Waitress Josie

[andrewftw]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 7:50pm

Hey, just curious what is waitress gonna do about Josie? Are they gonna change the sign? Whats going to happen when they need an understudy? Would it be changed to Joe?

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 7:59pm

Joe could be short for Josie so no they won't have to change the sign. If an understudy goes on I'm sure it will be Joe again.

Only thing I'm curious about is in Take It From An Old Ma'am if Josie and Jenna are gonna do their dance. I mean Jenna dances with Becky leading up to that song.

[natashalost]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 8:05pm

mailhandler777 said “Only thing I'm curious about is in Take It From An Old Ma'am if Josie and Jenna are gonna do their dance. I mean Jenna dances with Becky leading up to that song."

I know someone involved with the production and they’ve told me all the blocking and most of not all of the script has remained the same for Josie. I think they only changed the lines about Joe being involved with women to have her be involved with men but I may be wrong about that. 

[andrewftw]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 8:12pm

natashalost said: "mailhandler777 said “Only thing I'm curious about is in Take It From An Old Ma'am if Josie and Jenna are gonna do their dance. I mean Jenna dances with Becky leading up to that song."

I know someone involved with the production and they’ve told me all the blocking and mostof not all of the script has remained the same for Josie. I think they only changed the lines about Joe being involved with women to have her be involved with men but I may be wrong about that."

I bet they changed the "She lost the baby though, close call" to "I lost the baby though, close call"

[natashalost]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 8:30pm

Exactly, Andrew! I just asked my source so I’ll correct what I said before. The only substantial change to the script is the “knocked up summer” monologue which originally said that Joe knocked a girl up, it’s now been changed to say that Josie was the one who got knocked up. They also changed the name of the restaurant to “Jo’s Pie Diner” not “Joe’s Pie Diner”

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 10:33pm

andrewftw said: 
I bet they changed the "She lost the baby though, close call" to "I lost the baby though, close call""

Since you opened the door, this is something I was alluding to in the other thread. This seems like a terrible choice. Is this the most pivotal part of the show? No. But it shows a lack of care for the specificity of the characters to treat this gender flip like it can be done easily. Especially when this show includes a song/sentiment like "Everything Changes." And this is just one point where a gender flip messes with what the show is saying. 

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 10:55pm

I disagree. I think it’s the exact opposite. The sentiment of Josie losing the baby and not wanting it mirrors Jenna’s feelings of not wanting the baby. It isn’t until Jenna has the baby that she feels like “Everything Changes”. So nothing is really lost. If anything, a woman saying that line may provide more nuance to the situation. There is another woman who also didn’t wanna be a mother.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 11:49pm

natashalost said: "Exactly, Andrew! I just asked my source so I’ll correct what I said before. The only substantial change to the script is the “knocked up summer” monologue which originally said that Joe knocked a girl up, it’s now been changed to say that Josie was the one who got knocked up. They also changed the name of the restaurant to “Jo’s Pie Diner” not “Joe’s Pie Diner” "

It’s still Joe’s. 

[HunterK]

Posted: 11/19/18 at 11:51pm

Just want to say I was there tonight at June Squibb's opening (forgetting it was her first show until in the theatre). In the playbill the character is still listed as Joe. In the show the sign still says "Joe". Nicolette kept calling her Jo, but Cal in the kitchen called her Josie, To be 100% honest I didn't even notice what was said in the monologue because I loved June Squibb so much! She did miss some lines and Nicolette had to help her out, but she was wonderful! Nicolette gave her roses at the curtain call and the look on Ms. Squibb's face was priceless. To her, it was so unexpected. She just had her mouth open and started crying. Her and Nicolette kept hugging and then she as pushed out for her own bow. It was absolutely priceless! June Squibb was wonderful, and for anyone first time seeing ti...you would never know it was written for a male actor.  

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 1:23am

^Do they still dance during Take It From An Old Ma'am?

