Marc Shaiman responds to Michael John La Chiusa- Page 11

[BoxFive]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:50am

"LaChiusa could not be reached for comment. ... he was rehearsing "Wild Party" at the Blank Theater in Los Angeles."

What a perfectly named theater for his version of the work.
Next stop should be the Bitter Theater in Teaneck.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:15pm

This whole thing has gotten way outta hand. Everyone should just grow up and act like a big boy. It's all petty and childish. My recommendation is to just get over it.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:31pm

The only thing I really want to say is that, even though I respect both composer's work and had a blast both times I saw Hairspray, I tend to agree with MJL's mindset that entertainment (even wildly amusing entertainment) does not always (and many times doesn't) make it art. And the entertainment side has recently, and in essecnce always has, overshadowed, the art side.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. After all, the first job of show business is to entertain. But it is a shame when the art side of this "art form" is completely shunned by producers and audiences.

Updated On: 8/10/05 at 12:31 PM

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:31pm

1) Gunn, great review - but you wrote Tracy Miller twice, wrongly as Velma. May want to Edit that.

2) What you are all forgetting is LaChiusa did not come up with this. There have been other published sources saying what he said and using similar examples.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:08pm

The sad fact is that both LaChiusa and Shaiman in their polarized ways are representative of what is wrong with contemporary musical theatre. Surely there must be a happy medium between esoteric, arid scores that please no one and generic, hook-driven pop scores that are indistinguishable from any number of formulaic songs. It is exactly this middlebrow (in the best sense of the word)sensibility that once informed the core group of classic American musicals and which has virtually disappeared from our stages.

TheEnchantedHunter
Ted Hunter, Cane, NH

[Joshua488]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:24pm

Marc Shaiman's attitude makes me sick.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:25pm

"that please no one"

Am I no one?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:29pm

Your stupid girlie smirk and your pseudo-preppy clothes make ME sick, Joshua, and they have for months. We all have our crosses to bear.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:38pm

Hehehe.

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:42pm

I don't think Joshua has an appreciation for us fags who are out there. You want us to be quite and respectful of our place.

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:46pm

Hey wonderboy!...I know you are but what am I?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:49pm

Oh Joshua's a fag, when that avatar first appeared I thought it was a slightly more feminine Macy Gray. Without the stoner charm. I could barely believe the creature was male.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 10:55pm

Heh - Macy Gray.

I try.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 8/10/05 at 11:49pm

My review is fixed. Thanks Thenardier and DottieD.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 1:46am

The Times' take on the feud:

"Not content with the exposure the Internet might bring, Mr. Shaiman then sent the "open letter" to colleagues like the director Joe Mantello, the playwright Terrence McNally, the producer Margo Lion and the librettist Thomas Meehan (not to mention at least one journalist).

"Let's be real: I sent that e-mail out and posted it hoping to stir up a reaction," said Mr. Shaiman, speaking from Amagansett, on Long Island. "I was surprised - and this is so ironic, because I'm known as a loose cannon among the people I work with - that he would go so on record to badmouth so many of the people working alongside of him, all with the same goals. And then he places it down in his article in such a scholarly fashion, to make it seem that this is fact. I'm not sure that he ever says 'In my opinion' or 'Just not my cup of tea.' "

Mr. LaChiusa, who is in Los Angeles rehearsing a production of "The Wild Party," responded to a request for an interview with a prepared statement: "I'm sorry I'm not able to speak as I'm in rehearsal. I'm pleased the essay served its purpose, which was to generate discussion."

Mr. LaChiusa has been a steady presence on Broadway and Off Broadway stages since emerging as a talent in the 1990's. He has two new musicals scheduled for the coming season: "See What I Wanna See" at the Public Theater this fall, and "The House of Bernarda Alba" at Lincoln Center Theater in early 2006. Nevertheless, his musically challenging shows, which draw on sources ranging from Euripides to Arthur Schnitzler, have often generated mixed reviews and disappointing box office receipts.

Those among Mr. Shaiman and Mr. LaChiusa's colleagues who agreed to comment on the spat expressed surprise at Mr. LaChiusa's public attack. "It's almost an unwritten thing that you don't knock other people," said Mr. Meehan, who collaborated on the books for "The Producers" and "Hairspray." "It's a tough business. Everybody who's anybody in the theater has had failures, up to and including Stephen Sondheim."

Ms. Lion, who produced "Hairspray," said, "What makes my blood boil is the notion that 'Hairspray' was some kind of contrivance and that the impulse behind it and dedication to creating it was somehow lesser than things that may be more - I don't even want to use the word serious - that have a more limited audience, to be honest."

David Yazbek, whose musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was one of the shows deemed as "faux" in the essay, saw significance in the soapboxes chosen by the combatants for their respective arguments. "Can you pick a more pretentious vehicle for an article than Opera News?" he said, laughing. "Then, on the other hand, you have Shaiman posting to the bulletin boards where everybody loves him because he's condescended to go on."

Mr. Yazbek added that the situation brought to mind not any past theatrical skirmishes, but "Sullivan's Travels," Preston Sturges's classic 1941 movie about a Hollywood director of comedies who wants to create a film with a social conscience. "Maybe LaChiusa wants to make 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' and maybe Shaiman wants to do 'Ants in Your Pants of 1938,' " he said. "You know what? As long as it's good, I'll take either one."


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/theater/newsandfeatures/11spat.html?

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 1:53am

Thanks, Margs.

I love Yazbek. He's so cool.

Rico Suave.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 2:01am

That actually made me laugh!

All I was saying was that there really isn't any need for Marc Shaiman to be disrespectful back. I know that Michael had no class or respect in his writings, but neither did Marc. I just don't understand the whole feisty attitude thing. I respect Marc and his talents, but I just think that being classy and the proverbial "bigger person" is always much more efficient in defending yourself.

But of course, I don't matter, so why do I bother? Updated On: 8/11/05 at 02:01 AM

[DAME]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 2:06am

Thank you Margo. Wow what a exciting year Marc is having. First Mathew Brodericks date for the Tonys and now this. This is so Bette Davis - Joan Crawford. I am loving it.

[jw28]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 2:13am

Wow, this is crazy, haha.

[Hairspraydoll]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 3:20am

All I can say is wow, this really blew up. Crazy.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 5:05am

I think Yazbeck just put the lid on it.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 8:49am

Hey, Yazbek! I mentioned Sullivan's Travels FIRST!

(Maybe he's reading this thread?)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 10:19am

He wouldn't condescend to come on here.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:23am

Sending copies of the retort to professional colleagues? This is getting out of hand.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/11/05 at 11:26am

I'm awaiting Sondheim's response:

"What I do?"