do you think long running shows need to do what les mis did?

as in completely change the company just to make it fresh again? didn't it work for the show and make more people want to see the new cast and what not? i don't know... it's late in the evening/early morning and i just wanted to start a new topic...

The long-running shows definitely need some attention. When I saw Rent last summer, it was not the same show. So many liberties were taken in characterization and several cast members simply phoned it in. I felt sorry for people who paid full price. I loved the show in 1996, but I could see how anyone seeing it for the first time would be severely disappointed.

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It does amaze me that long running shows are allowed to become so lacklustre without any kind of intervention. Why is nothing done about it, seemingly ever?

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I saw a matinee of Fose's DANCIN' well into its run, and some of the dancers were talking to each other during the routines! I was appalled. I nearly went to the stage door and did the "I've come from the other side of the world to see this show" bit, but as I was leaving the theatre a friend intercepted me who had just seen the matinee of the long running THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG and he said "I've just seen Tony Roberts walk through the most disgusting performance..."

Bennett was notorious for frequently dropping in on his shows unannounced to check up on things from the back of the house. Several original ACL members have talked about the paranoia he instilled in them, that if they didn't give 100% every second they were on that stage he might come back and scream at them or fire them on the spot.

With Dreamgirls he was there weekly for the first two years of the run and he never stopped tinkering with it, especially the Act II opening. I saw the show on Broadway five or six times and I don't think I ever saw the same Act II opening twice -- he was NEVER satisfied with it. After the show had run in New York for a year, collected six Tonys and was a huge hit, he decided to fine tune and restage much of the show for the LA company (he later incorporated the LA changes into the Broadway production). He also personally staged a slimmer, simplified version of the show for the touring company (which is still the standard version of the show to this day). Long running Bennett shows never got a chance to get "tired" while he was still alive.

Fosse was also known for dropping by and cracking the whip occasionally at his shows. One night, late in the original run of "Sweet Charity," he stopped by and was horrified to see the lead dancer in "Rich Man's Frug" actually smiling during the number (all the dancers in that number are supposed have an air of haughty sophistication -- they would NEVER to smile). Fosse headed backstage after the number was over and apparently chewed her out in front of the company.

The great auteur director/choreographers -- Robbins, Fosse, Bennett, Champion -- were all benevolent dictators to one extent or another and so struck fear into the hearts of the performers who worked for them that it didn't take much for them to immediately get any long-running show of theirs back to "opening night" energy. Few, if any, contemporary directors command that kind of respect.

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Updated On: 2/22/05 at 11:38 AM

I don't know if cavalier is quite the right word. I think it's a mixture of fear and boredom. Once they have a job on Broadway, they're loath to let it go because who knows when the next one will come along, but doing the same thing 8 times a week obviously bores after a while and that starts to show. If it were me, I would actively go and find another job rather than coasting in one that bored me to tears.

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Margo and Rath, speaking of the amazing Michael Bennett, isn't it time for a show ala Fosse and Jerome Robbins Broadway called

MICHAEL BENNETT'S MUSICALS ?

p.s..while I knew Mr. Bennett briefly and many he worked with and for and who worked for him and am aware of his temperment, which heavens knows was nothng compared to the wrath of Robbins,
MIchael Bennett was indeed mortified by a New York times article which appeared about two months after ACL transferred to Broadway. The article was one hundred percent about CHICAGO seeming brand new and performances of ACL already not seeming like Saturday night performances. Those of us close to ACL were particulary mortified by this piece of journalism.

I do suspect that after that story appeared, it would be rare indeed for a performer in ACL during Bennett's lifetime to give less then at least close to 100% at every performance.

However, Michael Bennett didn't ever need to scold or berate to "get stuff" outta his cast. EVEryone that worked with Michael Bennett "fell in love" with him to some degree or at least "came under his spell." The cast of ACL simply had to be told that Michael was going to be in the house that night and you could almost feel and hear the adrenaline of the cast bubble over.

That is why, as has been written in books about Michael, that during certain times when Bennett indeed was not there, someone on the backstage staff would literally spray Michael's cologne that he always wore (I believe it was Polo by Lauren) on the stage right before places were called. Thus, apparently, or at least the management hoped, the cast had the impression that Michael was "in the house" and immediately had the adreneline rush and desire "to give" for Michael another opening night performance.

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Updated On: 2/22/05 at 01:36 PM

I hate to admit this cause it is probably unfair, but after visiting Broadway two years ago I made a decision to only see shows that had been running under two years. It was the final straw after seeing too many lackluster performances of long running shows.

For the most part I feel that long running shows run the risk of being poorly cast and being lazily acted (the whole going through the motions cause the spotlight is now off the show thing). The shows I saw just lacked the energy and excitment you want when you pay $100 to see a Broadway show.

Whoever is to blame it is sad to see a show fall to this fate. As much as I hate to admit it... I feel RENT has made a major decline since the OBC, but there are many other shows that I could also name. It's just sad to see.

Updated On: 2/22/05 at 01:51 PM

Justice, I know what you are talking about. One of the times I saw Les Miz on Broadway, Eponine screamed her way through "On My Own". It's ok for Eponine to belt, but there should be some nuance to the song. "On My Own" is not "Rose's Turn".

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If a show is getting sloppy and lazy, someone should DEFINITELY take the time to make this known and work on what's wrong.

And if an actor is getting bored with their show, LEAVE THE SHOW.

This is precisely what Kerry Butler did in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. After playing Belle for so long, she started to run through her grocery list in her head onstage and she began to forget her lines. Her Gaston, played by Marc Kudisch, would love to leave her hanging onstage and not help her along when she would forget her lines. She knew that it was definitely time to leave, even though she didn't have a job lined up ahead.

Don't force an audience to sit through your half-assed, lackluster performance. If you're not giving 110% EVERY night, don't do it. I don't care if you're tired from doing eight shows a week; what did you expect when you decided to become a Broadway actor? Suck it up, find the energy and give an exceptional performance.

And if you REALLY can't suck it up and do it on a particular night, that's what your understudy is there for.

Updated On: 2/22/05 at 03:33 PM

I have seen many performances that fit the exact description that Joshua offered.

Is that applause for me? Is it sarcastic?

You like me! You really like me!