DoTheDood said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Though I suppose you could argue "Falsettoland" is a good sequel, wven though now it's just Act 2."
Wouldn't March of the Falsettos be the sequel, and Falsettoland be the third in the trilogy, counting In Trousers as the first? There is an argument there at the sequel is even better than the original as a lot more people know March of the Falsettos than In Trousers.
CATSNYrevival said: "The Wizard of Oz would be wonderful. If they could stick to the script and just stage the RSC version as written it could be a lot of fun. So far the ones that were heavily revised like Peter Pan and The Wiz were less successful for me.The stage version is nice because we get some more songs in the last third of the show that were all cut from the movie.I'd love a filmed version of Oz with "The Jitterbug" and Dorothy's "Over the Rainbow&quo
blaxx said: "That Wicked song that starts as if the witches are going to come out as lesbians but in reality they just needed a long song to express their dislike for each other.
I's called I hate you witch, or whatever."
it's called "Loathing" and it may be the most brilliant use of musical comedy in the entire score, because it plays against our expectations and sings about the exhilaration of hatred rather than making it all doom and g
I'd play any role in LI'L ABNER, but particularly Marryin' Sam. I don't know of any other show that aims to be both hilarious yet also heart-felt. (No, I am not an actor/singer, nor am I remotely right for the part of Sam.)
^^^^^ You were young back then. Now you're old enough to know the phrase you want is "sing the role as well as". (Emphasis added.)
While we're singing the praises of the two hit songs--"As If We Never Said Goodbye" and "With One Look"--we should remember the lyrics (which I personally think are terrible) were written by a young lady. ALW later bought out her interest in the show for a flat fee, allowing him to credit the entir
Since FUNNY GIRL was originally written with Mary Martin in mind, the fact that Nancy Walker and Carol Burnett were ever in contention suggests the show was originally intended to emphasize Brice as a comic.
The end result--a little comedy and a lot of ballads--suggests just how much the final show was tailored to Streisand's abilities (and rightfully so). But the fact that they replaced Streisand, when her contract was up, with the brilliant comic and fabulous singer,&n
I don't know which is the "official" in memoriam thread, so here's what I posted in the other one:
As I said in another thread awhile ago, Miss Harper was one of the nicest celebrities I have ever met. I was in high school, with a night job ushering at the local theater; she was at the height of her fame, having just left TMTM SHOW and begun her own spinoff, RHODA, but was touring with Paul Sills' STORY THEATRE out of loyalty to the company where she began her
As I said in another thread awhile ago, Miss Harper was one of the nicest celebrities I have ever met. I was in high school, with a night job ushering at the local theater; she was at the height of her fame, having just left TMTM SHOW and begun her own spinoff, RHODA, but was touring with Paul Sills' STORY THEATRE out of loyalty to the company where she began her professional career.
I was also on the staff of my high school newspaper, and Harper and her then-husband, Richard S
I'm just listening to it now and I think it's a recording I will come to like very much.
But my first reaction is that all the medleys are very distancing (and not in the good, Brechtian way): I'm too busy thinking, "What's that song? Where do I know it from? Are those the original lyrics or new ones?" to maintain any emotional evolvement in the show.
As a recording, however, very much worth the $11.99.
"...most people don't reply to these..." because (a) choosing a song is a very personal thing and nearly impossible to do for someone you don't know; and (b) you are better off singing something you know well instead of grabbing for something new in an attempt to second-guess what "they" want. (Tip: they usually don't know.)
That being said:
If you want to avoid Cole Porter (and there are arguments pro and con for that), doing something from
Broadway Bob* said: "It might seem cliché', but the first time the mansion silently floated from the rafters onto the Minskoff stage in SUNSET BLVD. was breathtaking and awe inspiring. That anything that huge could move so swiftly and quietly left me speechless."
Yeah? And the fact that "heavy" marble and terrazzo floated silently made you think/feel what, exactly?
That and the scene change where the Phantom and Christine
When my Swedish Methodist (now) husband and my Anglo-Scottish evangelical self first saw MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS in the early 1980s, we were blown away by the experience of seeing our own lives portrayed overtly--not in code--on the musical stage. (My husband had been married and we had two kids from that marriage, including a son about the same age as Jason.)
It never crossed our minds to think "these characters are not like us" because they are Jewish.
Well, Finn did choose to open the show with "Four Jews in a Room Bitching", so who, exactly, is trading in negative Jewish stereotypes? (For the record, I love the opening and the show is my second favorite of all time, after FOLLIES. And, yes, I am a white, anglo-gaelic, Protestant as far back as we have records (16th century)).
Judaism cannot fairly be compared to Christian denominations for historical reasons, no more than white can be compared to black. But I re
Someone in a Tree2 said: "The whole original cast of AINT MISBEHAVIN’ (no G) was electric onstage! So simple in retrospect— five livewire performers, a hot onstage band and pure magic happened every night. This was the original jukebox musical compared to which all others fall very short. One of the greats that made the 70’s perhaps the greatest decade of musicals in history."
I so often agree with you, Someone, and this is no exception. I saw A
HogansHero said: "Yes of course, but what seems to escape some in this thread is that sometimes that choice is simply to cast the actor who you think will give the most thrilling performance, without loading it with subtext."
But that's really not good enough reason if you end up reinforcing racial biases in your audience. If you want to cast a black actor as Billy just because he's the best Billy you can find, go for it! But then recognize the problem in Bil
HogansHero said: "A Director said: "Oh dear! The phrase "color-blind" is so last century. Today, the preferred phrase in non-traditionalcasting. Color-blind casting implies you don't see the person as a person."
You are confounding two separate things, and "color blind" is neither dated nor disrespectful. (In fact, I would suggest it elevatesthe person qua person, rather than defining them in terms of their race, which is
Someone in a Tree2 said: "The above comment just reinforces Ol Blue Eyes’ thesis: most of those playwright’s works feature casts where African Americans are in the majority. Had they cast CAROUSEL with a chiefly African American cast, Billy Bigelow’s color would have ceased to be an issue, and the depiction of that character with all his flaws would have had nothing to do with race."
Thank you. I thought I had said the same, but appare
