Is MTC cursed? Mary Tyler Moore Quit!

[thebigkrakowski]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 4:37pm

http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=32754&CT=38

Isn't that crazy?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 4:45pm

That really sucks for MTC!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 4:59pm

Another terrible bit of PR for NY theater. It gives off the impression that it's a dinosaur lumbering to its death and cannot support its own.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 5:06pm

I'm beginning to think that Neil Simon doesn't get along with people. Wasn't there a problem between him and Jane Krakowski during a workshop of Sweet Charity.

[thebigkrakowski]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 5:15pm

Yeah, that was the gossip. He seems a little loony...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 6:07pm

Oh brother, MusicMan.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 6:45pm

I don't think MTC is cursed, but Mr. Simon seems to be.

The word on the play in LA was that it was arch, sort of ersatz Guerney, not classic Simon--neither fish nor fowl, not funny or effective as drama in his post YONKERS mode. There it starred Jane Alexander and Len Cariou. But Neil Simon plays don't generally disappear into the ether before a NY airing. So, exit Jane and Len, enter MTM, a bigger draw and lighter presence. Anyone think this play will stir up much interest without her?

Poor Neil. His last 2 plays bombed, one opened cold on b'way without any major workshop or out of town gig, clearly way underdeveloped. His name used to be reason enough to plunk down your cash; but now?

Updated On: 12/4/03 at 06:45 PM

[Lorelai]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 7:11pm

How do you fight with Mary Tyler Moore?!!! I mean she's MARY!!

But seriously.....it had to be something big, I would guess

[bestofbroadway]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 7:13pm

"It gives off the impression that it's a dinosaur lumbering to its death and cannot support its own."

What?!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 7:40pm

Sic Lou Grant on her

Seriously, she does have diabetes & maybe it was a health issue. I would not be that quick to jump on the bash Simon bandwagon. He may still be shell shocked as his last few works have not met with critical or audience success & he may be realizing he is near the end of his career. If so, that is hard to accept especially for someone who has been such a success over so many decades

Updated On: 12/4/03 at 07:40 PM

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 10:41pm

I honestly don't think her health was the issue here. But I don't know. As far as I'm concerned, if you've pissed off Mary Tyler Moore, then there's really gotta be something wrong with you. She is one of the nicest people on the planet.

[Corine2]

Posted: 12/4/03 at 10:45pm

Damn I was really looking forward to seeing that show.
Well MTC has the Violet Hour which I loved.
Especially Mario Cantone. The role was written for him and he was brilliant in the role.
MTC will be fine.
Besides, MTC has the finest pr guy in the business. Updated On: 12/4/03 at 10:45 PM

[logan30]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 11:55am

Reminds me of the time Tony Curtis was fired by Simon (well Manny Azenberg did the actual firing because Mr. Azenberg does whatever Neil Simon tells him to do) during the Los Angeles pre-Broadway tryout of I OUGHTA BE IN PICTURES. Simon, of course, blamed the play's problems on Tony Curtis. Simon fired Curtis just before the start of a performance. Curtis then went onstage did half of the first act and then walked out of the theater. He was replaced by Ron Leibman. The show then opened on Broadway to decidely mixed reviews.

[logan30]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 12:02pm

Director Gene Saks and Neil Simon had a volatile personal relationship but an artistically and financially successful one over the course of seven plays that Simon wrote and Saks staged. Then came THE GOODBYE GIRL. Neil Simon blamed the shows problems on Saks' staging and Saks blamed the problems on Neil Simon's writing which took a simple romantic comedy and expanded it to a large cast Broadway musical. At one rehearsal the two came head-to-head and started having a shouting/shoving match. Martin Short was onstage at the time. A stage manager went up to Short and suggested he leave the stage as a way to express his displeasure with this type of conduct. Short replied to the stage manager, "Are you crazy? I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

Later that day Saks was fired (by Manny Azenberg at Simon's insistence) and replaced by Michael Kidd. The show opened on Broadway with great reviews for its stars, mixed reviews for the songs, and generally negative reviews for Neil Simon's book.

[logan30]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 12:10pm

And of course, Neil Simon has the distinction of being probably the only person who fired Robert DeNiro. This happened on the fifth day of filming on a movie called BOGART SLEPT HERE. Simon of course blamed the scripts problems on the actor. After DeNiro was fired production shut down. Simon went back to work on the script. Three years later after numerous rewrites it became THE GOODBYE GIRL with Richard Dreyfuss playing the DeNiro part. While I love Richard Dreyfuss in that film, I think DeNiro would have been brilliant in the rewritten role.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 12:32pm

Neil Simon has some serious issues. He seems very difficult with which to get along, and he has quite a reputation for this kind of behavior. It's one thing that he feels the need to fire so many people, but at least have the guts to do it yourself. What a Coward!

[GladysBumps]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 1:50pm

I think the truly disgusting thing all these stories point up is how totally ignorent this man is about the actors process. We get there in a variety of different ways, speak vastly different languages (which good directors usually figure out in the first week of rehearsals) and progress at totally different time frames, BUT treated with regard for our uniqueness and individuality (which is why you hired us, isn't it?) we usually DO get there within the magic four week rehearsal period UNLESS you panic and mind f--- us! And call us divas, but a half hour before perfomance is pretty lousy time to vent your displeasure if you expect anything resembling a decent performance to ensue.
How could a man who has been in the theatre this long, and at one time married to a fine actress himself, not be aware of this? Is his insensitivity born out of total self-centered, self-indulgent fear that with each new project, he's lost his midas touch? Maybe the thing that's missing from his current work is that he stopped seeing himself as, and relating to real human beings a long time ago.

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 3:54pm

I agree... and think it was really wrong of Simon to have that letter given to her right before the performance.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 5:46pm

Any writer -- especially a biggie like Simon -- who'd give such a note at half-hour is terrified of his own ass looking bad out there.

But even that wouldn't send Mary packing if she truly liked the part, felt she was delivering to her own satisfaction, and wanted to play the show with the company that's been cast. People tend to ride through a rough ego-driven patch when they genuinely enjoy their own work. Remember, an author disappears once a show opens, and plenty of stars haven't gotten along with writers. They know it's not a prerequisite -- writers don't even necessarily live in NY.

This letter must've been the last straw for Mary, after many other straws. Other issues weren't clicking.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/5/03 at 5:48pm

Except that Mare is pretty insecure, I think.