Tony Awards 1990

[Keiichi2]

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.

[Broadway61004]

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.

[inception]

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."

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

[Menken Fan]

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.  

[ChairinMain]

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.

[Mr. Wormwood]

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).

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

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

[Jarethan]

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.

[carolinaguy]

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.