What shows will we never see again on broadway- Page 3

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 6/23/20 at 6:09pm

I expect that the next time Anything Goes is on Broadway, they’ll do a bit of rewriting to either remove the Chinese characters or update them so as to not offend.

Speaking of shows that Sutton Foster won a Tony for that also happen to have problematic portrayals of AsiansI was upset that the Ashley Park Encores (at least I think that’s where it was) production of Thoroughly Modern Millie got cancelled, cause I believe they said they were gonna update the show to make it less offensive.m and I would’ve liked to see how they handled that.

[Hot Pants]

Posted: 6/23/20 at 8:09pm

Lavieboheme3090 said: "Heathers."

I find it pretty shocking that a show like that could be made in today’s climate.

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/24/20 at 7:43am

Theatrefanboy1 said: "Well I hope sunset boulevard is revived. I agree it would have to be with a star. But I would love to see a revival of the original. I saw the one a couple years back with Close. Which I’m glad. And the score was lush. But I really want to see this mansion and staircase that’s talked about."

I'd pay big for that.

 

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/25/20 at 5:27pm

Jarethan said: "sabrelady said: "Purlie."

I don't know if you ever saw Purlie. I saw it 4times during its original run. The entire rear mezzanine of the Broadway Theatre was priced at $3.00(!!!), which meant that you could get a pretty decent seat if you bought tickets enough in advance; plus it was a great show, with wonderful music. To this day, I play the OCR at least once every 2 months. The score is joyous and the more solemn songs are very affecting.

It is also a satire. The heroes are Purlie and Lutiebelleand Missy, all black. The chorus was ledgy Linda Hopkins and generated goosebumps at times. The entire show was focused on showing how stupid Ol' Cap'n was. I doubt that it will ever receive a big revival, simply because I am not sure the original production, despite running 20 months, broke even. I wouldn't be surprised to see Roundabout tackle it some time, because it is a satire about dealing with ignorance."

I saw it on tour w the OBC. I enjoyed it ( still love the "skinin' the cat" song.

Don't disagree that  it is a black cast ( 2 white roles as I recall  Ol Captain  and Charlie). but it requires a lot of old style negro caricature acting w  almost Amos and Andy  levels showing dem clever Black folk gittin' round da evil White folks.Even Purlie succumbs to it sometimes the only one I don't recall doing that was  Idella. That just won' fly these days even if it was written by a black man as a satire.

But I could be wrong.

I 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/25/20 at 5:42pm

sabrelady, I didn't see the show on Broadway, though a lot of my classmates did and loved it. We didn't have enough black students to do the show, but we did numbers from it in all our variety shows in high school.

I completely accept you account of the acting you witnessed, but I wonder if that was a result of what that generation of actors was used to doing in other projects.

Is it possible the current generation could perform the same text in a less stereotypical way?

ETA if this thread had existed a few years ago, I would have opined that THE BOYS IN THE BAND would never be done on Broadway again. And yet it was, to nearly universal acclaim. So perhaps the future will view PURLIE--however it is performed--in a different light.

Updated On: 6/25/20 at 05:42 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 6/25/20 at 9:18pm

Lanie J said: 

They just wouldn't have the audience, and I don't think they ever will again. It's quite a shame, since Over Here holds a special place in my heart, and I've never seen it live.

I saw Over Here 5 times in its original run.  My wife and I saw it once, then we took her parents, then we took my parents, convinced some friends they'd love it, and saw it a fifth time on a Saturday night when my wife was out of town.  Standing Room.

I LOVED this show.  The story was silly and thoroughly enjoyable, the choreography was terrific, with a true show-stopper 'At Charlie's Place' that introduced me to Ann Reinking.  Janie Sell was hilarious playing a German spy, for which she won a Tony.  Even at 24, the Andrews Sisters were a little nostalgic for me, as I had seen them in a couple of Abbott and Costello movies that I saw a thousand times; for the audience, considerably older than me, the Andrews were mega-nostalgia.

The score IMO was wonderful, clearly pastiche, but nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable.  Each of the sisters had  few songs only, but the songs were perfect for them.  There was a guy in the show whose character was names Utah.  Every time he opened his mouth, he said Im Utah, I'm from Utah...that kind of corn.  That introduced me to John Travolta.  I seem to think that Treat Williams was also in the supporting cast, but i may be wrong.

Something they could not really recreate today was the after show.  After being entertained for 2 hours or so,  and after the curtain calls, the rest of the cast left the stage and the Andrews stayed to sing 5 - 6 of their very famous songs.  Pure bliss.  Would not be the same without them.

They did not have a great track record for making performances, but both were in it every time I saw it; I wondered what the did with the after-show on the nights when one or the other was out.  Never found out.

In any event, this was one of the most ENJOYABLE shows for me in that entire decade.  I would love to see a revival, but doubt it would happen.  I occasionally daydreamed...if Lupone or BP dont want to have to carry a show, but still want to be on Broadway, couldn't this be the vehicle.  Real ensemble show, with two lead roles that were not going to exhaust anyone.  The songs they each would sing were really tuneful, some joyous, some perceive, at least one silly.  I can hope.