Trigger Warning or Content Advisory for Hair? Aug 7
2018, 11:26:50 AM
There's also the entire "Be-In/Hare Krishna" sequence... I'm South Asian and Hair is one of my favorite musicals, but I do think that particular sequence (and the general co-option of Eastern religion by the 1960s counterculture, often bastardizing them as excuses to get high) merits discussion. It's an aspect of the hippie culture that has been discussed by a handful of people but as the population of Asians within the U.S. has been growing substantially over the last 50 years, will probably pi
Cultural Appropriation/Whitewashing Jun 17
2018, 01:03:57 PM
BWAY Baby 2, you should probably be aware that the reason people respond negatively to your posts is because you have a habit of extrapolating bizarre conclusions from people's posts, putting words in people's mouths. It is not a nice experience to have your words stretched to the most extreme interpretation, and then have that straw man attacked as if it were actually what you're saying. In logic, this is known as argumentum/reductio ad absurdum. It gets tiring having to clarify one's words whe
Cultural Appropriation/Whitewashing Jun 17
2018, 12:17:49 PM
Dave28282 said: "experienced it" is not right for acting, so let's not go down that road. I understand that if the story asks for it, like Dreamgirls, you have to cast authentically, but the Wiz has neutral characters, and a production of the Wiz in 2018 is not the same as a producton of the Wiz in the 70's. I would assume people in the theatre world would embrace diversity now instead of staying in the exclusionvictim role of the 70's. That's not progress."
Cultural Appropriation/Whitewashing Jun 16
2018, 02:14:47 PM
While I agree that white people in The Wiz is generally a bad idea, I don't think this qualifies as cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation refers to cases in which people from a dominant culture adopt elements of a minority culture (for example, the Redskins football team mascot is an example of cultural appropriation) without permission from or respect for members of the originating group. In this case, the rights to perform this show are (presumably) paid for, and permission has been g
Tommy Tune May 27
2018, 05:25:30 PM
I would imagine the fact that he is 79 years old would factor into it.
Regarding how NBC would get the authors’ permission to censor the show: HAIR has been in constant flux since it premiered off-Broadway. I have seen legally-produced version that completely bastardize the show (like setting it during the 2000s War in Iraq, or in a mental asylum).
We already have a PG version of the show — the 1979 movie. I’m guessing this will be heavily based on the film version, with some stuff from the stage version. It will suck.
Patricia Morison, Original Kiss Me, Kate Star, Dies at 103 May 20
2018, 07:09:25 PM
I had no idea she was still alive. If anyone deserves the honor, it's her. She's one of the last remaining stars of that era of Broadway history. How many people alive today can say they worked directly with Cole Porter, Al Jolson, Alfred Drake, Yul Bryner in the original production of King and I, et al.?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwZedMIcJvk
What's wrong with Broadway? May 13
2018, 01:21:39 PM
Dave28282 said: "MrsSallyAdams said: "I'd be interested to learn how folks on this board feel about contemporary opera. It seems to hold a place in the discussions here of legit singing, revival vs. new work, and fading audiences.
I'd avoided opera in the past due to the emphasis on sound over story telling. I want to be told a good story and to connect to a protagonist. If the opera is in English I want to understand the text without reading the super
Teachout cites Hair as the last time a Broadway showtune charted, while ignoring that the media landscape around Broadway has changed drastically over the last half-century. I don't think there is any reason inherent in the music why a song from any number of recent musicals couldn't chart if given the chance and the right arrangement/performer. However, commercial radio has become largely consolidated into the hands of a small group of corporati
...JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR LIVE Discussion Thread Apr 1
2018, 09:36:41 PM
I didn’t think John’s “Gethsemane” was that bad either. It was just the “Just watch me die” he botched, but everything elss was good. I’d rather he just have not attempted the falsetto and just sung it down in his chest register, though.
sbflyfan said: "Must the audience scream after every other line?"
Yeah, I like the staging and performances so far, but they’re getting swallowed up by the audience reaction. They need to tone it down a notch. It’s killing all the dramatic tension.
nealb1 said: "Basically anyone who’s ever played Elder Price in BoM would be fine for Cornelius honestly.
Oy............hate it when the word basically is thrown into a sentence for no reason at all - it's a "filler" word - just like the word like and the word honestly. Which is also part of that sentence.
Here's what it should say.............Anyone who's ever played Elder Price in BoM would be fine for Cornelius."
Basically anyone who’s ever played Elder Price in BoM would be fine for Cornelius honestly.
I had a dream that Toni Collette took over the role of Dolly. The more I think about it, the more I like it. But I don’t know if she would do Broadway now that she has a production company, much less as a replacement.
I know her performance in the actual show wasn’t great, but this studio performance by Linda Lavin of “Some People” from GYPSY really stands out to me as masterfully “lived in”:
Sara Bareilles to Play Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar Live! in Concert Jan 7
2018, 09:00:06 PM
Oh, interesting. A static concert staging seems a bit underwhelming compared to the more dynamic way they’ve been doing these live events. It seems like they are sinking most of the money into putting together the cast and keeping the production budget as low as possible. I guess that’s preferable to an expensive production with a cast with no star power.
I'm imagining something closer to Tyler Perry's Passion from 2016. That was semi-staged. Modern dress, multiple outdoor locations throughout Brooklyn, audiences at each location, some scenes (Hosanna? Simon Zealotes?) filmed on the street with audience participation, etc.
^I personally liked the revision of the Chinese caroler joke. I thought the Schwartz family being at the restaurant was fine. I mean, there’s nothing inherently demeaning or insulting about going to a Chinese restaurant and the movies on Christmas, whereas making fun of a person’s accent because the phonemes are interchangeable in their native language is insulting.
