Musicals due for a revival- Page 4

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/3/20 at 2:30pm

John Adams said: "TheRoar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of he Crowd. Great score with many "forgotten" hitsongs (that haven't been sung in the mainstream for years, but should be brought back).

The allegorical plot holds up in 2018, and I thinkthe character of the Negro can be re-named to encompass any other, or even multiple ethnicities."

It is really hard to believe how many great songs that show has.  I saw the show originally with newley and Cyril Ritchard.  It was a lot of fun.  I think it was hurt by being in the large Shubert Theatre, since it was never going to have wide appeal with the bridge and tunnel crowd.  

As I remember, the show had a very small cast for a big musical.  Newley, Ritchard, Gilbert Price and some number of young ladies.  I'll bet it could work in a much smaller theatre, and have a chance at a respectable run.  Do i really think it will ever get the chance?  Probably not.  

[KingOfTheMine]

Posted: 8/3/20 at 2:47pm

City of Angels and Kiss of the Spider Woman are both due for a revival. There are also plenty of popular titles that haven't played Broadway for a surprisingly long time like Mame, Funny Girl, and Dreamgirls.

[Globefan]

Posted: 8/3/20 at 6:35pm

Show Boat

[Joshua Rosenthal]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 12:16am

A Legally Blonde revival with Dove Cameron as Elle, and a Funny Girl revival with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny

Updated On: 8/4/20 at 12:16 AM

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 12:16am

Titanic! Gorgeous score! Maybe a smaller smart production

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 9:33am

SouthernCakes said: "Titanic! Gorgeous score! Maybe a smaller smart production"

I would love to see a revival of Titanic (with a reworked book, because that score is gorgeous but the book still needs major work), but was thinking pretty much the extreme opposite of a smaller production and was wondering if this could work at the Beaumont.  I feel Lincoln Center would be the only nonprofit willing to shell out the money for as big of cast and orchestra as this show requires and the right director could do some really interesting staging things with it in that space.  But a smaller, stripped down production could also definitely work.

Updated On: 8/4/20 at 09:33 AM

[ViniFromBrazil]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 12:35pm

Jarethan said: "I cannot imagine that Passing Strange will ever be revived on Broadway. The show was a huge financial failure, despite mostly terrific reviews. Maybe off-Broadway.

To the poster re Black Musicals, I would propose Purlie be at the top of the list. It is a great, fun show with a wonderful score and three great roles. Multiple show-stoppers. I love A Raisin in the Sun, but just couldn't get into Risin. I did not think the score was good. It did win Best Musical, but in a very bad year. i would rather someone work on the book of Hallelujah! Baby, which also has a great score, multiple show-stopper numbers, and a real point of view. I loved it, er, 54 years ago, when I saw it twice, a lot for a kid of 16. At the time, I didn't care that the book scenes occasionally slowed the action because the musical numbers were so terrific. Fix the book scenes, i say."

 

In terms of chance, I just can't see any chance of having Passing Strange again, unfortunately.

Purlie! would be a good choice but wasn't Lutiebelle's plot overly problematic?

Actually I've been thinking recently that if the Spike Lee wave gets real come Oscar season and Da 5 Bloods wins big, maybe he could adapt School Daze to Broadway? I'd be into that...

[Valentina3]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 12:41pm

Joshua Rosenthal said: "A Legally Blonde revival with Dove Cameron as Elle, and a FunnyGirl revival with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny"

Jennifer Hudson as Fanny? Please tell me you're not actually serious?

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 2:43pm

ViniFromBrazil said: 
Purlie! would be a good choice but wasn't Lutiebelle's plotoverly problematic?

Actually I've been thinking recently that if the Spike Lee wave gets real come Oscar season and Da 5 Bloods wins big, maybe he could adapt School Daze to Broadway? I'd be into that..."

Have to admit that it has been too long since I have seen it.  I don't remember it being problematic, though.  Also, if it is problematic, that doesn't come through on the OCR.  May be some book issues, but I remember the book as being strong.

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/4/20 at 6:24pm

"Me & My Girl"
"Mame" starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Jerry Herman said numerous times she would be perfect
"Funny Girl" 

As far as it being unspoken that FG can't be revived during her lifetime, that couldn't be the case as it was to have been revived on Broadway back in 2012 starring Lauren Ambrose.  Funding was pulled before the show went into rehearsal in Los Angeles before its LA engagement.  Barbra doesn't own the show or anything like that.  

