VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
#1VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 8:15amTheatre to be announced, per the NY Times.
Midnight Radio
Broadway Star Joined: 5/26/07
#2re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 9:18am
Shubert.
Sounds good to me!
"Everytime you step on that stage it is somebody's first Broadway show and somebody's last Broadway show. Make it count."
barcelona20
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/19/08
#4re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 9:31amIt says A Shubert theatre, not the Shubert theatre. Read before you post.
"He found something that he wanted, had always wanted and always would want— not to be admired, as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe; but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise
perfectliar
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/04
#5re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 10:54am
BroadwayFan - The Shubert Organization owns 17 Broadway house, only one of which is the actual Shubert Theatre... Vanities will be going into one of the others:
Ambassador, Barrymore, Belasco, Booth, Broadhurst, Broadway, Cort, Golden, Imperial, Jacobs, Longacre, Lyceum, Majestic, Music Box, Schoenfeld, Winter Garden
Of these, the only one that will definitely be open (as of now) is the Schoenfeld, after All My Sons closes in January.
jake6970
Broadway Star Joined: 9/21/07
#6re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:03amSchoenfeld sounds like a good choice to me anyway.
#7re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:38am
When I read the story about Vanities they have this quote: VANITIES is a funny and poignant look at women who discover that even in 30 years of rapidly changing times, friendship can last forever.
Did they change the plot? If I remember correctly, the plays message is that friends change and grow apart and friendship does not last forever. Has anyone who has seen the musical and the play know anything about this?
Updated On: 8/25/08 at 11:38 AM
#8re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:38amDouble post - sorry Updated On: 8/25/08 at 11:38 AM
#9re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:48amI saw it last night - the review is on another thread - and yes, they changed the plot, I think, (I never saw the play) by adding a new final scene set in 1990 - the ladies are all 44 at that point. It's more or less as the press release describes it.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#10re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 11:58am
Then that sucks - another dumbing down of a really excellent play. I guess they had to go with a "happy ending" when the plays ending is perfect.
Pitiful.
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The play ends with Joanne staggering off drunk after she finds out that Mary has slept with her husband. The other two are left to toast their friendship of past, realizing that none of them will ever be friends again.
How different is it?
Updated On: 8/25/08 at 11:58 AM
#11re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:13pmif they push the preview date back a little, then they could get the broadhurst.
#12re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:31pm
South Fl Marc, the scene you describe is still there - it's just not the final scene.
SPOILER
The story now jumps ahead 16 years - 1974 to 1990 - to the funeral of one of the unseen mothers. The ladies meet after this long interval and... reconnect. Whatever you think of it, the original playwrite, Jack Heifner, approved - he wrote it!
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#13re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:35pmI wonder if he wrote it because he wanted another scene or if he wrote it because it wouldn't be produced without a "Happy" ending.
#14re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:42pmHe wrote it because he wanted it in there, a coda of sorts not because he was pressured into it by the producers. Also, I wouldn't call it a happily ever after ending either. I for one am very excited about this show!
"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds."
~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns
#15re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:48pm
Being a big fan of the play I'm not really looking forward to it - the change in the ending makes me less so.
I wish it all the luck in the world but I doubt if I'll see it. Hopefully someone will produce the play again. It needs a revival.
Another question - do they keep the original staging by having the actresses on stage for the breaks, at their "Vanities" changing clothes and make up.
The HBO version of the play cut that.
Updated On: 8/25/08 at 12:48 PM
#16re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 1:27pm
Jack Heifner's program quote.... "When I met (composer) David Kirschenbaum I found someone who wanted to keep the integrity of the play intact. I also became excited about the possibility of adding another scene to the musical, one that was never in the play, to show what happened later on in the lives of the characters."
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#17re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 1:43pmYes, to your last question, South Fl Marc - the actresses do the transitions and wardrobe changes on stage. Since they're great looking ladies, this was a pleasure to behold.
Faced with these Loreleis, what man can moralize!
#18re: VANITIES to begin previews Feb 2
Posted: 8/25/08 at 2:07pm
Thanks for the info. I have to say that this entire conversation has piqued my interst in the show.
Maybe I'll have to check it out.
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