Revivals Better than the Original- Page 2

[sara]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 8:28pm

I will venture a guess that Lincoln Center's incredible revival of Carousel topped the original.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 8:55pm

I disagree about Carousel. The staging of the opening and the Act 2 ballet were transporting but the revival's cast, with the glorious exception of Audra McDonald, was tremendously problematic.

The Ragtime revival didn't come close to the original in any way. I do think the second half of Paulus' Pippin is better than the original. The Chicago revival doesn't hold a candle to the original, except for its longevity. And Richardson wasn't by all accounts an improvement on Haworth. Most, yes. But by many reports Haworth had an authenticity as the intoxicatingly charming, but not all that talented, Sally. Richardson had a glamorous, grade A, classy presence that wasn't a perfect fit for Isherwood's Sally.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 9:05pm

For me, it's a play: Leveaux's "The Real Thing" with Dillane and Ehle towered over Nichols's original production with Irons and Close.

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 9:59pm

I suspect that a reason Pippin is so often assumed to be better than the original is that the commonly-seen filmed version of (a variant of) Fosse's original staging has not served the show particularly well, with a second-rate cast and numerous cuts to the material.

The Fosse-approved cut of that same film which is frequently referenced and circulated online is in terrible shape film wise, but shows a much stronger show overall.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 10:39pm

Re Henrik's take on THE REAL THING, I found Ehle's performance lovely in the revival, but found the rest flat and unvisual. The Mike Nichols original was transporting (and my first live exposure to a Stoppard play). Glen Close, Jeremy Irons and young Cynthia Nixon were all spell-binding, and the play flew effortlessly thanks to the Tony Walton turntable set and lighting of Tharon Musser. I just hope my memories of that night in '84 aren't unreliably golden nearly 30 years later.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:04pm

I'm going to guess that the Ruby Keeler revival of NO, NO NANETTE was much better than the original.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:25pm

I would say the revival of 42ND STREET beat the original in terms of over-all production values, if not in terms of the cast and choreography.

[jas1234]

Posted: 8/25/13 at 11:45pm

The 2005 revival of Glengarry Glen Ross with Alda and Schreiber.
Mantello's staging had an electricity and immediacy that made the play even more powerful and exciting than the very good 1984 production which won Mamet the Pulitzer Prize.

[beagle]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 2:51am

I didn't see the original because I wasn't born yet(I've heard the cast album, though), but I would suggest that the 1992 Guys and Dolls revival was at least as good as the original, if not better.

I don't think "better" really makes a lot of sense when comparing a great original and a great revival,though, because each version is made to appeal to the sensibilities of the era in which it was staged. With something like Pippin, for instance, the original version is so tied to the early 70s that I think people today may view it as dated and not see its appeal, whereas the revival is more geared to what today's audiences would relate to.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 7:47am

SomeoneinaTree, I know a great many people disagree with me and agree with you re: The Real Thing, but did you really find Dillane's performance flat? That surprises me. I found him adorable and charming and he made me much more interested in Stoppard's arty, wordy look at modern love and marriage than I had been originally, and while I know many thought the original production wonderful (which I found actory and pretentious, but I realize I'm in the minority) I thought my feelings about Dillane's tony-winning performance were far more "unorthodox".



Updated On: 8/26/13 at 07:47 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 8:03am

^ Henrik, 2 things stand out in my memory of the revival-- Ehle's performance which I think was an improvement on Glen Close's, and the Brody of Joshua Henderson. Their scenes together crackled. The fact that I have no distinct memory of Dillane's Henry I guess answers your question. Ah, that bitch Memory.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 8/26/13 at 9:06am

I preferred the revival of 42nd Street to the original (both of which I saw several times).

I enjoyed both productions of Ragtime, but actually saw the revival more than I did the original.

Neither of the 2 revivals of Annie holds a candle to the original production.