Posted: 4/15/22 at 1:27pm
Is it safe to assume the interpolated songs from the Public Theatre version won’t be used in this production or is it an adaptation of that version of the show?
Posted: 4/15/22 at 11:47pm
I would love to see a bigger name as Ruth.
Posted: 4/15/22 at 11:47pm
I would love to see a bigger name as Ruth.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 1:40am
darquegk said: "Rupert Holmes is absolutely one of the under appreciated geniuses of his era. I’m always glad to see him get a high profile gig, because his dilettante quality (and that one song, I guess) tends to make people underestimate him or overlook him."
But what a dilettante he was. I'd love to read a book about the creation of Drood. Joe Papp tells him he should write a musical, he does, and wins the Tony for both book and score. Doesn't return to musicals for 20 years.
I was actually thinking about him the other day and wondering when he'd write another show. Not quite what I had in mind, but I'll take it! For now.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 2:05am
I remember he said in the wake of Drood that he wanted to adapt Phantom of the Opera, unaware that it was already happening. But yeah, Drood’s such fun, it’s a shame he didn’t make another show.
Which makes me think of how Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit did their own version of Phantom, even after the smash success of the one everyone knows.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 12:29pm
Ke3 said: "Joe Papp tells him he should write a musical, he does, and wins the Tony for both book and score. Doesn't return to musicals for 20 years."
20 years? Time to get up from that coma, Rip Van Winkle, he's done almost that many shows apart from Drood, half of them musicals and/or musical content in a theatrical context. (To be specific: songs for Twelfth Night at the Delacorte, summer of '86; the books for Marty, Curtains [to which he contributed additional lyrics as well], Swango, First Wives Club [San Diego only], Robin and the 7 Hoods, Secondhand Lions, and The Sweet Potato Queens; book and lyrics for The Nutty Professor; and book, music, and lyrics for The Picture of Dorian Gray.)
And that's saying nothing of his stepping in as a show doctor on productions like Frank Wildhorn's Wonderland, for which he reshaped the book on Broadway, with no contractual credit and a lot of press nevertheless. (Not that it ultimately helped...)
Updated On: 4/16/22 at 12:29 PM
Posted: 4/16/22 at 1:14pm
I'm wondering if they are "youth-ening" Ruth to make the character more acceptable in the " Me Too" era.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 7:12pm
Gilbert and Sullivan have this recurring character trope that “women over, say, thirty, are ancient gorgons.”
Most of it is baked in but it’s not as pronounced in Pirates. I’ve seen it played more than once that Ruth is a MILF instead of a monster, very attractive and energetic but old enough to be his mother. There’s even a joke in the first scene that the libretto seems like it’s winking at a double entendre on “well endowed,” but I don’t think that idiom existed in the Victorian era.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 7:38pm
I really don’t think the character of Ruth is offensive, there’s no need to change her for Me Too just because they make a few jokes about her being plain.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 8:31pm
g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Ke3 said: "Joe Papp tells him he should write a musical, he does, and wins the Tony for both book and score. Doesn't return to musicals for 20 years."
20 years? Time to get up from that coma, Rip Van Winkle, he's done almost that many shows apart fromDrood, half of them musicals and/or musical content in a theatrical context. (To be specific: songs forTwelfth Nightat the Delacorte, summer of '86;the books for Marty, Curtains[to which he contributed additional lyrics as well], Swango, First Wives Club[San Diego only],Robin and the 7 Hoods,Secondhand Lions, and The Sweet Potato Queens; book and lyrics forThe Nutty Professor; and book, music, and lyrics for The Picture of Dorian Gray.)
And that's saying nothing of his stepping in as a show doctor on productions like Frank Wildhorn'sWonderland, for which he reshaped the book on Broadway, with no contractual credit and a lot of press nevertheless. (Not that it ultimately helped...)"
I'm aware of his credits. Thanks! There is a twenty-year gap between Drood and Curtains. That's what I was referring to. During that time from what I can see he didn't do any musicals that went anywhere. Just straight plays.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 9:58pm
ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure said: "I really don’t think the character of Ruth is offensive, there’s no need to change her for Me Too just because they make a few jokes about her being plain."
I don't think "Shipoopi" has ever been offensive but it's been revised for modern audiences.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 11:11pm
Shipoopi is offensive, derogatory and describes nonconsensual behavior.
Posted: 4/16/22 at 11:26pm
I’ll agree I never thought Shipoopi needed revision, but to be fair, I never paid attention to the lyrics of that weird throwaway number, and when I did, I saw they aged quite poorly, certainly worse than just saying a woman’s plain.
Anyway, that song has zero impact on the plot, unlike Ruth’s age and appearance, that’s a much harder rewrite.
Updated On: 4/16/22 at 11:26 PM
Posted: 4/16/22 at 11:29pm
Ke3 said: "I'm aware of his credits. Thanks! There is a twenty-year gap between Drood and Curtains. That's what I was referring to. During that time from what I can see he didn't do any musicals that went anywhere. Just straight plays."
Define "went anywhere." There were three credits between Drood and Curtains, and six after the latter, all of which were fairly prominent.
