So...Shogun

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 10:23am

One of the March Madness threads got me wondering about this show...for those of you who saw it, was it really that bad? I'm truly curious about it now.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 10:32am

I big colossal mess with some of the most stunning set design I have ever seen, even to this day. June Angela was wonderful.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 10:52am

I looked it up on wikipedia (I know, I know...) and it really sounded like the odds were against this show. Do you think there is any way the show could have worked or is the source material just not adaptable?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 10:59am

The story was too big. It was a miniseries for pete's sake...how did they think they'd be able to get that much story in 3 hours?

The funniest was the glossary in the playbill. It was like taking your SATs. You had to study before the curtain so you could follow the plot.

I forgot to mention the wonderful Francis Ruivivar who died just a few years ago, far too young.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 11:23am

It was so bad - as I mentioned in the other thread, they actually had a song about a dildo. But it was one of those bad shows that was so horrible, it was worth seeing just to be able to say that you saw it.
Updated On: 3/10/08 at 11:23 AM

[stagescreen]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 12:30pm

Anyone know if this show is preserved at the TOFT archive at Lincoln Center or if there are any [word that shall not be named on this or any other board under penalty of death] around out there of SHOGUN?

Also, if they made a souvenir brochure, anyone care to post some scans?

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 12:34pm

I'd love to hear a recording. I remember much of it to be lovely, if not perfectly sung. I remember a miscast Philip Casnoff screeching beyond his range all night.

He hurt himself as well, if I recall.

Updated On: 3/10/08 at 12:34 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 12:48pm

He was hit on the head by some falling scenery, but he recovered and came back to the show. Casnoff is his name.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 2:11pm

I've heard the song "One Candle". It's done if a few cabaret acts. It's on someone's cd but I'll have to check and see whose when I get home.

Now that I think about it, it was on Phillip Casnof's cd.

Updated On: 3/10/08 at 02:11 PM

[vinnylin]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 2:54pm

"I remember a miscast Philip Casnove screeching beyond his range all night."

I remember Casnoff too, struggling to reach the high notes and never quite getting there. It was pretty painful to listen to. I don't really think he was miscast from an acting standpoint, but vocally he was all wrong for the part.

I actually went to a pre-production open "workshop" or "presentation" -- I'm not sure what you would call it -- a number of months prior to the opening. It was at the Marquis theatre, lasted about an hour, and was a mixed presentation of a few of the songs and a description of the work as it was progressing. At the time Peter Karrie (London Phantom) was attached to the role eventually played by Casnoff (i.e. the Richard Chamberlain role).

June Angela was wonderful, by the way. It's a shame the show wasn't worthy of her.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 3/10/08 at 3:21pm

June Angela should come back to broadway!

and those of us of a certain age would remember her from The Electric Company.