FG has been performed all over the US, and world for decades.  I was fortunate enough to have done the show in October 1993 with Stephanie J. Block as Fanny.    

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/5/20 at 3:21pm

The problem with a revival FG is that the show MUST have a spectacular Fanny or it will be a flop.  It is a flawed musical that bogs down in the second act.  It needs some work (add another fun number and eliminate one of Who Are You Now or The Music That Makes Me Dance...two good / excellent songs, but in too much the same vein (downer), which could improve its chances for success.  But the make or break issue is the lead, who unfortunately will be compared to Streisand in the movie and on the OCR.

Personally, I would really like to see a well-done revival -- I have not seen it live since 1965;  I am just not optimistic.  Would Love to see Mame and CZJ sounds like a good choice, sophisticated, glamorous, acceptable singing voice, should be able to dance it (if non-dancer Lansbury did it the revival (in her mid-to-late 50s, dancer CZJ should be up to the task.

Re Me and My Girl, I loved it when I saw it 3 times with Robert Lindsey.  I have to say, however, that the same issue exists as with FG, even more so.  The show is not that famous, the score really is mediocre.  It was a hit because of Mike Ockrent's staging, its emphasis on comedy, and Robert Lindsey's glorious performance.  He did not win the Tony because the two Les Mis actors split the vote; he won it because he was more critical to the success of that show than they were to theirs, and his performance was just incredibly entertaining, endearing, energetic...and sexy.  If they can not come up with someone to live up to Linsdey, they should not even bother.  (nd I have to admit that I wonder whether its success at the time was also one of good timing).

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 8/5/20 at 11:26pm

I'd love to see a revival of KING OF HEARTS...with the magnificent Santo Loquasto sets I saw when it was in previews in Boston. I still think it's a shame it opened in the midst of a newspaper strike. Only 54 performances, including previews, in the winter of 1978.

I still love listening to the recording, but I was perhaps too young to gauge its merits, or lack of, back then. I just know it's always stayed with me.

I'm just wondering if anyone on this board ever saw it?

Updated On: 8/5/20 at 11:26 PM

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 12:02am

Grand Hotel opened in 1989, ran for 1000 performances, received 12 Tony nominations and won five. But there doesn’t seem to be much love for it here.

I only saw the Encores’ production. No one in that cast really stood out much to me, and the book will win no awards. But some memorable characters and entertaining musical numbers.

Should the show just be retired in memory of Michael Jeter?

[Fan123]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 4:23am

^^I've gained more of an appreciation for Grand Hotel recently. Lush, romantic throwback score, but a more darkness-tinged plot than I usually associate with that sound on Broadway. It's also interesting to see another good show which inhabits roughly the same time and place as Cabaret, in a different way.

Grind has some terrific songs. I've heard that it's not the greatest show on the whole, but a revisal or a concert would be nice.

Giant.

(Or just any musical that starts with a G, seemingly.)

[BudFrump23]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 10:25am

I'd love to see a big-budget mini-series done with LaChiusa's score to Giant. Maybe 3-6 hour long episodes? There's a few musicals that would be lush and vibrant if given the HBO Angels in America treatment. (Caroline, or Change as well.) 

But for shows I'd love to see revived, I long for some reworked classics. 

The Golden Apple

The Grass Harp

Goldilocks 

(see - more Gs) 

Out of This World

The Happy Time

Woman of the Year

The Rothschilds

I'll stop. I could go on and on. But I think all of these have merit. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 11:15am

BudFrump23 said: "I'd love to see a big-budget mini-series done with LaChiusa's score to Giant. Maybe 3-6 hour long episodes? There's a few musicals that would be lush and vibrant if given the HBO Angels in America treatment. (Caroline, or Change as well.)

But for shows I'd love to see revived, I long for some reworked classics.

The Golden Apple

The Grass Harp

Goldilocks

(see - more Gs)

Out of This World

The Happy Time

Woman of the Year

The Rothschilds

I'll stop. I could go on and on. But I think all of these have merit."

