Will “ Ballroom “ ever be revived?

[David10086]

Posted: 1/14/22 at 10:03pm

Since Marilyn Bergmans passing last week, I’ve read a lot about the Broadway musical “ Ballroom “ which debuted in 1979 (?) based on the television movie “ Queen of the Stardust Ballroom “ which aired in 1975. I believe it had a decent run on Broadway. About Friday fifteen years ago there was talk of remaking the movie with Streisand to star, and new songs  by the Bergmans and composer Marvin Hamlisch were to be included. But that didn’t happen with MH’s passing in 2012. Then there was talk about a revival on Broadway which lasted a few years. Do you think it will ever see a revival? Seems like something tourists and locals would like to see especially with the right stars in the lead. Thoughts? 

[pmensky]

Posted: 1/14/22 at 10:16pm

I doubt it would be revived. The original production received negative reviews, ran for only three months, and it’s a cast of about 40. It’s a big, expensive risk.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 1/14/22 at 10:20pm

Love this score so much. Fifty Percent will always make me tear up. Doubt it comes to Broadway, but would love an Encores production with a star-studded cast.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/14/22 at 11:41pm

Yeah, every year I hope it’ll be on Encores schedule, along with “Coco” and “Me and Juliet”.

[carnzee]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 1:05pm

My first thought was 'flops don't get revived." On second thought, we've had revivals of Pal Joey, Candide, and some Sondheim classics that didn't make money the first time around. Chess is coming back, too. So there's a precedent.

But Ballroom as a title doesn't mean anything to many people, unlike even Pacific Overtures for example. I think Encores would be a great venue for it. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 1:25pm

 

[bowtie7]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 4:52pm

Ballroom received a revised production under original title Queen of the Stardust Ballroom in 1998 at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre in Chicago. The original authors were involved in the production.

https://www.playbill.com/article/queen-of-the-stardust-ballroom-opens-in-chicago-on-aug-5-com-76792

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-08-02-9808020290-story.html

[pmensky]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 5:40pm

bowtie7 said: "Ballroom received a revised production under original title Queen of the Stardust Ballroom in 1998 at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre in Chicago. The original authors were involved in the production.

https://www.playbill.com/article/queen-of-the-stardust-ballroom-opens-in-chicago-on-aug-5-com-76792

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-08-02-9808020290-story.html"

Yes, and it received negative reviews again at the Marriott. I think Variety sums it up: “One could easily envisage a repeat of this warm reception in resorts like Laughlin, Nev., and Branson, Mo. — and a hundred dinner theaters from coast to coast.”

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 6:13pm

Jerry Mitchell did a workshop in 2010 with Tyne Daly.

It would need a mega-star (bigger than someone like Bernadette or Tyne) to work on Broadway...and most mega-stars who would be right for this show would prefer to do an original musical, a more famous musical, or no Broadway at all.

The other problem –– in my opinion –– it only has one REALLY great song, plus a couple of pretty good songs.

So no, I don't see it ever being revived on Broadway, but perhaps for one week at Encores.

[David10086]

Posted: 1/15/22 at 11:53pm

pmensky said: "I doubt it would be revived. The original production received negative reviews, ran for only three months, and it’s a cast of about 40. It’s a big, expensive risk."

 

Thanks for that info  - I didn’t realize it had such a short run and received negative reviews. I could see someone like Phylicia Rashad starring in this. 

 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/16/22 at 12:03pm

Agree about the one great song post. The score in its entirety doesn't have enough distinction, though it's all workmanlike and well crafted. A bigger problem: it's really a period piece, whether it's reset in current times or not (making the ages more problematic to cast; characters in that demo today -- boomers -- speak a different language). Hard to fathom the target audience. And it's just not a memorable enough piece overall. 

[David10086]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 12:55am

Curious if anyone saw the Dorothy Louden production back in 1979. Any thoughts about it? 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 6:19am

I saw the original production twice but remember very little about it other than all the choreography was done in a circular pattern (as it was taking place on a dance floor) and "Fifty Percent"--which is a great song but I never felt Bea Archer was the kind of woman who would belt out a tune like that.

Sorry I don't remember more.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 3:00pm

I attended the last preview before opening night. Loudon was wonderful, as expected, but I was disappointed in the show and her lack of solo numbers. I enjoyed the TV movie it was based on and expected a similar reaction watching its stage adaptation. What I most recall was one ballroom dance number after another which quickly became tedious. I wanted more character numbers instead of Bennett's centering most the show on dance. Instead of focusing on the "Queen" of the ballroom he chose to make the show more about the ballroom itself and its dancers. An okay take on the piece I guess but not, I feel,what the audience expected especially since many were familiar with the story line. It also had high expectations after A CHORUS LINE.

Years later I saw the west coast premiere of the show starring Tyne Daly in a Long Beach, CA production. It obviously had been worked on and played so much better than the original. The central role is a good one and Daly did not disappoint. For Lainie Kazan fans, she was scheduled to replace an unexpected "under the weather" Daly at the performance I saw and supposedly rehearsed non-stop the evening before. However, Daly decided to go on after all. Though she was extremely hoarse (much like the way she sounds on the GYPSY original cast recording) she still pulled it off nicely.   

