November 2003: Why did Farrah Fawcett's "Bobbi Boland" close in previews ?

[David10086]

Posted: 6/26/22 at 11:13pm

Yesterday (June 25) marked the thirteenth anniversary of Farrah Fawcett's passing from a three year battle with anal cancer. I was reading a blog someone wrote on her, and it said that Fawcett was to make her Broadway debut in a paly called "Bobbi Boland" which was to open in November, 2003. However, the producer closed the play while in previews, with no full explanation of why it was closing. It was said Fawcett was furious because the day before, the producer also closed a production of an off-Broadway play which Fawcett was financially backing.

 

The show had an opening planned for November 24, 2003. It began in previews on November 4, 2003 and had it last performance on November 9, 2003. 

 

Does anyone recall this ? Does anyone know who the producer was, and why they pulled the plug during previews ? Does anyone know what the off-Broadway play was which Fawcett was backing and the same producer closed that one, too ? 

 

Also did anyone see 'Bobbi Bland' when it ran off-Broadway in 2001, starring Nancy Hasty ? Was the play any good ? 

Updated On: 6/27/22 at 11:13 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 7:43am

Google, amigo.  You ain’t paying me to provide you links you can easily find yourself, bro.

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/bobbi-boland-close-opens-27873/

[IronMan]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 11:39am

I saw it at The Cort.  Afterwards, I jokingly asked a friend who was working on it if they had a job lined up for the following week... little did I know. 

Aside from the performances (which were mediocre at best), the play itself was so trite that I could not understand how it was ever produced.  A one-set melodrama about an aging couple- she the one-time Beauty Queen and he the High School football jock- who interact with a young couple that remind them of their glorious past and their stagnant present.  It wouldn't have worked in Florida dinner theater, much less Broadway.  Imagine "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" without the humor, pathos, and drama, performed by amateurs without direction or design. 

 

 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 11:45am

"November 2003: Why did Farrah Fawcett's"

The irony that the subject line about her run on Broadway being cut short...was cut short.

[David10086]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 4:27pm

IronMan said: "I saw it at The Cort. Afterwards, I jokingly asked a friend who was working on it if they had a job lined up for the following week... little did I know.

Aside from the performances (which were mediocre at best), the play itself was so trite that I could not understand how it was ever produced. A one-set melodrama about an aging couple- she the one-time Beauty Queen and he the High School football jock- who interact with a young couple that remind them of their glorious past and their stagnant present. It wouldn't have worked in Florida dinner theater, much less Broadway. Imagine "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" without the humor, pathos, and drama, performed by amateurs without direction or design."

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS !  I'm surprised Farrah didn't have the foresight to see this before she took the stage. It sounds horrible. 

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 5:09pm

Here's Riedel:

ROYAL MESS: WHY FARRAH FAWCETT’S PLAY WAS A TOTAL DISASTER

https://nypost.com/2003/11/12/royal-mess-why-farrah-fawcetts-play-was-a-total-disaster/

[Tom5]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:21pm

Generally speaking what looks good on the page can turn disastrous on the stage. It takes an exceptionally good producer to make the mental jump to visualize the theatrical result of a scripted property. Make that very exceptionally. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:40pm

Tom5 said: "Generally speaking what looks good on the page can turn disastrous on the stage. It takes an exceptionally good producer to make the mental jump to visualize the theatrical result of a scripted property. Make that very exceptionally."

True, but not really relevant in this instance since, per both articles listed above, the producer first encountered the play by seeing the off-Broadway production, not by reading the script.

""The play simply does not work in a Broadway house," producer Joyce Johnson said Monday. "This work debuted in a more intimate, off-Broadway theater some years back, which is where I first saw `Bobbi Boland.' The vivid characters that I saw in such a small setting did not transfer to the Cort. It's as simple as that.""

Though both the NY Times and Variety reviews of the off-Broadway production say it had a good first act, and terrible second.

 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:56pm

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:57pm

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:57pm

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 6:58pm

[quizking101]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 8:01pm

BrodyFosse123 said: ""

KELLI GIDDISH FROM "LAW & ORDER: SVU"??? Wow, that's a fun fact I'm happy I know now.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:01pm

Hadn't Farrah done an Off Bwy play about a woman who turned the table on her rapist and kept him trapped in her fireplace? She'd gotten very good reviews for that and even did the movie version. It had a one-word title.  Something like FIERCE 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:06pm

The title just came to me: EXTREMITIES.

[David10086]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:33pm

Dollypop said: "The title just came to me: EXTREMITIES."

She got rave reviews for this both on stage and on screen. If I'm not mistaken, she received a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress for the movie. 

I always wondered why this never made it to Broadway - again, maybe it plays better in a small, intimate theater ? 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:37pm

David10086 said: "Dollypop said: "The title just came to me: EXTREMITIES."

She got rave reviews for this both on stage and on screen. If I'm not mistaken, she received a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress for the movie.

I always wondered why this never made it to Broadway - again, maybe it plays better in a small, intimate theater ?"

Yes, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the 1986 film adaptation.

[David10086]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:45pm

MemorableUserName said: "Here's Riedel:

ROYAL MESS: WHY FARRAH FAWCETT’S PLAY WAS A TOTAL DISASTER

https://nypost.com/2003/11/12/royal-mess-why-farrah-fawcetts-play-was-a-total-disaster/"

THANK YOU FOR THIS !  Now we all know what the secret term "Moose Murders" means. 

Farrah had a rough ten years at the end of her life. Things were going so well for her until she hit 50. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:55pm

When I was directing high school plays, I always kept a reading copy of MOOSE MURDERS in my desk drawer. Whenever someone asked what our next show was, I'd pull out the play and ask them to read it and give me their unbiased opinion. None of them were ever positive.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 6/27/22 at 9:57pm

[David10086]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 12:30pm

BrodyFosse123 said: ""

Has anyone here seen MOOSE MURDERS ? IF YES, SPILL THE TEA...

[David10086]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 12:48pm

Does anyone know what the off-Broadway show was which Fawcett was financially part of, and was yanked by the same producer just a few days prior ? 

[bholtzinger544]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 1:03pm

I believe it was a play called Omnium Gatherum that ran at Variety Art Theatre based on this old Variety article

https://variety.com/2003/legit/news/fawcett-s-b-way-debut-shuttered-1117895386/

[David10086]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 10:00pm

bholtzinger544 said: "I believe it was a play called Omnium Gatherum that ran at Variety Art Theatre based on this old Variety article

https://variety.com/2003/legit/news/fawcett-s-b-way-debut-shuttered-1117895386/"

Thank You! I found absolutely nothing when I googled any info on this show or 'Bobbi Boland'. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/28/22 at 10:05pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "David10086 said: "Dollypop said: "The title just came to me: EXTREMITIES."

She got rave reviews for this both on stage and on screen. If I'm not mistaken, she received a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress for the movie.

I always wondered why this never made it to Broadway - again, maybe it plays better in a small, intimate theater ?"

Yes, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the 1986 film adaptation.

"

Yes Farrah did do the Off- Broadway play, EXTREMITIES - but she didn’t originate the role…Susan Sarandon did.