I'd love to see both Happy Time and Rothschilds get revivals (although the 2015 updated version of Rothschilds was horrendously received).  Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope is still very relevant (certainly the Encores! production a few years ago still packed quite a punch and I imagine would even more so now).

As far as shows with broader name recognition (and therefore much more likely to actually happen and be profitable), I'd love to see a good production of Camelot (been almost 30 years since the last revival) or Sweet Charity again.

[nealb1]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 1:16pm

Robert Lindsay was a brilliant Bill Snibson.  Saw him multiple times in the show - here in LA and in New York.  As far as the score being mediocre, I've never thought that at all.  You walk out of the theatre feeling a whole hell of a lot better than when you walked in.

It was a huge hit, that opened during the middle of the 80's mega musical cycle of Broadway.  It was your "typical" musical comedy, that was so hysterically funny.  The book is so sharp, so clever.  And, a score of great songs.  Win/Win.

I saw the recent Encores revival two years ago.  I really enjoyed some aspects of it, and others not so much.  Certainly no fault of the very talented cast.  I've done the show multiple times here in So Cal, and know how those scenes can literally be show stopping with comedy.  "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" that opens Act 2 was fantastic.  The teaching scene and the library scene was funny - just not what it could have been, all based on the direction.  Granted the rehearsal period for Encores is very limited.  Had it been a longer rehearsal period like a normal Broadway show, more fine tuning could have elevated a good show into a great one.  

Updated On: 8/6/20 at 01:16 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 8/6/20 at 10:20pm

Michelle Craig...I saw King of Hearts also, and really enjoyed it.  I suspect the sets would have been considered iconic if the show had run.  The scene that took place on the roof of the church was positively thrilling.

OlBlueEyes...I enjoyed the original production, but it was all because of Tommy Tunes direction and the look of the show for me.  There were a few good numbers, but I have tried and failed many times trying to get through the OCR without skipping half the songs.  I think it should be retired, as I just can't imagine a revival ever being a success.  Also, even though it ran 1,000 performances, I remember that the show did marginal business for more than half of its run.  I do not know, but I would not be surprised to hear that it did not return its entire investment during its Broadway run.

BudFrump23...I saw The Happy Time in a scaled down production at the Signature Theatre in Virginia, probably 12 - 15 years ago.  IT was delightful...much more entertaining than the bloated original, which I also enjoyed, but felt it was hurt by its size.  I could actually see this succeeding in a scaled down version in a smaller Broadway theatre, with the right leads.  IMO Woman of the Year is unsalvageable.  It wasn't good to start out with, and benefited from the star power of Bacall and the successful stunt casting of Raquel Welch.  

[TheJabob08]

Posted: 8/9/20 at 11:59pm

I know it is touring, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for Fiddler. I'd also love to see a revival of Avenue Q or Shrek. 
 

Also I know it's not a revival but I can't wait for Smash to come to broadway.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 1:09am

Not a commercial revival, but after watching that Howard Ashman documentary I'd love to see Smile at Encores.

[Joshua Rosenthal]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 11:31am

Funny Girl (with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny)
Hairspray
The Wiz
Legally Blonde (with Dove Cameron as Elle)

[Joshua Rosenthal]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 11:31am

Funny Girl (with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny)
Hairspray
The Wiz
Legally Blonde (with Dove Cameron as Elle)

[Joshua Rosenthal]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 11:31am

Funny Girl (with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny)
Hairspray
The Wiz
Legally Blonde (with Dove Cameron as Elle)

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 11:52am

TheJabob08 said: "I know it is touring, but what can I say, I'm a sucker forFiddler. I'd also love to see a revival ofAvenue QorShrek.


Also I know it's not a revival but I can't wait forSmashto come to broadway."

Welcome to Broadway World, Mr. Spielberg!  (I'm just assuming that's you since this is the third thread you've tried to get us excited about Smash coming back with).

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/10/20 at 12:25pm

Joshua Rosenthal said: "Funny Girl (with Jennifer Hudson as Fanny)
Hairspray
The Wiz
Legally Blonde (with Dove Cameron as Elle)
 

Are you even aware that Fanny Brice was not black?

Would you like a revival of "The King and I" with Ricky Martin as The King as well?