THE BOYS IN THE BAND Broadway Revival - Spring 2018?- Page 2

[godlessondheimite]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 11:39am

newintown said: "To those indulging in dream casting, remember that no one in this show is past his early 30s. Denis O'Hare could play one of their fathers.
"

I saw it on the West End and many of the actors were well past their 30's. And I don't think a little thing like "age-appropriate" casting is going to stop Ryan Murphy. 

But I also agree with people saying it hasn't aged well and won't attract a broad audience. I can't see it being more than a limited-run pet project.

Updated On: 6/24/17 at 11:39 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 1:49pm

I could see an argument for bringing this back in some way, but dear god keep Ryan Murphy far away from it. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 2:38pm

As long as Murphy is just producing, not directing. He was the one who got the most recent LONG DAYS JOURNEY revival the green light. 

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 4:36pm

"But I also agree with people saying it hasn't aged well and won't attract a broad audience. I can't see it being more than a limited-run pet project."

 

To say it hasn't aged well is a complete understatement. There are some plays that should be relegated to the history books and this is one of them. I don't think I would sit through it again even if it had a perfect cast and I was given a ticket.

 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 4:52pm

godlessondheimite said: "newintown said: "To those indulging in dream casting, remember that no one in this show is past his early 30s. Denis O'Hare could play one of their fathers.
"

I saw it on the West End and many of the actors were well past their 30's. And I don't think a little thing like "age-appropriate" casting is going to stop Ryan Murphy. 

But I also agree with people saying it hasn't aged well and won't attract a broad audience. I can't see it being more than a limited-run pet project.

 

"It hasn't aged well and not a great play pretty lame but I also agree with a limited engagement only 16-20 weeks!

 

gypsy101 said: Darren Criss is also not gay. Jonathan Groff is a Ryan Murphy regular though!

 

True with Groff... Darren Criss is not GAY???...thought Criss was GAY!?

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 11:24pm

He's not. Or at least not publicly. 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 11:44pm

He's not, not even privately. Let's not change this into a speculation thread wishing a heterosexual guy is gay, giving into yet another stereotype.

Updated On: 6/24/17 at 11:44 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/24/17 at 11:52pm

Valentina3 said: "He's not, not even privately. :et's not change this into a speculation thread wishing a heterosexual guy is gay, giving into yet another stereotype."

Sure, if you say so. LOL

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 2:04am

An Off Broadway revival seems more realistic. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/25/17 at 5:30am

LYLS3637 said: "imeldasturn said: "I saw the play in London a few months ago and it hasn't aged well at all"

 

Hasn't that become kind of the point? At the time, it held up a mirror to the very real self-hatred coursing through the gay community. Whenever I watch the movie or read certain parts of the script, I think of how lucky we all are that people like this (whether they meant to or not) changed society. 

 

"

I think you sound like a profoundly generous person to see those characters through such kind eyes. (I mean it; no snark here.)

I'm not sure there's a big audience of people like you. I suspect the best a revival can do is attract those of us who remember those days and how we felt about ourselves back then. And at least half of us won't want to remember. So maybe a limited run would be wise...

 

[BroomstickBoy]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 7:54pm

Cast Brandon Uranowitz as Harold or don't even bother.

[Steve C.]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 9:23pm

Here's some more "fodder" for the rumor mill...

Matt Bomer is promoting his new Amazon show "The Last Tycoon" with TV Guide magazine. He's asked if he misses New York and he replies, " Yes, but I'll be back here next year, I can't say what in..." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgr2IzbeINU

I think we all knew if BITB was happening he would probably be a part of it. Ryan Murphy is surely a "pal" to his favorites.

[LMcC95]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:26pm

http://www.newnownext.com/ryan-murphy-boys-in-the-band/06/2017/?xrs=synd_facebook_logo

While the report is mostly what we read in the New York Post, it looks like it is coming together.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 6/27/17 at 10:30pm

BroomstickBoy said: "Cast Brandon Uranowitz as Harold or don't even bother."

