Posted: 1/23/20 at 2:37pm
Only three? OK.....
A CHORUS LINE, opening night, at The Public
HAMILTON, opening night, at The Public
FOLLIES, OBC, any night!
Posted: 1/23/20 at 2:52pm
Posted: 1/23/20 at 8:42pm
Dutchman at the Cherry Lane, 1964
West Side Story OBC
Our lord and savior Uta Hagen and the OBC on opening night of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Updated On: 1/23/20 at 08:42 PM
Posted: 1/23/20 at 8:56pm
UncleCharlie said: "Could I stop Booth? Could I change history? Would be interesting to find out."
I feel the same way about stopping that guy from taking a pic of Patti.
Posted: 1/23/20 at 9:24pm
carnzee said: "UncleCharlie said: "Could I stop Booth? Could I change history? Would be interesting to find out."
I feel the same way about stopping that guy from taking a pic of Patti.
"
STOP TAKING PICTURES, RIGHT NOW!
Posted: 1/24/20 at 1:46am
The original cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Opening night of A Chorus Line on Broadway.
Opening night to the first revival of Hamilton on Broadway with access to the party. (Because time machines go both ways.)
Posted: 1/24/20 at 5:33pm
Just for a production, I would see The Bridges of Madison County. It's my favorite score, and those stars would have made it soar.
Posted: 1/24/20 at 8:32pm
Posted: 1/24/20 at 9:01pm
Capeguy said: "Follies -- original
Funny Girl -- Barbra
Streetcar with Brando and Vivian Leigh
only 3! There are so many more...
"
You are thinking of the film of STREETCAR. Jessica Tandy played Blanche originally on Broadway and Uta Hagen took over during Tandy's vacation and after Tandy's contract was up.
ETA another poster reports that Leigh first played Blanche on stage in London. But there was no place to see her with Marlon Brando until the movie.
Updated On: 1/24/20 at 09:01 PM
Posted: 1/24/20 at 9:08pm
carnzee said: "UncleCharlie said: "Could I stop Booth? Could I change history? Would be interesting to find out."
I feel the same way about stopping that guy from taking a pic of Patti.
Gillian Laub is/was the photographer and she has said LuPone apologized directly and was embarrassed afterwards though she’s never publicly addressed this. Gillian had been approved in advance by not only LuPone but also the production to photograph portions of “Rose’s Turn” for New York Magazine.
Apparently as legend now stands, LuPone must have been so focused and in character that she forgot the pre-authorized photos and went off. Gillian has stated that LuPone contacted her the following day and personally apologized to her.
LuPone has never corrected the true situation whenever it has been addressed in interviews. She fuels the myth herself.
Posted: 1/24/20 at 9:13pm
OlBlueEyes said: "Judy - Since I got my Amazon Echo smart speaker I keep asking it to play Judy at Carnegie.
Babes in Arms Rodgers & Hart
I Wish I Were in Love Again
Where or When
My Funny Valentine
The Lady is a Tramp
Johnny One Note
But the book is supposed to be so bad that can’t be revived. And when MGM made the film they cut all fivesongs."
When I was teaching at UCLA they did a "museum" revival where they used the original book and score. It isn't that it's bad so much as full of contemporary references. It was a bit like watching SNL 70 years after the fact: still amusing, but not nearly as sharp as it must have been in its day.
Posted: 1/26/20 at 7:07am
Posted: 1/26/20 at 11:17am
Unsinkable Molly Brown Tammy Grimes
Funny Girl Barbra Streisand
Evita Patti Lupone
Tammy won the Tony for Featured Actress, which kills me. From the NY Times: Ms. Grimes was largely unknown in 1960 when she was cast as Molly, the rags-to-riches turn-of-the-century socialite-philanthropist who survived the sinking of the Titanic. The show’s producers, who clearly considered the music and lyrics by Meredith Willson more marketable than their female lead, declined to put her name above the title, which meant that (because of the Tony regulations of the time) she could be nominated only in the featured-actress category.
