John Doyle is at it again! — Page 2

It wouldnt have been so bad had he not been so repetitive about it. Poor Sondheim: Doyle does this to SWEENEY and COMPANY and tried (and apparently failed) at doing it to NIGHT MUSIC. Throw into that the fact that he did SWEENEY and COMPANY in succeeding seasons. I didnt mind it for SWEENEY, but COMPANY really got on my nerves... and when I heard he wanted to do it to MIGHT MUSIC, I just about lost it.

Yes, he's done other things, but let's face it: as far as Broadway is concerned, these are his high profile productions. He needs a new gimmick, and soon.

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Oh god, I had etched that from memory, and then you have to come along and remind me...........

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EVERYONE loved Where's Charley at Encores! EVERYONE! It was one of the best shows in all of NYC last season (I would go so far as to say the best). Directed by John Doyle.

He keeps directing in the actor/musician style because it is why he is known in this country, and because he is great at it. But to call him a one trick pony is ridiculous. He has not done any high profile shows in America in this style since Company, and he has worked a lot. Stupid arguments made by people who don't know what they are talking about.

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When people say that this "gimmick" is all he can do, and then refuse to acknowledge that he can do other things, including what many believe to be the best production of the last season, their argument is moot.

I loved Company, and did not find the actor/musician concept forced at all, though I can see how some could see it that way. What I loved is that he used the instruments in Sweeney and Company in a totally different way. In Sweeney the instruments reflected the character's personalities and relationships to each other, where in company they represented the character's feelings, especially how they felt when it comes to relationships.

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Sean, my initial argument was not geared towards you, but towards others who posted earlier in this thread.

I do agree that I would like to see Doyle direct more productions in NYC that do not use the actor/musician concept. But regional theatres are hiring him to direct shows with that concept since it is what has made him known in America. No harm in him making money and creating these creative (if controversial) shows for audiences who will probably not see them in NYC.

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A Catered Affair was dreadful and certainly doesn't bolster the argument that Doyle "can do other things."

I didn't see Catered Affair, though I know people who loved it and hated it.

I did see Road Show, Where's Charley and ...Mahogany. Mahogany was decent (and some moments were brilliant), I really liked Road Show but thought it could have been expanded a bit more (and from what I've seen of the production in the U.K. it looks like he did that) and loved Where's Charley. When you add in Sweeney and Company and even the City Center Encores! Gala from 2 years ago, I see Doyle as a director who is able to create incredible images on stage, and characters with deep relationships with each other.

Obviously not everyone will think the same, isn't that what is brilliant about theatre?

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*2 seasons ago

I normally agree, but there was something about the performances in that gala. They were very different than any of the others I had attended (most of the major ones in the city for the past 3 years). It was a combination of the talent, the love for Sondheim, and Doyle's planning of it.

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It's become a pathological compulsion with him, this need to apply this formula, no matter the appropriateness, to any musical he is asked to direct.

It's a sickness, really, an addiction. He should receive treatment for it: medication...or a series of shock treatments.

He's really become like one of the strippers in Gypsy: He's got his gimmick and he's not letting go off it.

The man need serious help.

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I hated his SWEENEY with a poisson. (Which is, of course, a fish.)

"I don't think 3 productions is a gimmick."

No, ONE production is a gimmick.

THREE productions is pathological.

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He's done A LOT more than three of these actor/musician productions. He's done a TON of them in London. In the states, we've had SWEENEY and COMPANY. ISN'T IT ROMANTIC? and MERRILY are coming. Any others over here?

I am not of the opinion that the actor-musician device is a "gimmick." In fact, I think it will probably be at its most effective in a review like TEN CENTS A DANCE where there is no text and the entire narrative relies simply on the music. Even SWEENEY TODD is mostly sung-through, which is why I think it worked equally well there.

That being said, I think MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG is the last show that should be done in that style. Mary literally has a line in "Opening Doors" where she says, "I don't perform- except at dinner." How do you justify having a character like that play an instrument the entire show?

Doyle's Watermill production was panned in a big Variety review, which made the very articulate point that the show is so episodic that it needs all the help it can get in terms of focusing on the narrative, not distracting from it.

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Updated On: 7/25/11 at 01:07 AM