Posted: 5/24/15 at 10:00am
"No Hello Young Lovers reprise is honestly unforgivable...."
THIS. I am seriously so upset about this. It was the strongest and most powerful moment in the show.
Posted: 5/24/15 at 7:18pm
After listening to the preview tracks to the new cast recording, I really love it and I can't wait for it to come out. With how everything sounds so beautiful, I can forgive the cuts they did.
Posted: 5/25/15 at 3:02am
Regarding O'Hara, I'm a HUGE fan, as I've stated. To me she is perfection, but this just didn't feel like THE PART the way that like Gypsy for Lupone felt.
I guess if Kelli is ever to get her Tony, she'll have to do Mama Rose. Three actresses have won for that role (Angela Lansbury, Tyne Daly and Patti Lupone). And two who were nominated but didn't win were Bernadette Peters and, oh yeah, Ethel Merman.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-
Love this quote, but maybe to do it justice you should preface your opinions with an IMO or even an IMHO. About a hundred professional reviewers, almost everyone who has reviewed the show on this board, and increasing word of mouth driving higher the already high demand for tickets suggest that this is indeed an extraordinary production.
This Watanabe debate has been going on since the first preview. I have to believe that everyone is being truthful when they say that they have or do not have a problem understanding him. Some say that they only have trouble when he sings.
I wish that science and medicine would try to attempt an explanation. If Ken leaves after July 5th, this would be part of the reason, although the eight live performances a week might be a bigger part.
When a listened to the CD of the 1996 revival, I was very unimpressed with Lou Diamond Phillips. I thought that his voice was weak and almost boyish and I couldn't conceive of his having great command of the stage.
But my opinion may differ from many others as I think that he has been successful playing the role around the country.
Posted: 5/25/15 at 3:28am
I can say what I want...and if you don't want to read what I've got to say. Don't read my posts. Have a good evening!
Posted: 5/25/15 at 7:33pm
Has there been any word yet on whether Watanabe will extend his run past July? I want to book tickets again but may hold off until there's an official word.
Posted: 5/25/15 at 11:59pm
"I can say what I want...and if you don't want to read what I've got to say. Don't read my posts. Have a good evening!"
And a pleasant good night to you as well.
They say to check out their Facebook page for cast changes. Nothing there. Only six weeks before July 5th. They've sold a lot of tickets for this summer without informing people of a cast change.
Try emailing customer service at the Vivian Beaumont. I got a nice response from a marketing assistant there who told me she just didn't know. That was about a month ago. They might know by now.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 2:01am
If a new actor comes to take Ken's place, I sure hope he won't fall into the "Yul Brynner trap". From my theater friends, Ken Watanabe brings his own into the role that comparisons to him and Brynner vanish when we first see him.
I can't wait for my NYC June trip, one week after the Tony Awards.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 3:30am
Jose Llana's "I Have Dreamed" still sends chills when I hear it. I love his voice.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 9:13am
The merchandise booth had the new cast recording last night!
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:25am
Just saw it and....Oh.....My....GOD. That was, without a doubt, the greatest theater experience of my life. PalJoey has said it best and I agree with him in everything he said about it.
That ship was a wonder to behold in person and it trumps the chandelier of PHANTOM and the helicopter from MISS SAIGON, how come set designers today don't do stuff like that anymore?
The sets by Michael Yeargan, lighting by Donald Holder, and costumes by Catherine Zuber were nothing short of perfect which fits the show like a beautiful glass slipper. It's a shame that Yeagan and Holder lost to Crowley and Katz's work on AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, it didn't look all that special to me from the video footage and pictures we got.
The direction by Bartlett Sher was just as good, if not better than what he did for SOUTH PACIFIC by giving us more of that special magic that feels a bit more cinematic here than any his previous shows, even PIAZZA.
This has got to be best cast for THE KING AND I on stage where there is not a single weak link in the chain. Kelli O'Hara deserved her Tony, there shouldn't be an argument about that, her magnificent portrayal of Anna is some of the best choices she has done in her career thus far and her singing was heavenly. Ken Watanabe does great work here to, by playing the King as a kid in an adult's body (which makes the Prince's portrayal of playing him as an adult in a kid's body perfect and a great story and character choice), in case if you are wondering, I could hear every word he said and it was clear as day. Ruthie Ann Miles not only deserved the praise she got but she freaking deserved her Tony win, I don't think I've ever seen Lady Thiang being played the way that Ruthie played her, her "Something Wonderful" made me teary eyed in the best way. Everyone else from Ashley Park, Conrad Ricamora, Jake Lucas, Paul Nakauchi etc are playing their respective roles at their best and it's rare that perfect casting ever happens on stage.
Christopher Gattelli's work did deserve the Tony nomination for I think he brings out the best of the original work by Jerome Robbins and by re-staging it in one of the most difficult theaters on Broadway has to be a labor of love to him. "The Ballet" and "Shall We Dance?" were jaw dropping stunners. Need I mention that the 29 piece orchestra sounds flat out GLORIOUS? I didn't think so.
What else can I say that hasn't been said about already? After it was all over, i kept thinking that not only did this production deserves the 4 Tony Awards it got but great piece of art that I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life, and literally nothing could ever top what Bartlett Sher and Lincoln Center Theater put together.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:35am
Glad to hear that you loved it, Musical Master. Forget scenic designers, why can't we have shows like The King and I anymore?
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:44am
I don't know Fantod, maybe if there's a musical writing team out there that have a voice to say in the world today and has an expert and a musical talent, maybe we can have shows like THE KING AND I once again. But then again, after what I witnessed; that's going to be pretty hard.
