Musicals John Doyle should do
Musicals John Doyle should do
Mattbrain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
#0Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:47amWhat should John Doyle do after Company.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
#1re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:51am
Well, he's doing Amadeus in London. There's talk of A Little Night Music happening over here.
I'd like to see him tackle a show by a writer(s) other than Sondheim. Not that there's anything wrong with Sondheim. I'm sure other shows by other people can work just as well.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#2re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:53am
Gypsy. I can see Rose during "Rose's Turn" playing a glockenspiel and striking the notes during
Why did I do it?
What did it get me?
Scrapbooks full of me in the background.
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.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#3re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 10:59amRetire.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
#4re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:07am
I don't know who I love more: Gothampc or MargoChanning? ROFL!
How about...
The Music Man. 
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
IssaMe
Broadway Star Joined: 5/15/03
#6re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:12amI think after Company, if he's going to direct more Broadway, he should still obviously put his own mark on it, but with something other than the actor/musician concept, because even though it's great, if he does much more of it, people are going to continue to mock it and be doubtful. I'd love to see his direction of something more traditional.
Link Larkin Wanabe
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/04
#7re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:32am
I would love to see his take on Ragtime actually. Whether it be an "actor-musician" show or not.
Akiva
#8re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 11:58amCabaret
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#9re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 12:34pmI would love to see him do Assassins or Into the Woods. Perhaps not with actor-musicians, though.
sicetergo
Stand-by Joined: 3/16/06
#10re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 1:31pm
Mr Doyle has already directed Gypsy - winning best musical along the way - it was a traditional production of the musical. He's also directed Cabaret and Into the Woods as actor-musician productions - both of which were quite startling in their immediacy and truth, far from the superficiality of some productions.
#11re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/24/06 at 7:25pmA Little Night Music would be great. Three of the characters already play instruments and the relationships would be very interesting regarding who plays what like in Company.
Variations on a Theme blog: http://panekattack.blogspot.com/
#12re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:21pmI think after Company his inovative concept is going to get old.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#13re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:29pm
It already is
I think he should redo Lestat with actors playing the instruments. This is why it did not succeed when it opened months ago. Restage it like this & you have a winner
Poster Emeritus
#14re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:32pm
*faints dramatically*
Oh, the death of the orchestra, whatever shall we do? Gods of musical theater, save us from innovative direction and the extreme talent of actor-musicians in the name of traditional orchestras!
[I thought Doyle's production of Cabaret was a normal one; I was under the impression Sweeney was the first time he did the actor-musician thing, since it was bred out of financial constraints on the production?]
Edit -- and I was wrong on that. Whoops.
gustof777
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/8/04
#15re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:39pmnot a huge fan of actor/intstrumentalists concept but I still can't wait for Company. I would be very interested to see how it would work for Into the Woods which I am pretty sure he said he had done to great success. That being said I think he's great director but needs to move on from actors being the orchestra.
RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~
sicetergo
Stand-by Joined: 3/16/06
#16re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 12:55pm
He first used the actor-musician concept with Bernstein's Candide back when he was artistic director at the Everyman Liverpool in the early 90's.
His expressionistic Cabaret, with eight actors was again actor-musician and in my opinion made most other versions, I've seen, pedestrian and superficial in comparison.
I'm really not sure what the problem with Doyle's productions pose for some on this board, this is not a new concept and has been with European theatre for many years - it's bewildering that people feel the need to draw attention to it.
Cabaret
Updated On: 7/25/06 at 12:55 PM
#17re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 1:00pm
Thanks for the info. 
Well, I think people feel the need to draw attention to it because most of us are not European, and therefore it's news to us -- perhaps because not enough attention is always paid to what goes on across the pond, or because hearing about it is different from actually having it. I disagree with the people who regard it as a "problem," though they regard it as such because they think it's "gimmicky" or that it's going to be the downfall of the full orchestra.
Christoph
Stand-by Joined: 4/20/06
#18re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 1:25pmIf he stages them all like the ST revival (and as I hear it, Company), then nothing. There are only so many times I can take watching the actors awkwardly stumble around the stage to snatch back up their instruments to prepare for a number, then clunk them back down to act as the scenery movers, etc., under the dubious guise of "intimacy".
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
Marguerite Chauvelin
Broadway Star Joined: 7/19/05
#21re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 3:33pmAssassins is my bet. Maybe instead of just reviving shows with the concept though, he should put it into a new musical. Or some other theater-ish thing...
If Percy Blakeney were in Les Mis....
Percy: Sink me! If it isn't Javvurt!
Javert: Zsah-vair, it's pronounced Zsah-vair.
Pecry: But it's spelled J-A-V-E-R-T Javvurt.
Javert: Repeat after me Zsah...Zsah....
Percy: Oh! Zsa-Zsa! Like the Gabor sister! Well I personally have always prefered Eva.
Javert: (Looks for gun)
Percy: Sink me! If it isn't Javvurt!
Javert: Zsah-vair, it's pronounced Zsah-vair.
Pecry: But it's spelled J-A-V-E-R-T Javvurt.
Javert: Repeat after me Zsah...Zsah....
Percy: Oh! Zsa-Zsa! Like the Gabor sister! Well I personally have always prefered Eva.
Javert: (Looks for gun)
#22re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 4:09pmMr Roxy, I was just going to say, I would have loved to see what Lestat would have been like with Doyle at the helm, although I can't imagine him taking on the project in a million years. Not with instruments though, just as a traditional musical.
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#23re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 4:16pmI would love to see him do Cabaret, Threepenny, and Urinetown.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
#24re: Musicals John Doyle should do
Posted: 7/25/06 at 4:52pmI'm with Christoph on this one. There's no point in having the actors play their own intstruments unless there's an artistic REASON for it. Most will agree that it worked for "Sweeney" (although I don't), and evidently for "Company" as well. But if he's going to direct all musicals this way, then he should do something else...speaking of which, he directing "The Cherry Orchard" with Jessica Lange in London. Let's hope he doesn't have the house servants standing in the back, ominously playing cellos or something.
Videos