Wonderful Town - Will it Close ?- Page 2

[dancinfan]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 8:48pm

I have my little birdies!
Check out the Playbill Online article announcment.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 8:53pm

Golly gee! Corine has had a star-studded childhood! She used to play with Josh Mostel in the hallway of their apartment building and now we learn that Brooke Shields was in her junior high homeroom. Aren't we all impressed?

How old is Brooke Shields? 40? How old does that make our beloved Corine?

Updated On: 9/7/04 at 08:53 PM

[musicgal04]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 11:39pm

Just got back from my seventh time seeing Wonderful Town. Donna was out, Linda was in, and Nancy Anderson was on. Talked to Gregg Edelman (one of the few cast members actually on tonight) and asked him when he thought the show would close. He seem optimistic about Brooke Sheilds, but has no idea about anything else. He will be out for two weeks though to do Opening Doors. This show is just up in the air, but as much as I love it, I think its time for it to go. Its just sad seeing how empty the house is. I guess we just wait and see.

[cmleidi]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 12:52am

Donna Murphy is still out? Didn't she miss all of last week? Is she gone for good as well? I thought I might catch her the Friday before her last performance, but this doesn't leave me optimistic.

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:10am

Here I go again... about the box office at WT!!! On Tuesday afternoon, at 4:30pm I bought 2 tickets for a client who was interested in seeing the show with Donna Murphy. I asked the box office person if Donna was in the show and was absolutely assured that Donna was going to be in the show. I asked twice. The box office person reassured me twice. At 7pm, I received a call from a very disappointed client who showed up at the theater and discovered a big sign on the door saying that Donna was out. Yikes!!! I have egg all over my face... But nobody seems to "know" why Donna is still out, ill or out for good? I think she is a great artist and a very nice person and nothing will change my mind about that.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:17am

Interesting:
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/28108.htm

[cmleidi]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:53am

A shame that the only time the show gets press is the absence of its leading lady(and, in this case, her costar.) Could Donna Murphy really be reported for her performances? What exactly would happen?If Reidel's numbers are right, she's missed nearly 20 percent of the performances.

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 3:01am

Interesting article by Mr. Ridel. I think he's accurate about the low morale of the remaining cast. Last week, I noticed that most of the dancers stopped smiling in the second act, towards the end. Some of them were even frowning. And a few actors/dancers are now covering 2-3 different parts and they scrambled from one scene to another, changing costumes. Also, when I saw the show recently there were fewer "villagers" in the first scene. Joyce Chittick (sp?) covered Violet in the first act, but didn't show up at all in the second act. With so much instability, maybe they should consider closing the show... it's very sad to watch it fall apart when it was so joyous when it first started!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:23am

Huh? She's on vocal rest? After playing a role written for a non-singer, Roz Russell? (Who never missed, went on with flu...) How about showing up and simply doing your best? Talk-sing it, Donna, turn up your mic, get over yourself. She should get her butt over to the Imperial and watch Jackman -- he of the perfect attendance -- tackle 20 out of 27 songs. Anyone who misses 60 performances in 9 months has issues other than voice and resting. Perhaps involving a lack of discipline and lack of interest in owning what it means to be an above-the-title star. This show was built around the Murphy performance, because Brantley annointed her post-Encores as the torch-bearer for musical comedy divas--the gal who was to carry the great tradition forward. Her failure to carry that torch 8 times a week makes HER look like the indifferent tv star who popped in and found Broadway too demanding. If she had health problems, she should've taken 6 weeks off, let them put in someone else, and then returned. If she's that put off or bored, let her get the sitcom she craves, and leave the musical theater behind her.

Updated On: 9/8/04 at 09:23 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 12:19pm

bronx - "Of course SHWUNDERFUL TOWN will close. It sucks. I havn't seen it. I just think it sucks. lol"

Too much of that complicated "talk-singing"? Is Berstein too intellectual? It's old-school musical comedy. How much more song-and-dancy can you get? It won the Tony and Pulitzer. And most importantly, how do you know it sucks if you haven't seen it? What are you, 12?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 12:22pm

Pulitzer?

[Corine2]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 12:33pm

I have seen Wonderful Town three times. It is more then Wonderful! Go and see it. It is a gorgeous score.
I loved everything about it.
Please stop starting nasty rumors. It is a great evening at the theater.
I am sick of Riedel bashing Donna Murphy!
Riedel should give it a rest.
Oh, and DP I AM 104! Updated On: 9/8/04 at 12:33 PM

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:23pm

Sorry, Corine. I adore this show and certainly didn't intend to start any nasty rumors. I thought I was careful to speak only from my own experience, not rumors. Nothing would discourage me to see it again. I saw it 7 times with Donna as well as with Linda. Both are terrific! I wish them every success from the bottom of my heart!

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:51pm

It is NOT the Macy's Day Parade...you moron. It is called the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Americans need to start getting their damned priorities straight. Is it a day to shop or to be thankful for the many gifts that God and nature have bestowed upon us? I ask you!

[Corine2]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:03pm

Theater and Broadway are gifts from above!

