goodlead said: "I remember when the weeks before Christmas were dead because everyone was shopping or at parties. But what a change this week's grosses represent."
In the 60s and 70s, Broadway was a ghost town in December for all but Christmas week. The week before Christmas week was as I recall probably the worst week of the year. I can remember once seeing Funny Girl fairly late in its run the week before Christmas in a Majestic Theater orchestr
Good musicals to listen to? Dec 22
2019, 07:49:33 PM
— Chess is my favorite cast recording ever, even though I have never seen a fully satisfactory production — The original cast recording of Hello, Dolly — The King and I, the version with Donna Murphy — South Pacific, the most recent LCT version — 1973 production of Candide — Original production of A Little Night Music — The current production of Oklahoma is the best version I have ever listened to — Mame with Angela Lansbury —.Original cast recordings of Les Mi
I saw a production a few weeks ago at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota. I had to be dragged since I had never seen a good live production. I felt that I had the movie...
The Asolo production was as close as SOM will ever get to a justifiable modernization, I suspect, and I thought it was great. Any scenes with Nazis were just darker and more ominous than I had expected, particularly the scene at the festival. Also, the very end is the only convincing one I hav
CATS Film Adaptation Thread Dec 19
2019, 12:06:57 AM
Worth noting that Variety and Hollywood Reporter both said it was a ‘cat-tastrophe’. Know they went for ‘cute’, but that is incredibly damning. Beyond a bad review. With the Christmas glut, I’m thinking this is going to be a mega-catastrophe at the box-office.
ggersten said: "JSquared2 said: "HAMILTON dropped $290K -- how long until they post a closing notice?"
I have January 5, 2031 in the pool."
Much too soon unless we have a Broadway paradigm shift. That would be a smaller number of performances in total than Wicked has already performed at the Gershwin.
3 Broadway wishes Dec 17
2019, 08:28:27 PM
1. I wish we’d discover a young, i.e., 40ish, Angela Lansbury
2. I wish she’d be in a first class, brilliantly cast revival of Mame while I am still alive to see it
3. I wish we’d get a new brilliant, old-fashioned musical comedy with a big cast, great sets and costumes, a wonderful, hummable score, and a great role for a leading lady. I love a lot of Sondheim, and most of the more serious musicals, but for sheer joy, give me a big old-fashioned musical with a hummable s
benfox2 said: "If I may ask Jarethan, what did you think about the 2013 west end version of merrily? That pro shot is the only version of the show I’ve seen, and I thought it was quite excellent."
I liked it a lot, would probably give it 4* on a London 5* scale. I thought it had too much of the ‘bitch’ character (can’t remember her name) and bogged down a little when she got some focus.
JSquared2 said: "Mike Barrett said: "I'd love for their to be an investor/producer who promises lower prices to make theater more available for others. I know this isn't realistic, I don't work in the business and am not acting like I do, but man I really wish this would happen. So many people my age (22) don't attend or even think to attend theatre because of the prices it takes to go see it. Millennials simply don't have the $$$. I worry about the futur
Favorite Stephen Sondheim Musical... Dec 17
2019, 05:07:12 PM
I would be interested in hearing if people who listed Merrily have actually seen a production or base it on listening to a cast recording. I have only seen 2 productions of it. The first was one of the worst theatrical experiences in my life and one was the excellent, it far from perfect.
I have seen many excellent productions of Company, SITPWG (which I didn’t even like the first time), ALNM, Sweeney Todd, A Funny Thing Happened, only one of Follies (plus a couple of decent ones, a
qolbinau said: "Jarethan said: "qolbinau said: "Not sure how you can like Staunton but not Bernadette. Staunton basically did Bernadette’s performance without having the vocals. Awful. Bernadette’s “In Buddy’s Eyes” is among the best work she has ever done. I admit Staunton might have pulled off Losing My Mind a little. Though the staging for Loveland was awful."
I have loved BP since I saw her in George M, over 50
JBroadway said: "I'm happy to see West Side Story have such a great first week, but I'm skeptical as to whether they'll be able to maintain it.
There's been so much discussion in the theatre community surrounding this show, that I imagine a huge portion of NYC's theatre-going community will be seeing it in these first few weeks, and/or the first few weeks after opening - so they could be some of the first audiences in the room. I know that was my thinki
Re theatre size, I think we don't need any more barns like the Gershwin, Marquis, and New Amsterdam. But I do think that we could use more theatres comparable to the seemingly always in demand Shubert, Imperial, Neil Simon, Hershfeld. I am pretty sure that this is in the 1,300 to 1,500 seat range. I may be in the majority, but I feel that there are a lot of musicals that have taken over theatres that have historically been targeted mostly for plays. (Think CFA, DEH, even
Mike Barrett said: "The biggest ? here is Flying Over Sunset, which I do believe has Best Musical contender written all over it. It should be a fun season to follow!"
I have to admit that this sounds to me like the stupidest idea ever for a musical, which leads me to conclude that it is either going to be incredibly bad or incredibly brilliant. I am hoping for brilliant, as I like all three leads (I saw Carmen Cusack a decade or so ago in
Mercades said: "Sadly , there are several criminal men working on broadway. It’s a fact and very sad."
Hell, there is a criminal in the White House. Not sure the average audience member actually knows or cares, although his behavior was clearly appalling.
Favorite Stephen Sondheim Musical... Dec 14
2019, 12:43:16 AM
GavestonPS said: "Jarethan said: "
Interesting observation re the real issue being financing....
Favorite Stephen Sondheim Musical... Dec 14
2019, 12:39:50 AM
qolbinau said: "Listen to the 2011 recording. The cast are perfect. The National Theatre cast are for the most part boring and tuneless."
Flawed as it was, I think the original cast recording was far superior to the 2011 version (I could not even get through it all), but the the Papermill recording is actually the best. I wish the Encores version had been recorded
Favorite Stephen Sondheim Musical... Dec 14
2019, 12:28:19 AM
qolbinau said: "Not sure how you can like Staunton but not Bernadette. Staunton basically did Bernadette’s performance without having the vocals. Awful. Bernadette’s “In Buddy’s Eyes” is among the best work she has ever done. I admit Staunton might have pulled off Losing My Mind a little. Though the staging for Loveland was awful."
I have loved BP since I saw her in George M, over 50 years ago. I just did not feel that she was good
MemorableUserName said: "Jarethan said: "Burstein is perfection in that role and as close as anyone comes to being the (admittedly sleazy)soulof MR. Headded a dimension that Durant did not (I do not have my Playbill in front of me, but I do believe that was the person who replaced him the last time I saw the show), and audiences will miss out on that extra dimension. "
While I agree Burstein was wonderful, you really shouldcheck your Playbill becaus
benfox2 said: "Of the (limited) Sondheim I've listened to, Sunday is my absolute favorite. Company and Merrily are some of my favorite scores. I'm still taking my time to get through all of his scores and trying not to rush it.
As for the all the people praising Follies, do you have a recommended version to watch? I have the 2017 NT Live version on my computer, but have repeatedly failed to get past the first half hour. On paper I should absolutely adore it, but in
Add me to the list of people who think the preview that I have seen looks incredible. I cant wait to see it and I didn't even love the musical on Broadway. Liked it, didn't love it.
