Thoughts on Jerry Zaks?- Page 2

[Musical Master]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 4:01pm

I'll try my best to give you two an answer. It was ill-received to people (and me) because the revival felt like it was going through the motions and not giving any spark of theatrical punch nor memorability when it came to the cast and crew in comparison to the wonderful 1983 original production. Only Daniel Davis giving his best as Georges, the Cagelles, and William Ivey Long's beautiful costumes we're the only things that kept the revival from being a bad mess. Gary Beach wasn't right for the role of Albin and seeing his disjointed, uncomfortable performance certainly didn't help. There was some debate about whether or not that Davis either quit or was fired due to him fighting with Beach or wanting to do a different show, but either way, Jerry Zaks did the best he can by hiring Robert Goulet as Davis' replacement but in doing so was one of the final nails in the revival's coffin. Despite winning the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical in a very weak season, it didn't boost ticket sales and the show got a closing notice soon afterwards.

Basically, the revival failed to live up to it's huge expectations to a good amount of people. It only took the cast and crew of the scaled down 2010 revival years later to bring that spark back to a beautiful old-fashioned musical that pulled off the smallness beautifully well.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 1:08am

Lots of people have had fallow periods -- following in outrageously successful period,  Harold Prince had several huge flops until Phantom came along -- and I think Jerry Zaks had his.  I would also point out that some of the material, e.g., Capeman and Addams Family, was so terrible that I wonder how much any director could have done.

His direction of most of the hits you mentioned was brilliant.  Lend Me A Tenor for example was an enjoyable and slight play, and Jerry's direction made it much more successful than it had any right to be.  His direction of Blue Leaves elevated the play to much an extent that I always thought it was much better a play than it really is.  Guys and Dolls was all his vision -- at least that is what I have read -- and a huge success on every level.  I am thinking that it may have been the most successful musical revival up to that time.  And etc.

I fully expect his reviews for Dolly to be stellar, just based on the feedback in this site.  i don't see it until May 31st, and I can't wait.

 

[millermil]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 9:45am

Jerry Zaks's dry spell isnt as dry as some have made it sound. One cannot forget that he spent 5 years directing tv shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Frasier. Shows like Capeman, Addams family and even Sister Act, had been flawed by original people working on the productions until Jerry Zaks was asked to save the flailing shows. In my opinion it seems as though he did as good a job as possible with what he had to work with and the time he had to do it in. 

[Jimmyb1969]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 10:36am

He did a wonderful job with the direction of Dolly and here's why. He didn't try and reinvent the wheel...think Patti in Gypsy and how Laurentis directed that. And like Laurentis, Zaks MOST IMPORTANTLY manages to bring out the BEST in every talented performer on that stage. It's directed smartly/stealthy. They all shine! They all resonate! Bette is wonderful, joyful, a force of nature but so is Hyde Pierce, Creel and Baldwin and Feldstein and Simard and the entire supporting cast. Costumes and sets are beautiful. Really a pitch perfect revival in every way. 

Updated On: 4/19/17 at 10:36 AM

[philly03]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 11:56am

I thought Sister Act was an improvement over London as well, and I'd blame Lippa, Brickman/Elice and those designers-turned-directors in Chicago all before Jerry Zaks for the Broadway version of Addams Family.

The Civil War as presented on Broadway was completely different than what the writers wanted, and he came in and made MAJOR structural changes that made it worse. To be fair, it's a hard piece to stage without looking like a concert.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 4/27/17 at 11:06am

Jerry Zaks has been nominated with both Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circe Awards for his direction in Hello, Dolly!, a Tony nomination seems to be around the corner for him at this point.