Tony Awards 1990

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Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 7:10pm

I'm going on a short theater trip in less than two weeks. (I'm seeing Tammy Faye, Oh Mary!, Once Upon a Mattress and Sunset Boulevard while I am there.) One of my traditions is that during the two weeks leading up to a theater trip, I listen to Tony Award broadcasts, musicals and movies about NY while I work just to help me get in the mood.

I was listening to the 1990 Tony Awards this morning, and I honestly have to wonder why haven't the two big musicals of that season (Grand Hotel and City of Angels) not been revived since? I know it's hard to tell from just the snippets they play during the awards, but both look like productions I would adore to see grand revivals of, and it's kind of hard to believe they have never been revived. I was too young to travel and enjoy these shows at the time (I turned 13 the summer these Awards aired.), and I wish I could get a chance to see these revived.

Also, with the recent passing of Maggie Smith, I would have loved to have seen her back then in Lettice and Lovage based on the scene that was performed. Shame she never returned to Broadway after that.

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 7:57pm

City of Angels is one of those shows that the original staging was so brilliant, a lot of directors and designers have been hesitant to even try to rethink it and therefore it's been a bit lost to history.

Grand Hotel was sort of the opposite where it's a pretty mediocre script who's production was supposed to be, well, grand, but was ultimately kind of poorly received. So it kind of just became an afterthought in the late 80s/early 90s musical theatre canon.

But I agree it would be great to see them revived again.

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 8:07pm

On November 14, 15, & 16 at 54 Below there will be three performances billed as "Grand Hotel: The 35th Anniversary Original Broadway Cast Reunion Concert."

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Updated On: 10/18/24 at 08:07 PM

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 9:00pm

I love Grand Hotel (and have appeared in a local production). They presented it at Encores a few years back, and it was spectacular. I was really, really hoping it would transfer to Broadway.

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 9:05pm

Tommy Tune very much rescued Grand Hotel from disaster (the production was itself a remount of a show that had tried and failed to make it to Broadway in 1958), and his production was the critical hit of the season. It ran for three years and I believe turned a profit. And it indeed boasts one of the greatest Tony performances of all time. But yes, it’s languished a bit, Iand I don’t know that we’ll see a revival anytime soon. There was a well received Encores production in 2018 but talk of a transfer didn’t materialize.

City of Angels is one of my very favorite shows. It’s brilliant, funny and unmistakably theatrical. I too would welcome a revival of either…I also think City of Angels would be great movie musical material.

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/17/24 at 11:47pm

Despite their shared domination of the Tonys that year, neither one was a huge hit on Broadway though they each ran until 1992. I think they are both a little niche for various reasons and, as others have stated, the original stagings (the inventiveness of the design of Angels and Tommy Tune's choreography in Hotel) elevated the productions quite a bit. They hardly ever get done regionally either. They've both been shows that seem more tied to their original production than some others. I can't imagine a large scale revival of either show doing very well even though I think the City of Angels score is great. I think Encores/Kennedy Center or some other smaller production is the best bet for those shows (and, as mentioned, Grand Hotel did have an Encores performance not too long ago).

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/20/24 at 9:55am

I actually got to see a production of City of Angels in my area two years ago. It was my first time ever seeing the musical. I thought it had a genius book with a great score, and it was all brought to life by a great cast and imaginative staging.

Theatre Raleigh's CITY OF ANGELS

Updated On: 10/20/24 at 09:55 AM

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/21/24 at 1:13am

I seem to remember that neither show returned its investment on Broadway.

They both ran for over two years, but neither ever became a 'must see' and both were at TKTS for a significant portion of their runs.

Personally, I remember having a wide grin on my face for the first 15 - 20 minutes of C of A, and having that grin disappeared as the cleverness wore off and I became increasingly bored. I remember that the audience with which I attended the (only performance) was not enthusiastic.

Grand Hotel was a case of style over substance, but the style was very effective and it was entertaining. I liked it enough that I purchased the OCR, but I never managed to get through it even once. It had a disproportionate songs that I would have categorized as 'filler'. The look of the show was very effective, and Michael Jeter had a great show-stopping number. Demand was high in the beginning, but it didn't last long and it relied heavily on TKTS for selling tickets.

Unless they figure out a way to do a 'small' version of City of Angels, I can't see it ever being revived. Re Grand Hotel, the basic material is just not good enough, especially the score. I just can't see it ever getting another Broadway production.

Tony Awards 1990

Posted: 10/21/24 at 9:58am

There was a well-received revival of CoA at the Donmar Warehouse in 2014/2015. The production reopened with some of the same cast for a West End run in 2020, but nearly immediately had to close due to the pandemic.

I adore the show and think it has several great parts that would be perfect for some of today’s stars (Annaleigh Ashford for Donna/Oolie!) but it’s expensive to do and a risky commercial proposition. Maybe Roundabout could take it on.

Just remembering you've had an "and" When you're back to "or" Makes the "or" mean more than it did before

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