When Will These Shows Get Revived?

I know there are a number of shows from the Golden Age that still need to be revived.

But I was curious when you think these shows from the early-mid 90's will be revived.

- City Of Angels
- Will Rogers Follies
- Kiss Of The Spider Woman
- Passion

All 4 have fantastic scores. Plus all 4 won the Tonys for Best Musical and Best Original Score.

I know PASSION had a hard time finding an audience the first time around. Do you think it will do better with a revival? I think with 2 Broadway stars in the leads, it could work. It would be great to have SPIDER WOMAN back. Would love to see Bebe Neuwirth in the lead, she did it in London. Would love for her to head a revival of it.

I am really hoping these 4 songs will be revived soon. Do you think they should be revived? And when? Or is it to soon to revive them?

Updated On: 2/25/06 at 03:31 PM

They are all wonderful shows. I, personally, think it's way too soon to revive them. Unless, some director complete re-thinks it (like Sweeney) and brings a complete new concept to them.

Passion will never be revived on commercial Broadway -- it was a big flop the first time around and has very limited appeal. There are also two DVDs of it on the market. Perhaps Roundabout might do it in a decade or so, for a limited engagement.

Not sure about the others. Not really a big fan of any of them and I don't think that they're SO great that they would deserve another broadway run (especially Will Rogers Follies which I thought was fairly mediocre)

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Ken Mandelbaum mentioned that City of Angels is likely to be revived by Roundabout sometime soon in one of his latest columns on Broadway.com
I can't stand Will Rogers Follies, or at least the cast recording, never seen it live. From the synopsis it doesn't look like something audiences today would appreciate and any Tommy Tune show without Tommy Tune sounds questionable.
Kiss of the Spider Woman has to be revived but I think it needs a whole new concept. This is the kind of show I'd like to see Ann Reinking, Rob Marshall, or Sam Mendes revisit and do something with it. People have the misconception that the show was a hit because of all the awards and a 900+ performances run, but it actually got mixed reviews and it didn't recoup its investment during its extensive Broadway run, so that's why I think people are reluctant to revive this show. I would love to see Bebe Neuwirth or Donna Murphy tackle this role but take it in a different direction from Chita's interpretion which wouldn't be hard to do if the show is revived with a new concept.
Passion is my favorite stage piece ever, and as much as I'd love to see a Broadway revival, I am realistic. The show only ran for 200 performances, a lot of people hate Fosca to this day, there are no applause breaks, and with shows like Wicked, Hairspray, and Tarzan taking over Broadway houses, who is going to give Passion a chance? Also, I have never EVER seen anyone in the role of Fosca who can compare to Donna Murphy's haunting performance. So I don't think a revival of the show is conceivable.

Quick threadjack: There are two DVDs on Passion? I'm only aware of the original Broadway cast filmed performance, what's the second one? Is it comercially available?

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I absolutely adore Passion. The music is so, well, passionate and the characters are so well defined and great roles that any actor would be fighting over. I think Roundabout should bring it back in 5 years or so with a new concept. I too am not aware of any other recordings of the show except for the original Broadway cast DVD. Maybe they are talking about the Lincoln Center concert? even though that was never released on DVD.

I think Catherine Zeta-Jones would be an amazing Spider Woman. She's already played one of Chita's roles, and I think this would be such an amazing way to get her to Broadway. She certainly has the voice and dance skills to headline a revival, plus I can see her really playing up the sex appeal side of that character.

I want a PORGY AND BESS revival with Stokes and Audra!

I <3 PASSION.

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while i do adore "Passion", i think that "Will Rogers Follies" would be a great revival in the near future - it was fun, sexy, a good combination of modern and old using the Follies framework - and it would give country stars like Garth Brooks or Kenny Chesney a chance to shine onstage as Will.

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Has Evita ever been revived?

No, not yet. A West End revival is going to open at the end of June, so it might transfer to Broadway, depending on how sucessful it is.

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Too soon for these shows

Would much rather see Lil Abner

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By the way, Bebe did Spiderwoman in London. She replaced Liza.

I think that Pippin should be revived.

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Score wise for the 91 Tonys.

The legendary Cy Coleman was a far more respected composer than his competition. Even though he was up against great composers. And lets not forget the amazing songwriting team of Comden & Green wrote the lyrics for ROGERS FOLLIES.

It's a complete SHAME because people always forget the importance Cy had in the Broadway community, and his amazing versatile skills as a composer.

Sweet Charity, Twentieth Century, Barnum, Will Rogers Follies, The Life, come on - amazing stuff!