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 3:42pm

Auggie27 said: "Agree about the one great song post. The score in its entirety doesn't have enough distinction, though it's all workmanlike and well crafted."

Popping back here to say I gave the score another listen, and I stand by my "one great song" opinion! There is so much "filler" in that score.

"A Terrific Band...," "I Love To Dance," "I Wish You A Waltz," and the instrumental opening are enjoyable, but nothing comes remotely close to "Fifty Percent," one of the all-time great torch songs. (Fifty Percent is also helped greatly by Jonathan Tunick's orchestration and Billy Goldenberg's arrangement of his own song, which makes sense, since he started as a dance arranger.)

Updated On: 1/20/22 at 03:42 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 4:59pm

Sorry to beat a dead horse but the show on Bway was a drawn-out overblown dud, with a nonstop parade of unlikable retirees with their unlikable adult children as the main cast. And the central metaphor of the Ballroom as a worthy escape for these walled-in folks was hamfisted and banal from the get go. Thank God the wonderful “50 Percent” works so well as a stand-alone cabaret song. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 5:17pm

I saw the out of town tryout in Connecticut. I was so so soooooo terribly young (was I even wearing big boy pants at the time?) but I went in hoping it was going to be the next developmental leap from the Chorus Line genius with a big star turn by a bona fide Broadway superstar in the lead woman role. Somehow I thought it might be a piece that jumped off from "Dad would take mom to Roseland/She'd come home with her shoes in her hand" and open up and expand from there. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/20/22 at 5:25pm

 

[David10086]

Posted: 1/22/22 at 11:47pm

Demitri2 said: "I attended the last preview before opening night. Loudon was wonderful, as expected, but I was disappointed in the show and her lack of solo numbers. I enjoyed the TV movie it was based on and expected a similar reaction watching its stage adaptation. What I most recall was one ballroom dance number after another which quickly became tedious. I wanted more character numbers instead of Bennett's centering most the show on dance. Instead of focusing on the "Queen" of the ballroom he chose to make the show more about the ballroom itself and its dancers. An okay take on the piece I guess but not, I feel,what the audience expected especially since many were familiar with the story line. It also had high expectations after A CHORUS LINE.

Years later I saw the west coast premiere of the show starring Tyne Daly in a Long Beach, CA production. It obviously had been worked on and played so much better than the original. The central role is a good one and Daly did not disappoint. For Lainie Kazan fans, she was scheduled to replace an unexpected "under the weather" Daly at the performance I saw and supposedly rehearsed non-stop the evening before. However, Daly decided to go on after all. Though she was extremely hoarse (much like the way she sounds on the GYPSY original cast recording) she still pulled it off nicely. "

Was the Tyne Daly production ever intended to hit Broadway? If yes, what stopped it? 

[bk]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 12:00am

What stopped it? It was an amateurish mess from start to finish, that's what stopped it. Poorly directed, no pace, whiny, and opening a show with the angry Who Gave You Permission, well, Bennett was completely correct in removing it. It works in the film but could never work onstage. Daly was not up to her usual greatness (I'm a huge fan) and the supporting cast was high schoolish and awful. I can't imagine how anyone could think it was good, but the poster in this thread has obviously proven me wrong. Many walkouts the night I was there, and it came and went quickly, never to be heard of again.

On the other hand, just before the pandemic, there WAS a revisal done in California, near Palm Springs somewhere. I couldn't get up there to see it but did converse with Billy Goldenberg who came to see something I'd directed and we chatted about it. He hadn't liked the production at all or the casting for it. Sweet man and I would like to take a crack at it sometime. 

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 5:39am

Audiences don't want to watch a bunch of old people.  

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 8:29am

Impeach2017 said: "Audiences don't want to watch a bunch of old people."

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 8:38am

Unfortunately that's true. Saw the original Ballroom and liked the cast and score but tastes change. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 11:46am

It's always baffling to me that the whole idea of Ballroom was to reassemble the team that made A Chorus Line and strike gold again--but without retaining composer and lyricist of that show. I don't know of Hamlisch refused or he had been difficult to work with and so Bennett didn't want to work with him again (I've heard a rumor that Jonathan Tunick did a lot of the heavy lifting for that show, have no idea the veracity of it). Ballroom has basically one good song: 50 Percent. It's a beloved song. But one song doesn't equal a strong score. And what's the point of reviving a musical with a forgettable score? 

[David10086]

Posted: 1/23/22 at 12:31pm

joevitus said: "It's always baffling to me that the whole idea of Ballroom was to reassemble the team that made A Chorus Line and strike gold again--but without retaining composer and lyricist of that show. I don't know of Hamlisch refused or he had been difficult to work with and so Bennett didn't want to work with him again (I've heard a rumor that Jonathan Tunick did a lot of the heavy lifting for that show, have no idea the veracity of it). Ballroom has basically one good song: 50 Percent. It's a beloved song. But one song doesn't equal a strong score. And what's the point of reviving a musical with a forgettable score?"

Maybe that's why the Bergmans and Hamlisch had gotten together to revive the musical in 2011-12, before he passed away ? Maybe they intended to drop weaker songs and replace them with new tunes written by these three ?