Vanities

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:14pm

Has anyone seen Vanities? It was just announced as coming to Seattle for the 10/11 season at the 5th Avenue theater. I know it's about cheerleaders. Was wondering if anyone has particularly enjoyed this show.

Also announced was Next to Normal, which I'm really excited about!

[WOSQ]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:38pm

Vanities is based on the play of the same name which was a substantial off-Broadway hit in the 1970s. This is the play that pushed a little known young character actress named Kathy Bates to a brighter spotlight. I can't remember if she originated her role, but she did play it a while during the 4+ year run.

It has a cast of three women (no men, no chorus) who we first meet as high school senior cheerleaders in a Texas town (Think that they all say "haskell" instead of 'high school'.) At this point in their lives, the three are almost interchangeable.

About 5 years later the three have gone to college together and are getting ready to graduate. They have begun to think differently. Change is in the air.

After another 5 years or so there is a reunion in New York. They have gone on very different routes to get to this day.

Years pass and they meet and reconcile back in their hometown.

The script is very dated with specific 60s-70s references. It is also tight enough that the addition of songs does not reveal these characters further. Vanities does not cry out to be a musical. It is not a "bad" show per se, but so much is unnecessary in the musical.

Find the original script to the play and read it. (It is full of 3 women acting scenes.) You will find out that the last sequence, the one where they meet back in their hometown, does not exist in the play and was written to bring these women into the sort-of present day.

The play is much funnier than the musical because the songs slow the scene-arcs down.

On the other hand I am a firm believer in seeing everything. Said the great Moss Hart, "Nobody learns anything from a hit."

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 1:39pm

I felt like it held a lot of unrealized potential. The most recent off-Broadway incarnation wasn't wholly unenjoyable but it was immemorable. The only aspect of the show that really stood out for me was the cast.

Posted: 3/5/10 at 2:47pm

Is it going on tour?

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 3:14pm

Doesn't sound like a tour. Sounds like a local production as far as I can tell: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/137417-Vanities-and-Next-to-Normal-to-Play-Seattle-in-2011

[pretendworld]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 3:38pm

yeah, it's local. they had an audition announcement somewhere.

[Daniel2]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 4:06pm

Is it the original play (which, if done well, is kind of extraordinary in a small way) or the musical (which takes away some of the impact of the play with a conventional and not true to the spirit of the original final scene)?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 4:20pm

Vanities is a co-production between 5th Avenue and ACT Theatre. It is not a tour. It is the musical and the creators will be here to work on the show.

It is going to be at ACT and will be the start of a year collaboration between the 2 companies. This will allow the 5th to produce more intimate musicals that wouldn't work in the 5th gigantic space.

Posted: 3/5/10 at 4:28pm

Just making sure I only asked because it's listed on AWA touring services.
Vanities

[Trainwreck]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 4:55pm

Next to Normal, however, is the Broadway tour and is really exciting, since appearantly the musical sort of got its start in a workshop over here at the Village Theater. It also looks like a great show.

[pretendworld]

Posted: 3/5/10 at 6:52pm

David Kirshenbaum is going to be on Live on Broadway tonight. I'm sure he'll talk about any possibilities of a tour, etc.

I loved the cast record though.

[myshikobit]

Posted: 3/7/10 at 4:57pm

So wait- what does AWA do, exactly? is it like you have a theatre and you book them to come to your theatre? Just making sure. I can't wait until the rights to this come out- it seems like a really nice little musical to do on a small budget

[THDavis]

Posted: 12/6/10 at 1:18pm

Does anybody know where a complete synopsis of this show is? It's hard to define what's going on by the CD and Wikipedia doesn't give much in terms of a song by song description for the musical or a synopsis of the play.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/6/10 at 1:36pm

Plotwise, not much 'happens', rendering a synopsis difficult. So much of Vanities is character and time/place. That's why I suggest finding the script to the play. Try abebooks.com for a used copy. It shouldn't cost much, and the shipping will probably be higher than the cost of the book.

The added fourth and last scene of the musical takes a bit of the bite out of scene three of the play. In the play there is no reconciliation. There is no agreed future meeting. The musical brings the three women back together years later, older and wiser, and that seemed a bit false.

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/6/10 at 3:31pm

I saw it in Pasadena with the same three ladies who went to New York with it. It was an enjoyable evening if not much more. I actually liked the added scene at the end and thought it provided a strong resolution to the story. The cast recording represents it pretty well.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/6/10 at 4:46pm

I'm a big fan of the play, so I was very excited to see it musicalized. Sadly, it was just "Ok" although the cast was heartfelt. I believe I saw it on its closing performance. I was in the camp that I really disliked the "happy ending" I think it's more believable without it.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 9:41am

If you get a chance to see it, GO! It's one of the most emotional pieces of theatre I've seen, and even though you won't see the same fantastic cast, they acting was fantastic. Truly special performances, especially from Annelise

It also has some pretty fantastic songs, my personal favorite being "Cute Boys With Short Haircuts"...one of the best musical theatre ballads I've ever heard.