Nine,the musical: A Discussion- Page 3

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 9:05pm

Rentboy if you can get the 2003 revival I highly recommended: Antonio Banderas, Jane Krakowski, Laura Benanti, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Chita Rivera are only some of the great artists on the recording. Banderas is good, but the women outshine him in my opinion. Jane Krakowski has an amazing solo, Laura Benanti sings a beautiful song titled "Unusual Way" that touches me so much, and Mary Stuart Masterson has such a strong presence in the recording, her acting is so powerful.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 9:09pm

I'll look into it. The clips I've heard from the show didn't really do anything for me, but I'm willing to listen to things outside my comfort zone. I love hearing a girl belt, so I'll have to check out the recording. It's by Maury Yeston? Correct? Same guy that did Titanic.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 9:23pm

It is Maury Yeston. It takes time to enjoy the score in my opinion. First time I listened to it I hated it, and made the mistake of not watching the show. The score is not Rent, it is not Wicked, and it is not Phantom. But I can tell you that once you have an open mind towards it and you listen to the lyrics and understand the acting, you'll fall in love with it (at least I did). Not all the songs are great, but the ones that are take you to nirvana. It's a lot about insecurities, about love, about relationships, about women, about men. It's a complex score, the lalalalas are brilliant. It's not easy to fall in love with, but if you really listen to it, you will.

[hypertruffle]

Posted: 1/20/06 at 10:08pm

FoscasBohemianDream-Thank you for starting this thread. As you can see in my avatar, I too have a love for Nine. I really have nothing to add here, since everyone have added what I would've said.

I have two recordings of it (OBC and 2003 revival). If you could get only one, get the revival. Mostly, get it for the cast. Afterward, if you fall in love with the score, get the OBC. The OBC contains some cut songs from the revival recording (The Germans at the Spa, The Waltz). The inner theater lover in you would have a org/ear-gasm when you hear the late Mrs. Anita Morris sing 'A Call from the Vatican'.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 1:42am

I think I'll add it to my list of things to buy. How was the revival? Was it a limited engagement or what? The cast sounds amazing so I can't imagine it running longer than the OBC were contracted. What theater did it play.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 2:53am

The revival was an open-ended run. The cast was so great that as people started to leave, the show ran out of steam, I believe. John Stamos replaced Antonio Banderas as Guido, and I think this wasn't a very smart move, anyone saw Stamos playing this role? I doubt he could have given the role what Banderas did. I really wish I had seen this show, I saw Gypsy five times, I should've seen it four times and gone to see Nine at least once.
I really want to get my hands on the Nine OBC, the score is so superb, I can't get enough of it. The revival cast is too perfect though. Mary Stuart Masterson is the highlight for me just because in a cast that includes Jane Krakowski, Laura Benanti, Chita Rivera, and Antonio Banderas, she manages to be as brilliant as everyone else. I wonder why Krakowski won the Tony over her.

[CK2]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 6:36am

I saw both, Banderas and Stamos, playing the role of Guido Contini. Coincidentally I even saw Stamos' (and Banderas') standby Paul Schoeffler when Stamos was absent one evening in early December 2003. The musical closed a bit later on December 14, 2003.

This was definitely the role for Antonio Banderas. Stamos was not as convincing and his singing voice was weaker than Banderas'. I am still glad that I saw both playing the husband of Mary Stuart Masterson (my favorite actress).

I think Jane Krakowski won the Tony because of her big artistic entrance she did and probably because she had been nominated before for a Tony (for "Grand Hotel" I think). So probably the voters thought it's time for her.

Mary Stuart Masterson was great and powerful in her songs and her acting was convincing as usual, that's true. She would have deserved the Tony as well. But it was her musical debut so maybe they thought it's too early for a Tony. Jane was great and deserved this win and I am saying this as a fan of Mary Stuart Masterson (I am maintaining a site on her).
Updated On: 1/21/06 at 06:36 AM

[Glebb]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 6:54am

I saw the OBC once and the revival twice.
NINE is a very unique and special show.
I adore the set for the revival production.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:07pm

Glebb, do you think you could provide a comparison between the Original Cast and the revival cast? What about Tommy Tune's direction in comparison to David Leveaux'? I think it was a big mistake to replace Banderas with Stamos. There are so many other great leading man that could do Guido.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:37pm

What was Jane's entrance like?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:38pm

Jane floated down on a bed sheet (which she was attached to), landed on a table, did some "nasty, yet really hot at the same time" stuff with a telephone cord and her toe, and exited by singing upside and floating away.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:40pm

So when she hits that really high note at the end in "Guido" she's actually upside down?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 1/21/06 at 9:54pm

Yes, as I remember it.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 1:24am

That's quite amazing. I can't see how she would be able to hit that note standing upside down. Thanks for the info YankeeFan, I wish I had been there though. I can only imagine how mind-blowing that might have been.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 1:49am

How do you stand upside down? :P They probably had her in a harness or something... she squeals the note more than sings it so I can totally see it.

Nine is one of my top favorite musicals, right up there with any Sondheim. It's a brilliant score, unique and exciting, musically adventurous, utterly theatrical, rapturous, funny, deep. While Yeston's lyrics can be maudlin and strange at times, they can be everything else as well, which is what counts for me. I know it's superlative, but I lavish absolutely endless praise on this show. I loved it from my first listen, but nearly everyone I've ever talked to about it has said they didn't really get into it. I guess to each their own. But really, how can you not fall in love with songs like "My Husband Makes Movies", "Be Italian", "Unusual Way", "Getting Tall"? It's all so emotionally evocative.

