What shows are due for a revival?- Page 3

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 6:52am

OlBlueEyes, Perry Como had a (minor) hit with Pipe Dream's All At Once You Love Her which he recorded during the run of the show... (Although it wasn't the huge hit Como's No Other Love from Me and Juliet was. Actually, I think even all of the flop R&H shows had at least a minor radio hit, even if forgotten now--Allegro had The Gentleman is a Dope of course.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:22pm

Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was a shame the Delacorte production didn't transfer. One of my all-time favorite New York musical theatre experiences.

[dreaming]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:29pm

I would love to see Two Gentlemen. I never saw the Delacorte, so I'd like the opportunity to see it on stage.

I still think Rags should be done...please...

[tazber]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 12:32pm

CITY OF ANGELS!!!!!!!

[Feste]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 3:17pm

Once on this Island
City of Angels
The Secret Garden
any Gilbert and Sullivan
Brigadoon
Damn Yankees
Sweet Charity
Bye Bye Birdie
Amadeus
The Elephant Man
Torch Song Trilogy
Tobacco Road

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 7:33pm

Eric, was No Other Love the song that derived its melody from Rodgers score for the Victory at Sea documentary? Won't count that as a show hit!


In the 50s there were a few great vocalists including Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong. Then there were the "entertainers" which included Perry Como, Andy Williams and Jack Jones.

I hated it when the second class vocalists got first choice of the Broadway hits. In particular, compare the tepid rendition of "The Impossible Dream" by Jack Jones and the OBC passionate performance by Richard Kiley. Jones' (imaginative name) version was the one heard by the country. Kiley's by very few.

I suppose if the whole country had heard both versions, they would have picked Jack Jones anyway.


Updated On: 10/7/14 at 07:33 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 7:40pm

Jack Jones is the son of singer-actor Allen Jones. The senior Jones was the star of the first SHOW BOAT talkie and other musicals, including FIREFLY WITH Jeanette McDonald. (I worked with Allen and he often spoke with very obvious pride of his son, Jack.)

So dull or not, great vocalist or not, Jack came by his name in the usual way.

***

The 50s and early 60s were still the period in which multiple covers of hit songs were recorded and released. So Jack Jones' recording of "Impossible Dream" didn't, for example, stop Robert Goulet from also releasing the song.

The 50s were just a dull period, musically (except in the theater): people were exhausted from the Depression and WWII, and ready to listen to more "mellow" songs.

I agree with you that "Impossible Dream" isn't really a crooner's number, but I blame the era, not Jack Jones.

Updated On: 10/7/14 at 07:40 PM

[RENT_is_Wicked2]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 8:36pm

Miss Saigon
Tommy
Mame
Parade

[gertron]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 9:52pm

(MY OPINION)
Seussical
42nd Street
Will Roger's Follies
The Wedding Singer
The Secret Garden
(NOT WITH MOVIE CAST MAYBE A FEW YEARS FROM NOW) Into the Woods
Little Shop of Horrors

[BwayFan23768]

Posted: 10/7/14 at 9:58pm

^ Into the Woods is being revived Off-Broadway by Roundabout this year, in December I believe.

[inception]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 2:53am

House of Flowers

I would like to see Patina Miller's take on the Pearl Bailey numbers.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 10:49am

I have been wanting a revival of The Secret Garden for years. And I don't think it's ever too soon to revive 42nd Street (Gower Champion [Randy Skinner] staging and choreography). For me personally, it's the perfect Broadway musical.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 4:33pm

Loving the two votes for Two Gentlemen of Verona. A vastly underrated show that roundly deserves a return. Consider this my third vote. In fact, I might even explore the option for the revival myself (as a "B" plan to the originals currently in development). Let me talk to some people and get back to this thread.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 5:00pm

I've always wanted to see a production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B.

[troynow]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 6:49pm

Arsenic and Old Lace with Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad, and Will Smith!

[FutureDirector]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 7:11pm

Those of you who said Allegro and 'Night Mother are in luck. The John Doyle helmed Allegro starts at classic stage in a few weeks, and there is an Audra McDonald/ Oprah Winfrey 'Night Mother in the works for this season that will probably be the hardest thing to get a ticket to in recent memory.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 8:33pm

GavestonPS: I'm impressed by the people that you were fortunate enough to know. My 93 year old mother's teen heroes were Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald. I managed to scrounge up DVDs of many of their films by ordering from Brazil. Eventually Turner started producing them. I developed a great respect for Jeanette McDonald. I saw her in a few other films including San Francisco and the forgotten little gem Love Me Tonight, which featured Maurice Chevalier and a young Myrna Loy playing, well, let's say a woman who was very fond of men. This film also had a Rodgers and Hart score that introduced "Lover," "Mimi," and "Isn't it Romantic," in a very original way. But I'll bet that you already know all this.

I don't mean to put down Como and Williams. They had TV shows that provided a platform for many of the great vocalists of the time. Although the 50s was a slow decade in which the torch was passed from swing to rock, great vocalists like Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong made the transition less painful.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/9/14 at 8:50pm

I agree OlBlueEyes. And I don't intend to namedrop; I'm just citing my sources. I spent six years at 3 subscription stock houses (Miami Beach, Miami and Fort Lauderdale), so that meant 9 or 10 shows each winter season and another 8 or 9 when we did summer seasons.

Obviously, a LOT of people came through. Many of them only became famous later. (For example, I know I did GUYS AND DOLLS with Debbie Allen and she was a nice enough lady, but I barely remember the production.)

Allen Jones used to hold "movie night" after every Thursday evening's show and screen his old film musicals on an 8mm projector. (This was before audio-tape became common.) When he screened FIREFLY for us, he was asked about Jeannette MacDonald and he replied, "Well, they didn't call her the 'Iron Butterfly' for nothing. And that's all I'll say on that subject.'" (I didn't infer anything terrible from the remark; I just assumed that like a lot of female stars, she learned to be tough in what was basically a man's business.)

[Melissa25]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 1:02pm

Charles Strouse talks about "Rags" on the NY City Center Blog. Maybe we will see it at Encores! soon.


Strouse on Rags Updated On: 12/15/14 at 01:02 PM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 1:37pm

Thank you for posting that interview, Melissa! Rags has been my dream Encores! show for years and years, I think it's a perfect piece for them.

[Starship]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 1:45pm

The Wiz, Little Shop of Horrors, and Ragtime.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 1:59pm

I would love to see a revival of The Wiz.

[Gmerchant123]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 2:11pm

Am I crazy for wanting another Sweeney Todd revival?

[BwayDude2]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 2:15pm

I would love to see Children of Eden come back to Broadway. Love that production.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/15/14 at 2:27pm

IMHO for those who say Little Shop... I think it is too intimate a show for a Broadway House even a small one. This past revival sort of proved it. Yes revive it but do it Off Broadway, bring back the drop boxes!