Jerry Zaks brought on for Addams Family — Page 2

So if you are a designer, you can never direct? What a foolish thing to say. Especially as Tom Ford is having quite a debut on film with A Single Man.

Considering Julie Taymor.

Considering Smaxie's comment that some of you must have accidentally missed: "They designed AND directed the acclaimed Shockheaded Peter".

Don't generalize.

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Both directors are also critically praised and highly respected performers. Both have worked at the highest levels internationally. They are not 'rank amateurs'.

If only people who have directed on Broadway can be allowed to direct on Broadway, that is one hell of a closed shop, and a direct route to stale, repetitive production. 'Shockheaded Peter' was one of the best reviewed and lucrative shows of the decade, from Indie routes. If there is finger-pointing to be done, maybe we should be looking at the writing...

They did direct a very well received and popular production of SATYAGRAHA at the Met Opera a few seasons ago.

Updated On: 12/29/09 at 01:18 PM

In 1973, producer Harry Rigby decided to revive the 1919 musical IRENE for Debbie Reynolds. In it, she would sing old crowd-pleasers like You Made Me Love You, I'm Always Chasing Rainbows and Alice Blue Gown.

Then he had the bizarre idea to hire Sir John Gielgud as director. Not surprisingly, he was fired and Gower Champion was brought in.

Sir John wrote about it at great length in his letters. He took the job, he said, because they offered him a good percentage and he thought it might be quite successful. He had what he called "a dreadful time," and in the end, he found the experience "most unpleasant and rather humiliating."

That should have been a cautionary tale to many, but it wasn't.

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Wow. This news means...absolutely nothing!

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jrb_actor, Julie Traymor might not be the best example to bring up. She seems to have gotten quite lucky with "The Lion KIng" but then, if you really think about it, Lion King is more of an extravaganza than a musical. Personally, I love her visions but hate the show. Sitting through it a second time was like being forced to use a hair dryer to help paint dry. Her subsequent work on stage and theater has been, well... not my glass of tea.

Tom Ford is another bizarre exception. I have never been able to figure out if he's a talented designer or more of a great huckster. But I enjoyed his film far more than anything Traymor has done, so I'll give you that one.

What I was actually trying to say was if I had invested in this show, I would have been quite concerned when the producers didn't make at least a sensible decision on the director. This choice would have concerned me greatly. And that concern, it turns out, would have been well-founded.

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Okay, here we go: The first three previews have been nixed.

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Taymor has had a nice career as director/designer. She's done more than TLK.

I think it's absolutely silly to generalize. Lots of people start out in one aspect of the business and segue into other areas. To rail against this is to go against the history of theatre.

Are there designers who failed as director? Yes. There are directors who failed as director. So, what really is the point? This is just silliness.

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Updated On: 12/29/09 at 04:41 PM

I wholeheartedly agree with all that!

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I agree with that as well. Perhaps the two aesthetics will merge into the perfect concoction.

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Who do they have lined up to replace Bebe? Christina APplegate?

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I have never posted on this board, but I need to stand up for Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch here. He is a stunning, prolific, accomplished, and unique director in his own right. He has helmed some of the most interesting and intelligent theatrical work that I personally have ever seen. The scale of his work ranges from the Met Opera to tiny black box theatres. I have not seen Addam's Family so I cannot comment on his work there, but based on his past productions, I would have complete faith in him to helm a Broadway production.

If you are interested in learning more about his work, please visit his theatre's website: http://www.improbable.co.uk/
You can read the articles and interviews section to "hear" him and Julian speak very intelligently about theatre. Their interviews about puppetry are invaluable!

You can also hear them (Phelim and Julian) talk about their work on SATYAGRAHA here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCGmbzRz9Ws&feature=related

Peter Hall once said you can't have any great successes without great failures. This is a duo who are always willing to take risks and I applaud them for that. I hope the best for everyone involved with this production, and hope everyone will soon see how beautiful Phelim and Julian's work can be - whether or not Addam's Family is the showcase to display it.

Thank you for listening.

PS - Another great designer-director is Tony Walton. (and I *Believe* Phelim would consider himself a director first --- and Julian his associate/designer...could be wrong, I've never met either of them...just admired their work.)