... he's too pretty :| 

 

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:39am

Valentina3--

"Oh, Mary, it takes a fairy to make something pretty"...:)

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 1:48pm

It's been a while since I've seen the play but is there anything explicit about the age of the characters?  Do we ever know which birthday Harold is celebrating?  While Alan is Michael's college roommate, is it ever clear that all the other assembled friends are more or less the same age as Michael?

[Kad]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 1:54pm

Boys in the Band may be outdated, but I'll certainly take it over the hackneyed topical gay issue dramas that pop up off-Broadway every season.

[newintown]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 1:57pm

"It's been a while since I've seen the play but is there anything explicit about the age of the characters?  Do we ever know which birthday Harold is celebrating?"

It's stated that this is Harold's 32nd birthday. As he says: "What I am, Michael, is a 32 year-old, ugly, pockmarked Jew fairy, and if it takes me a little while to pull myself together, and if I smoke a little grass before I get up the nerve to show my face to the world, it's nobody's goddamned business but my own. And how are you this evening?"

And based on the deference most characters show Harold, I would say that he's one of the older ones there.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 1:57pm

Word, Kad.  I love how high dudgeon the play gets!  Leonard Frey's performance in the movie has inspired my countless times in my work

Regarding ages, I believe Harold's birthday is his 32nd. 

[newintown]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 2:02pm

Actually, Crowley's script specifies the characters' ages:

Michael - 30
Donald - 28
Emory - 33
Larry - 29
Hank - 32
Bernard - 28
Cowboy - 22
Harold - 32
Alan - 30

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 5:17pm

actually for the revival they could age all the men by a decade and they would all still be fun to watch and listen to...including the Cowboy...men today are aging so much better than the 70's men i think!...and i am currently 69!...when i met and dated ROBERT LA TOURNEAUX he was already in his early to mid 30's and only then did he get into gay porn and was celebrated for his looks at that age!

[NoName3]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 11:57pm

I saw the 25th anniversary production back in the 1990s. It was very well cast with the calling card being David Drake, who was hot at the time, and competently designed and directed. But in the end it didn't work. It was too much of its time and dated. Maybe more time and a different creative team will give a different perspective. I doubt it, despite the fact that this play will always be very special to those of us of a certain age with a certain perspective.

I wish I could have seen the revival a few years ago that took place in a Chelsea penthouse, by all accounts very intimate and of course site specific.

Updated On: 6/29/17 at 11:57 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 8:11am

I saw both of those productions; the 2010 "immersive" one was interesting as a novelty, but felt almost like contemporary kids playing dress up and pretending to be characters from an era entirely foreign to them.

The 96 production was tight but a bit slick and obvious, like a decent regional/summer stock production, except for the amazingly bizarre performance of David Greenspan as Harold - it may not have been quite "right," but it was a joy to watch.

I think that the film is and will always be the best surviving example of this piece; I think what being a 30 year old gay man meant in 1968 is an idea beyond the grasp of 30 year old actors today. The paradigm of being just past your prime, a grown sophisticated adult at 30? Today's 30 year old is still generally represented as a growing boy, just starting out on life as an adult, having difficulty transitioning out of college-age behavior (viz. Jonathan Groff, Gideon Glick, Miles Teller, Zac Efron, etc.).

Updated On: 6/29/17 at 08:11 AM

[phan24]

Posted: 9/14/17 at 11:33pm

Rumor is this will be announced very soon and the cast is top-notch Hollywood leading men. What a packed season, but also three Broadway shows with the word Band in them (4 if Bandstand hadn't closed by then!):

-The Band's Visit

-The Boys in the Band

-Getting the Band Back Together (if this actually happens).

[ddenoff2]

Posted: 9/15/17 at 8:42am

Mart Crowley HAS written a sequel - "The Men From The Boys" - I attended a reading here, AT the Soho Playhouse, Albee's former theatre where the original play ran.  It has also been performed regionally.

http://www.playbill.com/article/men-from-the-boys-sequel-to-boys-in-the-band-premieres-in-san-fran-oct-16-dec-8-com-108946