Lost Brilliant Productions- Page 2

[ARTc3]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 5:00pm

I just discovered that Sigourney Weaver was also in New Jerusalem. This was in 1978, way before she became popular, although I do think she was on my radar at the time. Not sure why I didn't remember that she was in this play that has haunted me so. God, I love the Internet!

[ARTc3]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 5:07pm

And, the play was later turned into a novel. If anyone is interested, there is a link below. The section that outlines the story is almost exactly as I remember the play. It is as fascinating as I remember it.
New Jerusalem

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:13pm

Confidential to ART: my husband was the assistant casting director on END OF THE WORLD and he'll be very pleased to hear it meant so much to you. It was very much a case of everyone involved doing the play because they thought it was important (in the profound sense, not the pretentious) to do it.

I don't know about regional productions, but IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? lives on in cabaret performances and high school productions, if YouTube is any guide. My favorite version of "A Kid Inside" is Australian singer David Cambell's, but Amazon has his page screwed up so you get a link to a Scientology video instead.

Fortunately, John Barrowman also sings the song beautifully:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvcD_ylSFoE






Updated On: 4/23/14 at 10:13 PM

[ARTc3]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:32pm

GavestonPS, please tell your husband that it meant enough that I and my partner knowing that it was going to close, went back to see it again. I thought it was powerful, brilliant and relevant.

Thank you for the links. I will check them out.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 11:41pm

Gothampc, Reefer Madness is definitely available on DVD if you can't find it elsewhere. I've never seen the musical so I'm not sure how faithfully it was adapted (I know several songs were cut) but it's a really fun movie regardless. I hope you enjoy it once you get to watch it! :)

[gleek4114]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 12:15am

The full movie is on YouTube. High quality as well.

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:14am

The original LA and Off-Broadway production of Reefer Madness is fairly different than the film. Much messier and more amateurish, but charming. The revisions to the film were retconned into the licensed stage version, as almost everyone agreed that the film was much more successful in what it was trying to do than the stage version was.

Onstage there are still additional songs and scenes, but the film and stage show now resemble each other more than before.

[JRybka]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 2:57pm

I thought that one of the most amazing productions I saw was the fabulous Lulu at the Berkeley Rep. It blew me away by the staging and thought that the way it used the stage (along with the cast acting the HELL out of it....) I wish it had been recorded or a new production was made. An afternote: Wedekind's Lulu starred Justine Bateman and was news at the time due the fact that a man stalked her during the production.

Another production that lingers in my mind was Music Circus (Sacramento) was the first staging they did of CHESS. In the round... they turned the set into a chess board and had the stage light up in black and white along with parts of it rising and sinking to make mountains, seats, and the such. It was very simple but amazingly done. The master of it was when the two ladies sang "I Know him So Well" -- Florence started on a white square all dressed in white and Svetlana was in black on a black square -- they didn't move bu the stage rotated very slowly as they sang. As they did their blocks slowly changed colors leaving Florence in black and Svetlana in white..... very powerful and I was incredibly moved-- it got a much deserved standing ovation each night. (I worked at the theater then)

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 11:19pm

I don't know how brilliant this was, but it's definitely lost. Before Abba did Mamma Mia and brought the story up to date, there was a musical called "Carmelina" based on a 1968 movie called "Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell," about a single mom in Italy who had a daughter after a fling with three GIs after WWII. They've each been paying child support and they're all coming to Italy for a military reunion. Each wants to meet "his" daughter, and none know about the others.

I saw a pre-Broadway preview of "Carmelina" at the Kennedy Center in the fall of 1978 and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Hey, I was 24). The cast included opera singer Cesare Siepi. Alas, its creds weren't enough to create a hit. The show ran for 17 performances in April 1979 and closed ignominiously. However, the score, by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, received a Tony nomination for "Best Original Score" of 1979.

[ARTc3]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 11:45pm

I saw Carmelina on Broadway. Not sure what happened in the transfer, but what I saw was rather dull.

This thread is not about criticizing other people's memories of brilliant productions, so I'm hesitant to include this post, but I thought it interesting that someone else saw Carmelina with an entirely different takeaway.

The production of Chess sounds fascinating. I saw both the London and Broadway versions. Was very disappointed by London (which also used a chessboard), but loved the Broadway version. Absolutely included in my list of lost brilliant productions.====

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:50am

Saw Carmelina and enjoyed it more than you.

The score was the best part of it and Georgia Brown was great in the title role.

Would not call it brilliant but it was enjoyable.

[AlehoSmith]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 5:35am

I believe Heather in Aida was so good and deserved the TONY

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 2:54pm

Seemed to vanish from the scene after Aida.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:15pm

You mean apart from just starring in The Bodyguard in London?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:28pm

I meant from Broadway.


There was also a great amount of years between Aida & Bodyguard.

Updated On: 4/25/14 at 03:28 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:32pm

She's consistently done steady work--I wouldn't say vanished.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:34pm

Leading parts in a Broadway show?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 3:42pm

I guess I just took what you said by what you said. The scene seemed to mean the public eye *shrug*

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 9:38pm

There's never any shame in enjoying a Burton Lane score, IMO! I, too, found the score of CARMELINA and Georgia Brown's performance quite memorable. IIRC, the book sort of "let the air out" in the second act and it was a period when a musical had to end strongly to attract an audience.