Posted: 1/26/20 at 5:10pm
FindingNamo said: "The original cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Opening night of A Chorus Line on Broadway.
Opening night to the first revival of Hamilton on Broadway with access to the party. (Because time machines go both ways.)"
Don't know your age, but that also means that you are probably guaranteed at least another 35 years on this planet. I am guessing that Hamilton will run for at least two more decades, unless the long-run trend somehow reverses. Then, you will need the obligatory break period before a major revival...assuming the show runs at least 25 years, probably reasonable to assume that a major revival would not occur for 15 years. Of course, based on POTO, Lion King, Chicago and the direction in which Wicked is heading, it may just as possibly still be running 25 years from now...in which case 40 years.
Posted: 1/26/20 at 5:22pm
DAME said: "They’re Playing Our Song
Liza in Chicago
I Love My Wife
All of which I have seen but would love to revisit those memories."
I always enjoy your posts. Have to say that I am surprised, however, with your choice of They're Playing Our Song. I think I found the humor dated then, and can't imagine that it would be better now. I also thought the score was mediocre at best. I did see Liza and agree with you that it was a special event, although she was not as good as Verdon in the role. But she was at the peak of her stardom, her coming in to save the show seemed like it was taken from one of her mother's movies with Mickey Rooney, and she was game for anything (I cant remember if she did the cartwheel at the end, but I seem to have deja vu about being surprised that she went for it.
I LOVED I Love My Wife...wonder if it would be superdated today. Lenny Baker's early death was tragic for him, for his family, and for the theatre.
Posted: 1/26/20 at 5:48pm
east side story said: "1. Angela Lansbury in GYPSY
2. Natasha Richardson in CABARET
3. Patti LuPone in ANYTHING GOES"
I saw all three and both Lansbury's and Lupone's performances would rank in my top 5 for musical performance by a female lead. The other three: definitely Lansbury in Mame, definitely Barbara Harris in The Apple Tree, and either Glenn Close in Sunset Blvd, Bebe Neuwirth in Chicago or Donna Murphy in the King and I.
Posted: 1/27/20 at 11:19pm
Sauja said: "This is one of the hardest of these questions ever!
If I could relive one night I spent at the theater, I'd go back to Sondheim's 80th birthday concert at Lincoln Center. Hearing that enormous chorus and watching them stream into the theater singing "Sunday" is an all time highlight.
"You were there?? How thrilling that must have been! I get teary just watching it on YouTube!
Posted: 1/27/20 at 11:21pm
Posted: 1/28/20 at 7:26am
Oooo good but difficult question!
Rent at NYTW
Moose Murders--just because I'm so curious about this show that basically closed on opening night?
Waitress at A.R.T.
Posted: 1/28/20 at 1:55pm
Sweet Charity--Gwen Verdon
Sunday in the Park with George--Bernadette
Sweeney Todd-Angela Lansbury
Posted: 1/28/20 at 6:02pm
1. John Raitt in the original Carousel.
2. Lee J. Cobb in Death of a Salesman. My dad saw it when he was in fact a salesman on the road; he said it was devestating.
3. Opening night of My Fair Lady.
4. A Chorus Line, either at the Public or just after its uptown transfer, as long as its original cast.
Posted: 1/28/20 at 6:21pm
OBC A Chorus Line
OBC Peter pan (Mary Martin or Sandy)
OBC Hello Dolly (Carol Channing)
Posted: 1/28/20 at 6:31pm
Patti Lupone in EVITA
Angela Lansbury in SWEENEY TODD
Laurette Taylor in THE GLASS MENAGERIE
Posted: 1/28/20 at 7:05pm
Posted: 1/28/20 at 7:13pm
OBC - 1776
OBC - Sweeney Todd
and the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic 8 1/2 hour production of 'The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby' in 1981.
