James Joyce's :The Dead

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 2:42am

Did anyone see this during it's all too brief Broadway run, was there a reason for it lasting only about 120 performances and is there a cast recording?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 3:42am

Yeah, I worked there. Chris Walken and Stephen Spinella and cast were a hoot. Fun!

[jakebloke]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:23am

I saw it. I can't remember much about it, other than it was a great cast. The show itself was well, unmemorable.

[meredithchandler73]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:29am

I saw it off-Broadway as well as an early Broadway preview. The show is not everyone's cup of tea - but I really enjoyed it. Wonderful performances by a terrific cast. I think it works as a "small" musical. Off-Broadway I felt like I was in the living room with these people at this party. I didn't feel like the show filled a Broadway house (performance-wise, but certainly audience-wise as well).

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 7:32am

Would it work again if it was given a second chance?

[misschung]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 7:44am

I didn't see it on Broadway, but I saw a college production. The Broadway cast was probably amazing, but I didn't like the show itself. I don't think the amateur at best traditional Irish music did anything for the words.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 8:58am

This musical is a quiet, character driven show. It doesn't do well in a big Broadway theater because the intimacy is lost.

There was a lot of talk at the time of getting it recorded because it was such an exquisite cast. The Library at Lincoln Center had to wait until Walken left to film it because he didn't want a "definitive" performance recorded.

[singingbackup]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 9:49am

I saw it in Los Angeles and thought it was a delightful gem of a show.

[mmousefan]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 10:07am

there was a small regional production here locally, using long-time fan favorite performers. It did quite well. Not a huge fan of the property itself. There is a great film version of the property, by John Huston, I believe, with his daughter playing a role. That cast is also excellent, but obviously it is not a musical (though I seem to recall some songs in the film as well).

[sanda]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 10:42am

I think this should be a popular show for regional productions like "the secret garden". I love their porformance in Tony. Truly hope to see a decent production in my area someday. This should be revived more often.

[misschung]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 10:45am

mmouse - yes, that's the 1987 version, and it is amazing. It is indeed Anjelica Huston as Gretta, and Donal McCann as Gabriel.

[mmousefan]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 11:29am

was the film's music new stuff or folk/period songs of the day? I need to Netflixx that one again.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:14pm

There actually was a recording made of a regional production in Pittsburgh in 2004, but it was a limited release and each copy was, if I remember correctly, $100 dollars. I remember it being something outrageous as I wanted a copy, but could not afford one at the time. I was very upset. Here's the castalbum database information...

http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/4954

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:25pm

We saw it & we were bored silly.

The music was very ordinary & not too memorable. It may have worked better as a straight play.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:37pm

I am not sure if any recording is worth a $1000.

Would the show have lasted longer if it went into one of the smaller Broadway theatre like the Walter Kerr?

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 6:45pm

The recording was made for a fundraiser for Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre. If you donated $100 to the theatre, you received the recording as a gift, much like PBS. I don't believe that the CD was ever sold commercially.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 7:02pm

Whoops read that wrong, thought it said a $1000.00. A $100.00 dollars is not that bad.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 7:13pm

I saw it. I had a complicated reaction to it.

My feeling was something similar to my experience when I first saw Sunday in the Park with George.

With Sudnay, I had the feeling throughout that there was something more that I was not seeing. As if the show was asking me to open up a different area of my theatrical imagination.

When I saw Sunday again, I found it to be a richer experience the second time.

I wondered if The Dead would reveal more of itself to me on a second viewing. But unlike like Sunday, I honestly didn't care enough to give it a second shot.

[DoranC]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 10:36pm

"(though I seem to recall some songs in the film as well)."

Two. That I can think of. I know the late tenor Frank Patterson is in the film and sings "The Lass of Aughrim" -- I suppose one couldn't do justice to Joyce's story without that song being in there, as it plays a central role in the story. There's also the song the elderly aunt sings -- it's "Arrayed for the Bridal" in Joyce's story; I'm thinking, partially remembering and assuming that's what's in the film as well.

I've never seen the play. Are both of those used in the play?

[roquat]

Posted: 2/22/08 at 11:05pm

A friend saw it on Broadway on a day Walken was out. The tourists were being their usual charming selves about this--grumbling and complaining beforehand and in the intermissions. When the cast gave the "Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS" speech at the end, they said, "We gave Chris Walken two weeks off from the show. He wanted to visit his family, and Mars is some distance away."