The Rosie bashing is so interesting to me...

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:36am

It just goes to show how the whole "build them up, just to tear them down" mentality really is a *fact*. It's incredible to watch. Was this not the very SAME woman you all truly worshipped, not too long ago? Look, I didn't like Taboo and I was never a huge Rosie fan to begin with but the backlash is so out of control and palpable. It happens all the time, todays demi-God idol is tomorrows loathed and reviled joke. Were you all just *pretennding* to love her when she had her talk show? I'm quite sure all her character flaws and bad behaviour were firmly intact even then, so what, it *suddenly* started to bother everyone? She's always been this person. Where did the love go? Updated On: 11/2/03 at 10:36 AM

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:39am

Could it harken back to the age old battle between the homosexuals and the lesbiasexuals? I agree with you, Al -- she is the same person. Perhaps the image she projected on her talk show seeped into the consciousness of the public -- as if that was REALLY her. Geez.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:41am

Exactly my point Rl..btw, I can't seem to make my pm system work, which is why I haven't yet responded.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:50am

I'm split on Rosie. I both love and hate a lot of things about her. I love the fact that she's dumped the closety-cuddly 'queen of nice' act and is being herself: a big, loud in-your-face dyke who is willing to put her money where her mouth is for a Broadway show. That takes a LOT of guts. The funny thing is, after all that, TABOO just does not interest me.

But I hate the fact that she has REAL problems dealing with people who work with her. She can be an absolute harridan to her underlings. And that's coming back to bite her ass.

[Steven Tartick]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:54am

forget about the rosie bashing, how about some Taboo bashing? Anyone who has seen the previews will agree that this show needs SERIOUS work before it opens. The book is a muddled and confusing mess, attempting to weave characters in and out of the spotlight that don't belong there. The music lacks any oomph...not a single song sticks out in my mind, and the show is such a blatent rip-off of rent I almost burst out laughing. When they form that line at the end of the show to sing the powerful ballad, I was about to piss myself laughing. The show was decent, minus the afformentioned complaints, and with a re-write and a lot of rehearsal time could be something very special. Instead though, we are left with a mediocre show that has the word BOMB written all over it.

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 10:56am

True Master but my point is that she's ALWAYS been this person. I would chalk it up to what RL said and blame it on the usual "homophobia thing" but, it's the theater community, her staunchest supporters, who've so viciously turned on her and that's fascinating to me. Updated On: 11/2/03 at 10:56 AM

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 11:00am

I agree with you Steven. I was so NOT moved, that even my review was boring and low key. She picked the wrong vehicle and moreover, the wrong players for her first big foray into musical theater producing.

[localonecrew]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 11:14am

wrong! She has not always been this person. She became this person during the run of her tv show. Something about the fame changed her. I know quite a few people who have known her for a long time and they all agree that she has changed and for the worse. Another celebrity who came to think that fame and money equals intelligence.

[robyn525600]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 11:53am

I didn't like her on her show and I don't like her now. My friends husband worked for her when the Rosie O'Donnell show first started and he said that within 4 weeks, Rosie had almost a completely new staff. Most of the original staff quit because she is so difficult to work for. The "turn over" of her staff continued for all the years it was on TV.

[Toon]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 12:08pm

She has a reputation for being hard to work for, but from what I've read it's more that she has a high level of expectation. If you want to work for her you either rise to that level or she finds someone who will. I've spoken with people who worked for the RO show and they were happy and only had good things to say. I'm indifferent towards Rosie but I find the Rosie bashing interesting as well and the mean spiritedness is annoying.

[sharon1]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 12:45pm

Love her or Hate her. The point is during her show Broadway got huge exposure at the national level. It did theatre good. Now she is putting her money into Broadway. Love the show or Hate it. The point is she did it. She loves Broadway. That is good in the long run because people will get curious, come and see shows. Not necessarily Taboo, because it is not everyone's cup of tea, but others. I see all this nonsense as a win for Broadway.

[cmleidi]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 1:00pm

Why are people picking on Rosie for wanting to put on the best show possible (whether she does or not is another issue)? I applaud her energy and for wanting to create something special. I want her to succeed even if the show is lousy because I admire someone who wants something, and goes after it. She wanted to bring TABOO to Broadway, and she did. Why should I care if she's not easy to work with? If I only went to productions performed and staged by people who were easy to get along with, I doubt I would see many shows.