After seeing it, Bartlett Sher needs to direct FOLLIES pronto, just think of the breathtaking and imaginative things he could do with it.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:48am
Or he could direct a show that got revived more than 4 years ago in New York. Seriously, I think there are great things in that show (best of all was the original Losing My Mind dress), but the show has been way over-exposed.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 1:59am
Hmm, good point.
I have to say that while the "Honey Bun reprise" from Sher's SOUTH PACIFIC was goose bump inducing, the moment in Act 2 where the entire palace walls raises and the King's servants and wives form a circle (probably staged by Gattelli) and the Prince and Lady Thiang are inside of it was a stunning piece of staging right there.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 2:41am
The King & I was my absolute favorite musical film as a kid - perhaps a weirdly adult show for a child to enjoy. And, I'm still really looking forward to seeing this production in August. How could I not? R&H, Kelli, Barty, LCT. It sounds like a match made in musical theatre heaven, but that Tonys performance was so disappointing. Everything felt flat and bloodless. Kelli's singing was lovely, of course, but what are we calling that accent she used? It certainly isn't British. And that isn't always an issue. For example, for some reason, I actually prefer a Sweeney with that stentorian American (or Canadian) accent of Len Cariou and George Hearn to a more accurate British accent of, say, Michael Ball or even Jonny Depp. But, for me, Mrs. Anna feels like a role that the accent has to be perfect for or I will be completely pulled out of the dramatic action - like Dominic West's attempts at American accents on The Wire or The Affair. And she didn't seem entirely comfortable in the role or in the way she moved on stage - that final twirl in Shall We Dance felt so cautious and - what's the word? - stunted?
I've really enjoyed Watanabe on film and had no difficulty understanding his accent on the broadcast, but the way in which he almost apologetically swallowed the words and much of his body language felt less than regal and certainly not imposing. And, I'm sure Ruthie Ann Miles deserves her Tony, but did my ears deceive me or was that a painfully flat version of "Something Wonderful"?
I don't need or want this cast to simply replicate the glories of their predecessors, but Deborah Kerr and Yul's "Shall We Dance" leaves ME breathless - you almost feel like an intruder watching something you shouldn't - the sexual tension was just off the charts. With Kelli and Ken it felt like I was watching two gifted performers dutifully perform some choreography and blocking.
Anyway, hoping this was just a case of a show doing a terrible job of translating their production's good qualities to the massive Radio City stage? Maybe it's the one downside to having a book and score so well integrated - they can't really stand independent of each other without losing their luster.
FWIW, I saw South Pacific on the Tonys, Letterman and on video before seeing the show on Broadway and thought they did a phenomenal job of translating that very fine production to a tv audience. Same creative team, same lead actress.
Updated On: 6/10/15 at 02:41 AM
Posted: 6/10/15 at 3:11am
Anna is Welsh, not British. She uses a light Welsh accent for the show.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 3:25am
Yes, very good point, though still think the accent wasn't quite Welsh'ish British, either. I'm sure the minute I'm seated in the Vivian B and Ted Sperling starts the orchestra on that glorious overture, I'll melt. I just was disappointed at how flat that Tonys performance felt.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 10:35am
I think that The King and I was my second favorite show after South Pacific.
I enjoyed 20th Century but I was in awe of The King and I. Being seated adjacent to that big thrust stage near the mark where Kelli and Ruthie Ann came out to deliver songs. It wasn't like I was in the audience and they were up on the stage. It was like we were in someone's living room together.
Oscar Hammerstein II receives a lot of credit, but maybe not enough. He took books that were maybe not great literature but had a great story, wrote the book and added the lyrics that made it a musical. Edna Ferber's Show Boat, Green Grow the Lilacs, Michener's Tales from the South Pacific, Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday. He was the father of the book musical.
Broadway has moved away from that now. Although there are exceptions such as Fun Home and Bridges, too many jukebox musicals and musicals based on films. It's very hard to produce a classic musical from these sources.
One anecdote about Music Man. According to Meredith Wilson's widow, his estate makes more money from the Beatles' cover of "Til There Was You" on an early album that it does from the show itself.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 12:19pm
I enjoyed 20th Century but I was in awe of The King and I. Being seated adjacent to that big thrust stage near the mark where Kelli and Ruthie Ann came out to deliver songs. It wasn't like I was in the audience and they were up on the stage. It was like we were in someone's living room together.
^ This.
In Awe.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 12:34pm
I had such great seats when I attended the show that I could smell O'Hara's perfume. I was almost tempted to ask her what she was wearing because she really smelled nice! LOL!
Posted: 6/10/15 at 12:37pm
In all fairness Anna was not raised in England nor Wales, but in Britain occupied India.
Posted: 6/10/15 at 10:14pm
One of the things I really liked about Sher's great revival was that he brilliantly changed "Western People Funny" into something that was a great "wink to the audience" with Ruthie and the actresses playing the wives just playing it so wonderfully that it made the least liked song in the show into something that was witty and memorable.
Bartlett Sher, and crew have a lot to live up to when the revival of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF starts previews in November.
Posted: 6/11/15 at 12:15am
"I enjoyed 20th Century but I was in awe of The King and I. Being seated adjacent to that big thrust stage near the mark where Kelli and Ruthie Ann came out to deliver songs. It wasn't like I was in the audience and they were up on the stage. It was like we were in someone's living room together.
^ This.
In Awe."
You're one of the real sweethearts on this board.
You're in awe of yourself.
Posted: 6/14/15 at 9:10pm