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 10:33am

mailhandler777 said: "^Do they still dance during Take It From An Old Ma'am?

"

Yes pretty much. Slightly modified as they have done with previous Joes based on age, dance ability, etc. Its actually remarkable how little had to be changed to make it easily work with a woman. 

Updated On: 11/20/18 at 10:33 AM

[JennH]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 10:45am

KathyNYC2 said: "mailhandler777 said: "^Do they still dance during Take It From An Old Ma'am?

"

Yes pretty much."

If that's indeed the title change, I'm sorry that's just odd...gender flips aren't as easy as people make them out to be. Even if it were easy from a character perspective, it's usually not from a vocal pedagogy perspective, or even vice versa. The recent gender flip for Company is an example. Character wise, it's easy to gender flip Bobby, but Being Alive is so obviously written for a male voice, it sounds straight up strange in a female voice. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 11:27am

JennH said: .The recent gender flip for Company is an example. Character wise, it's easy to gender flip Bobby, but Being Alive is so obviously written for a male voice, it sounds straight up strange in a female voice."

 

Tell that to Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters and the countless other divas who have famously (and successfully) covered the song.

 

[JennH]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 12:23pm

JSquared2 said: "JennH said:.The recent gender flip for Company is an example. Character wise, it's easy to gender flip Bobby, but Being Alive is so obviously written for a male voice, it sounds straight up strange in a female voice."



Tell that to Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters and the countless other divas who have famously (and successfully) covered the song.

"

I'm perfectly aware they did this. To me, it's aurally odd. The range and the way it's pedagogically written is for how a male voice functions. As for taste and liking how these ladies did this song is another story. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/20/18 at 5:01pm

JSquared2 said: "JennH said:.The recent gender flip for Company is an example. Character wise, it's easy to gender flip Bobby, but Being Alive is so obviously written for a male voice, it sounds straight up strange in a female voice."



Tell that to Patti Lupone, Bernadette Peters and the countless other divas who have famously (and successfully) covered the song.

"

Kerry Ellis, Idina Menzel, Lea Salonga and even Jessica Vosk(in a mashup with Help) have all covered this song also.

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/21/18 at 10:28pm

I was there tonight. The show is in great shape, even if it’s showing it’s age a bit.

The only person I saw in the role before was Dakin Matthews. June Squibb was so damn adorable. I didn’t see her as the curmudgeon that Dakin or Andy Griffith were, but more of that sassy, snappy grandma who will call you on your shilt and not care who listens. Her song was a little rough at times, but she deliver with such efficiency and polish, that I couldn’t believe it was only her third show. Also, at 89 years old, I salute her for doing this in the first place.

The rest of the show is fine. Nicolette was stunning and her “She Used To Be Mine” was powerful and angrier than Jessie Mueller, and I liked having a bit of bite amid the despondency. Natasha Yvette Williams and Alex Wyse could reel it in just a little bit, since their characters are well-drawn and snappy on their own and don’t always need that extra “umph” to land a joke or mannerism. Ben Thompson surprised me as Earl, and I thought he brought the right amount of terror to the role, and seemed more threatening as opposed to just being a douche.

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/21/18 at 10:30pm

Also, there are inconsistencies with the “Josie” thing all over the place. I think I heard “Josie” said once on stage, and it was “Joe” the rest of the time. The sign still says “Joe’s Pie Diner”. Even in the Playbill, the character was changed to “Josie”, but the song list still said “Joe”

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 11/21/18 at 11:10pm

Don’t forget Barbra’s stunning version of Being Alive. As a kid I wasn’t really introduced to much musical theater unless it came in the form of movie (Grease) or television (Peter Pan). So my first introduction to Being Alive was Barbra’s and what a splendid introduction it was.

And may I remind you that Joe/Jo has been a nickname for longer names for centuries. Look at The Facts of Life (Jo/Joanne) and Littie Women (Jo/Josephine).

This gender-swap is seriously a non-issue.