Craig, please get down off the cross. Surely they could use the wood for the Evita set.
Anthony isn't being condescending towards Broadway; he's criticizing the current state it's in. Which, by the way, is a valid criticism. With very few exceptions, shows are woefully undersold (fine, Spamalot and Wicked and maybe three other shows are selling out, but that doesn't make up for all of the other houses at 60%), ticket prices are too high with no incentive to buy (ie: a star name), and the dearth of jukebox musicals is making Broadway start to seem like a walking parody of itself. I mean, come on, a musical based on John Lennon? No one is writing original works anymore, and the revivals lack the heart of their original runs, which is making many people (including Time Out New York) sit back and say "How do we fix Broadway?" It's not the 1950s anymore, where two popular composers (who in the same DECADE released Flower Drum Song, The King and I, AND Sound of Music) could make money off of a flop of a show with a score by a Brooklyn dentist, because Ethel Merman was headlining it. We don't have, in 2005, Mary Martins and Ethel Mermans to guarantee a run of even the clunkiest of shows. Karen Ziemba may be all well and good as an actress, but she doesn't guarantee a sold out revival of Happy Hunting. Even actors like John Lithgow, whom people know outside of a ten-block radius in Times Square, can't guarantee a sell-out every single time (Sweet Smell of what, now?).
And it's interesting to think that if it was anyone else lauding Madonna as someone who could bring back the "old Broadway" (say, Eddie Varley), that you wouldn't be so eager to jump on the defensive. Could some of this overzealousness be related in part to personal vendetta?
I think they should leave the score alone. If Madonna can't sing it, find someone who can.
I don't think Madonna has enough of a powerful personality to play the role. When you saw Patti LuPone perform "A New Argentina", you knew this was a woman you didn't want to mess with.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I don't think Madonna has enough of a powerful personality to play the role. When you saw Patti LuPone perform "A New Argentina", you knew this was a woman you didn't want to mess with.
In any kind of dramatic role, she vanishes-I believe this whole report is a sham, she would not be able to do it for one performance, let alone eight shows a week.
Unfledge them of their...perriwigs, And they appear like bald-cootes, in the nest.
Beaumont, Knt. Malta, (1616).
Yes, Speed The Plow was a long time ago. However, her appearance in a play in London was just a few years back. Up For Grabs was a limited run that sold out but only performed a 6 show a week schedule. The critics were fairly unanimous in trashing her performance. And it wasn't because of "who she was" but it's because she can't act. I saw the show.
Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.
I wonder if Rocco and Lourdes are going to be in the children's chorus?
"Please, mother Eva, will you look upon me as your own? Make me special, be my angel, be my everything, wonderful, perfect, and true And I'll try to be exactly like you"
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
OH. HELLS. NO. and if they do this they better keep it in London. What are these producers thinking? Have they evenheard her (try to) sing "Rainbow High" and "Buenos Aires"? SHE BLEW....THE BIG ONE. God Theatre is Desperate.
The question I have is are they going to rewrite the score and cut out the mistress so that Madonna gets "Another Suitcase..."?
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I find it interesting that most of the people arguing against the idea of Madonna appearing in a musical are the same people who, a year ago, were so incensed over a proposed film version of Rent and are now eagerly awaiting November 23rd.
Must I quote Brantley's review about POP-COUNTRY-STAR-REBA and how her performance might even had topped Mermans?
Must I quote Barbara Cook who said Reba gave one of the 5 best musical comedy performances she had ever seen?
Not Bernie!
Must I quote that Bernie's won two Tonys? Must I quote that she's been above the title more than any female stage actress EVER? Must I quote that she seems to always walk away with raves even when the production she's in isn't raved about (Goodbye Girl, Gypsy)?
Bernie has been miscast once in her career (as Annie). Madonna has been miscast everytime she puts a foot on a stage or in front of a camera.
1. This isn't going to happen--Madonna plans on touring next year.
2. Saying that key changes should prevent her from doing a musical is just ignorance of what happens on Broadway---tons of shows have had different keys for different performers.
3. IF Madonna could pull off 6 - 8 shows a week (EVITA is the kind of show that would probably have ANY actress only do 6 shows a week and M is a tough, disciplined woman--she might be able to do it), I think she would be phenominal. Yes, she is a weak actor when she speaks lines. But, when she is singing, she is a brilliant actress. For some reason, she really connects as an actor when music is present. I think the film was a great performance, though I wish she had been given more room to cut loose--and live would let her. Think how HOT "Buenos Aires" would be? It could be brilliance, though I do see the great potential for failure---say she can't pull out 6 shows a week. But, the idea of her doing that show or any musical live is exhilarating.