I think the "problem" with Nine (why not as many people get into it) is because of the specificity of the story. It's very much about this man who has a particular problem that not everybody can relate to. I think anybody who is/aspires to be an artist will understand the comedy and tragedy of Guido's first dilemma. Anybody who is unable to commit to love will understand his second. I guess you really have to crack Nine's shell in some cases to see the juicy gooey tasty bits inside. But it's a perfectly written show. It's a play set to music, everything is finely integrated, subtle, and nearly every part offers a stunning opportunity for an actor.

I only have the cast recordings to go off of because I missed the revival (my personal tragedy) but I prefer the revival. I had the revival first but I find Raul Julia, while very authentically high minded Italian movie director, to be a taxing singer to listen to and to not have even 40% of the fun Antonio Banderas is obviously having in this role. All of the female singers without exception are better on the revival.

"Unusual Way" is a funny song because it's hard to sell. Have you heard Yeston sing it? He sings it like he's Elton John. But Laura found a way, and it's just gorgeous. Mary Stuart Masterson? Heart breaking. Everything about this show... *dies* It's full of introspection, it's sexy. It never sells out its ideals. I just wish Maury could rise up to Nine's level again. Titanic was gorgeous but flat. He has great music inside of him.

No, there are no belting women in it, but I for one am writing a letter to God to thank him for at least one more show where the women don't have to scream every note of every song. I like belting women too, don't get me wrong, but sometimes I like a little dynamic.

This is me getting really excited about a show.

I still fail to see how it's a concept musical though. I think the concepts are many and integrated into the show, it doesn't exactly revolve around them.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 3:00am

I think it's a concept musical because all the songs revolve around Guido's dilemma and his relationship with the women in his life: The LALALALAs in the Overture, "A Call from the Vatican," "Guido's Song," "My Husband Makes Movies," "Be On Your Own," "Simple," "Be Italian," "Unusual Way," those are the songs I'm more familiar with and they all relate to Guido's midlife crisis.
I think that Nine is hard to appreciate at first because it is something we're definitely not used to. Like you pointed out very well, the women do not belt every note, which is very unusual for a modern Broadway audience; however, even if you're used to Sondheim, Jerry Herman, or Kander/Ebb, this show will not satisfy that musical ear either. Nine does not have a Broadway feel to it, really, it is such a unique score, IMO. When I heard it at first, I couldn't stand it, and went to see Gypsy five times instead of going to Nine at least once. Then, I came across the album again, read the synopsis, read some of the lyrics, and then I heard the recording and it was a completely new experience. The music is just brilliant, the lyrics indeed are very much awkward at some points, but awkward doesn't mean they are mediocre lyrics like the ones you'd see in some hit shows currently running on Broadway.
"Unusual Way" is a beautiful song, I'm very much attached to it because I'm in a "relationship" where I feel exactly like that about this man and the song really touches me. Also, "Be On Your Own" as performed by Mary Stuart Masterson is one of the most powerful songs I've heard, she really gets Luisa, and gives 100% at least on the recording. Jane Krakowski is way too sexy and funny in "A Call from the Vatican," but I insist that last "Guido" she sings at the end is really high and must have been hard to sing upside down. Antonio Banderas is so committed to the role, you really feel so much sympathy for him. I think this score is brilliant and the revival cast is superb.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 3:29am

I think we ought to start a petition. Bring back the Nine revival with the original cast!

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 4:11am

I've heard that after Dick Van Dyke is done in Chita's show, she is inviting the Nine cast to perform Nine instead of Dancer's Life. Now that was a show worthy of Chita. But seriously speaking, I don't see why Antonio Banderas left Nine so early in the run, and I can see why Stamos wasn't enough to keep the show running.

[CK2]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:10am

If I remember correctly Banderas had a film coming up and that's why he left.

At the same time Stamos took over, Chita Rivera has been replaced by Eartha Kitt, Jane Krakowski by Sara Gettelfinger and Mary Beth Peil (who played Guido's mother) by Marni Nixon.

About a month earlier Rebecca Luker replaced Laura Benanti and Deidre Goodwin who was "Our Lady of the Spa" left for "Chicago".

Mary Stuart Masterson was the only one from the main characters who stayed from the beginning of the previews (March) until the closing in December.

It is a fact that "Nine" struggled at the box office when John Stamos took over. He never had the impact that Antonio Banderas had. Updated On: 1/22/06 at 07:10 AM

[Glebb]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 7:28am

I believe NINE was extended twice.

[hypertruffle]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 11:26am

"That's quite amazing. I can't see how she would be able to hit that note standing upside down."

(For anyone who has seen the orignal production, please correct me if I'm wrong) The original Carla Albanese (Anita Morris) from the original production was able to hit the high note standing upside down on her box.

[Glebb]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 1:56pm

She hit amazing notes in all kinds of amazing positions.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 3:25pm

I saw Stamos in Cabaret. He wasn't bad, he wasn't great. Not the character that Antonio Banderas is.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 3:31pm

I can't really say much because I didn't see the show with either actor, however, Guido seems to be a role Banderas was born to play and he makes the most out of it in the recording. Also, Antonio Banderas has a lot of presence and that magic that some actors have and some don't. John Stamos doesn't have the appeal or the talent (in my opinion) to make a character like Guido work.
My older friends have told me that Anita Morris did all sort of acrobatic movements in her box in the original production and she did sing the hell out of the song. I was just impressed anyone, whether it is Morris or Jane Krakowski, could hit that last "Guido" note upside down.

[hypertruffle]

Posted: 1/22/06 at 4:41pm

"I was just impressed anyone, whether it is Morris or Jane Krakowski, could hit that last "Guido" note upside down."

I've done just that on my bed the other day, on-key and all. Do I count?