On Your Toes

[pattifan2]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 2:50pm

Did anyone on the board see the revival of this show some years ago. I caught the London transfer and loved the show...pure joy from the off. I wondered what you made of the Broadway production and if anyone saw both, how they compared. The London production starred Tim Flavin who was new to me at that time - he's done a lot of stuff in the UK since.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 4:20pm

why did i think Adam Cooper (do i have that name right) was involved in the West End one...he was the featured dancer of Bourne's SWAN LAKE and has also been a choreographer for a while...i thought he set it and danced it, but perhaps he danced the Russian ballet star role...fill me in.

Have always loved this show.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 4:22pm

The Repertory Company at my camp did it two years ago. I erally enjoyed it. I like Rogers&Hart.

[jim]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 5:23pm

I saw the national tour with Francis Bergen, Candice Bergen's mother playing Peggy Porterfield, the society arts matron. This was the role played by Dina Merrill and later, Kitty Carlisle on B'way. Leslie Caron was originally signed to play the lead role of Vera Baronova but by this time she had injured herself and was replaced. I think Natalia Makarova from the orignial production filled in for Caron until another replacemet was brought in. That guy from CHICAGO revival Michael Kubala was Jimmie Dolan. I remember liking it. But this is a show that is very much a relic of the 30's.
The movie, from 1937 kept some of the original choreography, but threw out all the songs!!....it's on Turner Classic Movies.

[wildcat]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 6:10pm

Yes, the movie is a terrible disappointment. The cast album of the '83 revival was my favourite for a year or so because of the sensational original orchestrations (Hans Spialek?) and all that thrilling dance music (great for dancing around the living room!), not to mention the magnificent Christine Andreas. There is a video clip of Natalia Markarova and Tim Flavin performing the bedroom scene from the London production on a video compilation of her ballet work released under the title "Natasha".

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 9:59am

There are a few of us on this board who were in the original 1936 version. The show was a big hit of 1936. But at the time it was done it was definitely a contemporary work, not period. TOES went to London a year later where it did not succeed. I was in the movie version, which cut all the songs and did not have the flair of the original. It was revived in 1954 to terrible notices and closed quickly. The 1981 version followed the 1936 version with a few alterations here and there. I have to admit, as much as I enjoyed dancing in the original, it was obvious in 1981 that the show had aged and indeed was something of a relic.

Miriam

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:13am

Caron toured w/ the 80s production. She admitted she was too old for it. She had a hotel room next to mine in New Orleans - I was unable to see the show. I remember she wore a metallic raincoat, and in her very high heels, the top of her head was lower than my breasts.

[pattifan2]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:19am

TxTwostep - you're right about Adam Cooper. He was in the recent Leicester Haymarket production which he also choreographed. Also in that production was the wonderful Linsey Hateley and Katherine Evans. As much as I loved the eighties London revival, I really didn't like this particular production. The budget was way too small and had none of the magic and nostalgia of the Tim Flavin production. Interestingly, this same production played at the Festival Hall on the South Bank with some cast changes but I decided it didn't rate a second viewing. Great to hear the comments about other productions. Wildcat, I agree about the cast recording - the orchestrations were wonderful.

[wildcat]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:28am

It's still the best version of "Slaughter" I've heard. And the title number is sensational.

[Glebb]

Posted: 3/5/05 at 10:38am

I saw Makarova and Starr Danias (former Joffrey dancer) who filled in for Makarova a few times a week. Valentina Kozlova and Galina Panova also performed the role after Makarova left the show. I think Caron did do it on tour and didn't she replace Lillian Montevecchi in Grand Hotel for a while?

Loved both Dina and Kitty as well as Lara Teeter. The revival at The Virginia Theatre was a lot of fun.