Isn't it time for a Song & Dance/Tell Me On A Sunday revival?

[greensgreens]

Posted: 3/11/10 at 7:28pm

Another thread got me reminiscing about this show that, on the whole, I really enjoy. I'm wondering if after the significant London revision a bit back with Denise Van Outen (known now - or perhaps again - as Tell Me On A Sunday) it could make a possible Off-B'way (or B'way) return? I'd love to see that. But, the question is... Who could fill the demands of the role though?

EDIT: I just saw that a 2008 Off-B'way production was staged - how was that? I never heard a whisper, so was it just egregiously overlooked or what? Updated On: 3/11/10 at 07:28 PM

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 9:16am

Yes! A revival would be great, but it should just be "Tell Me On A Sunday." Saves everyone a pretty boring hour sitting through the "dance" part.

The London Revival from a few years ago was excellent! Would be fantastic to see it on Broadway, or touring.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 9:39am

nope.

[chrissydee]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 9:44am

no. haha, sorry.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 10:06am

God, no.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 10:08am

Sure!

[BroadwayBenny]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 10:53am

I'd like to see the show done with a twist...A one MAN show.

Only change a few lyrics though and make it about a homosexual man from london living in the states looking for love, using the new Denise Van Outen version of the show.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:29am

I was lucky enough to catch a 1st rate regional production last year in Coral Springs, FL. I LOVED this score, and if you got the right actress, the show is amazing.
Although now it's somehow "dated", this pre "Sex and the City" era show, was groundbreaking in its moment and songs like "Exit", "Tell Me On a Sunday" and "Unexpected Song" are worth the ticket price alone.
What Benny mentions is also a very good idea, to make this play for a gay man, but then again, it has to be a wonderful male singer in order to pull it off.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:34am

The Denise Van Outen version is gross. Anything that was ever likable about Emma is completely drained from that version.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:40am

"Yes! A revival would be great, but it should just be "Tell Me On A Sunday." Saves everyone a pretty boring hour sitting through the "dance" part."

The "dance" part was anything but boring when Wayne Sleep did it for the original London production - one of the most electrifying dance performances I've ever seen.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:44am

I don't mind the new version except the Speed Dating song which became passe the moment it was first performed. Lloyd Wbber really needs to try and avoid being current or edgy at this stage in his career. It comes across as desperate and out of touch. I was thinking about the idea of a gay man performing it the last time I listened to the show a couple of months ago and it really would need quite a bit of lyric changes to make it work.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:47am

"I don't mind the new version except the Speed Dating song which became passe the moment it was first performed. Lloyd Wbber really needs to try and avoid being current or edgy at this stage in his career. It comes across as desperate and out of touch. I was thinking about the idea of a gay man performing it the last time I listened to the show a couple of months ago and it really would need quite a bit of lyric changes to make it work"

Matt, aren't you contradicting yourself there?

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 11:48am

"Yes! A revival would be great, but it should just be "Tell Me On A Sunday." Saves everyone a pretty boring hour sitting through the "dance" part"

Count me in! I saw this regional version 5 times, and only saw the "dance" part twice, I just left after the 1st act. It was kinda dreadful, at least the way it was done in this production. But it did employ several dancers!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 12:09pm

Matt, aren't you contradicting yourself there?

How? Because replacing Emma with a gay man would be an example of Lloyd Webber being current and edgy? I don't think it would have much to do with him other than allowing a director to do so and approving the lyrics. My problem with Speed Dating is that it was an obvious ploy to update the setting, but the music and lyrics are trite and weak. They lend nothing to the story or show but expose the weakness of featuring a trendy bar sport that was novel a decade ago.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 12:17pm

"It's a New. York. Thing" Yeah, ALW, it's actually not.

I thought changing the plot from Emma having an affair with a married man to Emma having a relationship with someone who is getting divorced throws it all out of whack, too. At least in the original version it seems like she learns something at the end, instead of singing that godawful "Somehow, Somewhere" (whatever it's called song) that was written for the revisal.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 12:36pm

Matt, because you said that ALW shouldn't try to be current, and then you say he should update the lyrics.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 12:40pm

See, in the original, I never really got that she learned anything other than she seeks out destructive relationships. Previously, the married guy tells her he'll leave his wife for her and she rejects him. We're left wondering what the hell she wants and I was never convinced she knew, either. In the revisal, it seems to end with a positive attitude that she's got a clearer idea of who she is and what she wants.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:01pm

I'm with PRS, in the original her reaction is that of someone very selfish, but in the final verses she says "I'll be Emma, again" which always signified to me that she realized she has broken up a marriage and that really disturbs her. So she decides to reject him, and find herself.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:07pm

I didn't say ALW should update the lyrics. He doesn't write the lyrics. Only that changing the character to a gay male would require more than a few lyric changes. Updating the material to a more current setting is not the same thing as adjusting some lyrics to change the sex of a character.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:14pm

The post Broadway tour with Melissa Manchester played Toronto and I rather enjoyed the TELL ME ON A SUNDAY portion, but a recent Toronto revival used the revised script and throws out Richard Maltby's changes...and it is a an absolute mess. It's as if the writers have no idea of how to construct a story. Maltby deserves far more credit for bringing this show into New York in respectable shape.

The Toronto production was jinxed: Opening night Rex Harrington (formerly a star with the National Ballet of Canada) fell and broke his ankle mid performance causing the rest of the show to be canceled. Then two days later his replacement suffered an injury and had to be replaced. Audiences were staying away in droves: some performances only had enough people to fill the first few rows of the theatre. The producers wisely threw in the towel after that.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:35pm

I'm LOVING the idea of the contemporary gay male version. I know this show has been revised to hell and back, but this would have to require a substantial revision as well. Obviously, the big songs and general story should be in place (personally, I'm for the B'way version). But, I think it would need to have additional songs and additional emotions/thoughts/feelings conveyed. Personally, I'd like to see some further exploration of the physical sexuality/sensuality added to create a more complex and complete examination - not just a look at the "emotional" side of relationships.

Come to think of it, I've never realized how flat Emma really is. Maybe I'm just so in love with (most of) the score that I've just ignored its faults altogether.

Afterall, the homosexual male experience clearly isn't close enough for just a simple recasted role. I'm for Cheyenne Jackson or Malcolm Gets - either would turn in a really nice performance I think.

[slmlbl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:44pm

one of my fave ALW pieces, despite its flaws. I've always loved the idea of having a gay man in it. I'm all for a revival of this, i would love to see some of the flaws fixed, a re-telling that gets it right, if you will.
I love some moments in each version of it that i've heard and remain convinced that if you had the right person, they could be morphed into each other to create a penultimate Sunday.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:46pm

I think every gay man at one time or another has wanted (to be in) a gender reversed Tell Me On a Sunday.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 1:47pm

I'm for the gay version, but Cheyenne, as much as I adore him, seems wrong for it. I think he is too good looking, it should be a gay male that most gay males can relate to.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/12/10 at 2:07pm

Which clearly makes me the best option for a gay version of Song and Dance.

There, I said what we're all thinking (Well not that all of you immediately thought of me, but you probably cast yourslef in it.)