Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
I do think Timbers is an odd choice. I'm sure he'll put a modern spin on it and use his signature design style of neon lights and whatnot. And I'm sure he'll have a moment at the end where the set is rearranged and we're all standing in some weird place (Rocky, Here Lies Love). He's not bad, but I do find that the performances in his shows seem to be lacking. I don't think he's an actor's director, so I wonder if he'll be so good at a comedy. I think Sher would be a better choice. I just enjoy what he brings out in his shows.
It wouldn't be as big a hit here. It would be seen as an old-timey British musical. That would a hard sell, much more difficult than when Robert Lindsay did it. That was a different time.
We had a production of Forum in Melbourne in 2012 starring Geoffrey Rush as Pseudolus (with a mix of stunt casting and top notch theatre performers). It was a fairly short run (intentionally so) but very well received. If you didn't know it, you wouldn't realise it was a 50 year old show. Yes, it was a bit sexist, but that sexism went both ways so I don't think anybody was particularly offended.
Sondheim actually came out during the run and I remember there was talk then that they were looking at the Melbourne production to see if it might be worth doing a Broadway run. Nice to see that it's happening!
So we've seen three different bids at a revival (Geoffrey Rush, the all-male Roundabout, and James Corden). Safe bet a Forum revival will happen in the next three to five years, maybe longer if there's trouble raising money. The question is which.
Not always a guarantee. The Weisslers and the Frankel/Baruch/Viertel/Routh Group were vying for Hair with their own bids on the 2001 Encores! version, but it was the Public Theatre's Diane Paulus production that wound up winning out of the three eight years later.
Stephanie Styles mentioned on Live at Five the other week that she was cast as Philia (with Sondheim's approval) in this revival before Corden got The Late Show. Was there anyone else confirmed for this?