If I were to attack someone, I would attack the arrogant producers of THE BOY FROM OZ for simply putting Hugh Jackman on stage, and not giving a damn about the rest of the show. Even if Jackman IS the selling points of the show, the producers could have made the musical so much better. Instead, they just relied on Jackman's star power.

I think she's being attacked for a variety of reasons. 1.She's a lesbian. 2.She's a woman. 3.Jealousy 4.The desire to see someone fail. 5.Most people don't know who the hell Leigh Bowery is. 6. It's not a revival or a family-friendly musical.7.Rosie's advertising campaign was a muddle. 8. People are scared/disturbed by Boy George's LB makeup.

[LC]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 1:47pm

I think you've hit several nails on the head.

[localonecrew]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 1:47pm

i bash her for none of the above reasons. I bash her because she treats people like dirt and thinks that because she yells the loudest that makes her right. She may think that all that she is doing is trying to make the best product but she is too blinded by her own ego to 1.treat people with even a modicum of respect,2. to trust the people she has hired to do thier jobs.
Many people have managed to create broadway shows and make them the best they can in thier vision without alienating almost everyone around them

[LC]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 1:57pm

Are you Mark Dendy?...

[localonecrew]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 2:01pm

no.

[cmleidi]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 2:01pm

Localonecrew, are you a former employee? If you are not, I can't imagine why you're so worked up about something that has nothing to do with you.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 4:10pm

I never liked Rosie and you will never be able to find a posting from me that claimed I did. I was always supicious of this woman. After all, who was she? A stand-up comic who did a few undistinguished supporting roles in films? Then she came to Broadway in that ill-conceived revival of GREASE and everyone seemed to consider her the greatest thing to his the Great White Way since Laurette Taylor.

When she wheedled her way into a talk show, I couldn't take her seriously, but Middle America did. Whatever Rosie said became gospel truth. I tried watching her TV show a few times but realized I had better things to do with my time than to watch drivel.

However, all my suspicions about this woman became a reality when I met her at a concert at Lincoln Center. He was rude, vulgar and disgusting.

Don't ever let it be said that Dollypop liked Rosie.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/2/03 at 9:02pm

TABOO is not a show which I plan to see because there is nothing about the subject that would even remotely engage me.

Rosie is not someone I spend much time thinking about. I would sometimes see her doing her stand up routine, some of which was funny. I never saw her talk show. I recall never having seen even the cover of her magazine.

Rosie does deserve credit, in my humble opinion, for having the courage of her convictions, and the funds to back them up. She is something that is sorely missing on Broadway today--a producer. Whether one shares her taste, or the manner in which she communicates her taste. She was willing to pick a show because she inherently likes it. She optioned it and as sole producer is opening it on Broadway.

Maybe she'll lose her $10MM investment, maybe she'll parlay it into a colossal mega-hit. Broadway is a crap shoot. Be that as it may, Rosie deserves credit from all the creative talents. All of whom wish a producer with his/her own convinctions would option their show and fund and support their show in a like manner. She is what is sorely lacking today on Broadway--a producer.

Yours for producers on Broadway! Updated On: 11/2/03 at 09:02 PM

[localonecrew]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 2:19am

i do not work for the show but i know many who do. the reason i am so vehement about its future is because i have never ever ever ever heard of a show where even the guys who stand to lose money from its closing want it to fail. the actors, crew and theater personnel despise her so much that they just want this show to die so they can move on to a new show with sane people who 1. know what they are doing, and 2. treat people with respect.

[LC]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 2:27am

But why is it your place to speak for other people? With your last post, you are saying that George, Euan, Raul, Liz, Sarah, Jeffrey and Cary all want the show to fail.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 8:37am

Does anyone else think that Rosie wouldn't be bashed nearly so much if she were a Republican?

[Al Dente]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 9:26am

Or a man?

[lc1965]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 9:39am

The Rosie worship was certainly NOT universal. In fact, when she was riding high my entire circle of theatrical acquaintances referred to her as a "necessary evil", but one which had so many downsides (such as shaky theatrical judgement) that her true value was questionable. So, the Rosie bashing now is not a big surprise.

[sheekala]

Posted: 11/3/03 at 2:41pm

If her boorish mooning over "Tommy Cruise" didn't make me loath her, her treatment of me during GREASE did the trick. Oh the things she did let's just say if I had a nickel for every Equity rule she trounced on I'd be as rich as she is!...but no worries, as it seems as if karma is doing well enough on it's own.