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:07pm

hey, mr. matt, that outerboroughboundlocal person will always say a show sucks, especially if she hasn't seen it...

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:16pm

I for one have had enough of the bitchiness about this whole thing- especially Ridel's. It's as if he has a personal thing against Donna Murphy- he can't stop harping on this subject.

THE WOMAN HAS HEALTH PROBLEMS. It must be something serious or else she wouldn't miss so many shows - she is much too professional for that. Give her a break. She definitely gives her ALL when she is out on that stage- halfa**ing it would be beneath her, and us, too. I can't believe you even suggested it.

P.S. Spiritoflaw I like your icon. Where did you find that picture?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:54pm

I thought it won the Pulitzer. Didn't it? Maybe I'm wrong.

Still doesn't suck.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 3:03pm

The Pulitzer-winning musicals:

Of Thee I Sing
South Pacific
Fiorello
How To Succeed
A Chorus Line
Sunday In The Park WIth George
Rent

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 3:10pm

Margo, your knowledge is awesome! I didn't know Broadway musicals can win the Pulitzer! Does this happen every year?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 3:13pm

The Pultizer Prize for Drama has been awarded since 1917 -- it's only gone to a musical those seven times.

Updated On: 9/8/04 at 03:13 PM

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 6:08pm

Wow! I just learned something l didn't know before and I'm grateful. Also, not surprised that Sunday in the Park with George is among the winners. In my opinion, West Side Story should have won too. I assume the Pulitzer is more prestigious than the Tony, is that correct?

[musicgal04]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:02pm

Watching the show last night, it was obivious that it was rough for the cast, due to the amount of understudies and spirtoflaw said, ensemble members were scrambling to cover parts. It was an interesting show for me to watch having seen it seven times, but for the average audience member, they seemed to love it. Many didn't seem to care about all the understudies, I even overheard one say that this was a show that probabaly had strong understudies for their leads and that they were really enjoying their performances. But as I have said before, it is time for the show to go.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:03pm

THE WOMAN HAS HEALTH PROBLEMS. It must be something serious or else she wouldn't miss so many shows - she is much too professional for that. Give her a break. She definitely gives her ALL when she is out on that stage- halfa**ing it would be beneath her, and us, too. I can't believe you even suggested it.

Auggie is right, though: if Donna Murphy has health problems, she should take a set time off, rather than perform once in awhile, depending on how she feels. Right now, what she is doing is unprofessional, because many people are expecting her to perform, especially because she is an above-the-title star. If she announced a two month break for herself, or backed out of the production altogether, that is much better, both for her career and for audience's expectations, than th "will Donna show up tonight?" situation we have now.

In my opinion, West Side Story should have won too. I assume the Pulitzer is more prestigious than the Tony, is that correct?

Yes, the Pulitzer is a very prestigious prize, but it's not a set of prizes for drama or even specifically excellence in drama. Rather (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), the Pulitzer is awarded to work of high calibre that somehow makes a statement about the socio-political-artistic climate, or the human condition in general. There are Pulitzers for journalism, fiction, and others as well. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama isn't some sort of higher Tony. Thus, I don't think West Side Story would have been eligible, because it's pretty much just a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, with some basic themes about the racial divide.

Updated On: 9/8/04 at 09:03 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:45pm

The Pulitizers were created to honor outstanding original work by an American, preferably about an American subject -- in journalism, history, fiction, poetry, etc... However, the Pulitzer for drama has a very checkered history, with several notable gaffes over the years (Harvey won over Glass Menagerie; no award was given the year of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" -- some jurors found the language "offensive").

The Pulitzers' reputation lies chiefly with its journalism prizes (which are still highly valued) -- the drama award is seen as prestigious to the general public mostly because the "name" somehow has come to be synonymous with some sort of excellence -- the problem is that that excellence has had much more to do with the journalism prizes and not the drama and poetry awards which have often completely missed the boat (but the public doesn't know this). Nevertheless, I suppose it helps the playwright's reputation and perhaps give a slight nudge to the box office if the play is still running (and ensures that the play will be done around the country and beyond in rep for the next generation), but most who really follow theatre don't give it a lot of respect because they have gotten it so wrong so often through years.

The NY Drama Citics Circle Awards, the Drama Desks and the Obies are generally considered to have had the best track records throughout the years at selecting the outstanding plays and musicals for each given season.

The Tonys are administered by the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Producers -- i.e. all the big Broadway producers and theatre owners ..... basically a club of rich guys who decided in 1947 to come up with a bunch of awards that they could give to themselves. For years, no one took them all that seriously. The Tonys really only became the biggest theatre awards when they started televising them nationally in 1967 -- before that they were a just a little annual banquet held at a local hotel ballroom, televised on local NY television, lasting an hour or so most years, with no production numbers or performances by current (or former) Broadway stars, and certainly no long-winded acceptance speeches -- they just weren't a big enough deal for anybody to get too emotional about, thanking agents, voice coaches etc..... But once the producers got the bright idea to sell it to CBS, everything changed and the Tonys became THE awards for the American theatre. Were they/are they about excellence??? Yeah right........

Updated On: 9/8/04 at 09:45 PM