing a child.

It was said at the time that Lansbury approached the production herself about the role, with one condition, that she shared the show with another star, to alleviate the entire revival being on her shoulders. She gave a stunning performance. Her second act was heartbreaking. Stritch was also wonderful, she owned act one, whereas Lansbury had a stronger second act.

Chita would be wonderful but the lack of dancing would be unfortunate. Her dramatic acting in The Visit was fantastic, she would do very well as Madame.

Updated On: 8/4/16 at 07:07 PM

Elaine Stritch milked that Wooden Ring speech for every laugh she could get. Lansbury was not as funny (though I loved her punchline 'and I got them', but I found it a bit more heartfelt. I don't know what I'd do with myself if we had a Winslet-Lansbury pairing at NYPhil with Benanti as Charlotte.

Of course, I'd also be interested in a Winslet-Bernadette pairing if they wanted to graduate her to Armfeldt. I'm sure she won't cry during liaisons :p.

gypsy101 said: "lol Bernadette wouldn't be the right age til 2035 or so.



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You think Bernadette needs to be nearly 90 to play the part? Lol. She needs to be convincingly elderly to play an older woman in a wheelchair close to death, not literally be an older woman in a wheelchair close to death.

Of course, while I think Bernadette looks and sounds decades younger than she is, at almost 70 she is no spring chicken and could pull it off with a grey wig and different or no (as if that would ever happen haha) makeup.

She has already played an older woman in a wheelchair close to death decades ago.

How great it will be for Liaisons to have some pleasant melodic/musical value for a change.

Updated On: 8/4/16 at 10:56 PM

Bernadette was perfection when she played an old woman in a wheelchair - and that was when she was in her prime (age wise, although to me she looks almost the same, haha). If she brings to Madame Armfeldt what she brought to Marie, I'm sure the tears would be flowing when she got through with the wooden ring speech.

Updated On: 8/4/16 at 11:48 PM

Regina Resnik's performance of the song is my favorite. That production is not without its problems, but she and Maureen Moore are sublime throughout.

I think that's a touch unfair. Sally Ann Howes was WONDERFUL in the NY Opera production. And sang the score with remarkable restraint for a legit singer. Usually I can't stand hearing the part sung by a 'proper' singer as they always oversing, but I thought Sally Ann Howes showed remarkable restraint and she absolutely nailed the characterization.



And, with all due respect to Hermione Gingold, I think Regina Resnik's Mdme. A was perhaps the best interpretation of the role.

gypsy101 said: "AC126748 said: "Nothing about Annie Golden suggests world-weary former courtesan to me."

...and Hermione Gingold seems like that?



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Far more so than Annie Golden, absolutely.

As to Glynis Johns as Mme. Armfeldt, I believe she played the role at one point in California. But she is not in good health and I can't imagine she'd be able to do a full run of anything today.