This show was never meant for broadway. It is way too intimate for even the smaller of Broadway Houses. The Orpheum was perfect for it. Actually, I think the theatre istself gave this show legs... so to speak. Even Julie Taymor herself turned down th show when she was approached and turned it over to Marty Robison. A first rate production in a small, slightly off beat venue will mean years in longevity! Think Blue Man Group or Stomp! not to mention the first version of The Fantastiks!
Never met him but I know he was on the Board of Directors of The Irish rep. My family. He will be missed! How ever, what a ripe old age, what a legacy! We should all be so lucky!
I personally don't know what I feel about this. Like DUMBO (Dumbo, sorry I live in Brooklyn) and Jungle Book, the original films were perfect works of art. They have stood the test of time. Do we need this? Personally I much prefer the 2 D cell animation (which it appears, Disney does not produce anymore). I have always found CGI, no matter how well done, to be a bit distant and cold. Dumbo looked like ****! I am also not a fan of Burton's later work.
Ok, I watched the performance. Her accent was good. If this is causing controversy. what will happen when Speilgberg's remake of West side Story comes out with Rita Moreno playing Pop's role? You think the Jets would hang out in a PR Soda Shop?
Having worked on Next to Normal, Three Tall Women and other shows along that line, it is usually a life casting of the actress's face on a , usually custom built,
dummy. It is cheaper then paying an actress to take on the role.
Or for paying the extra fees to have to make up a swing and have a custom costume made.
Check out Off-Broadway as well. The Irish Rep always presents an intimate and wonderful Christmas show each year. Whether it be A Child's Christmas in Wales or It's a Wonderful Life the Radio Show. I do not know what they are doing this holiday season but ALL of their shows ar top notch. They are currently running On a Clear Day, Soon to be followed by Bill Erwin's Beckett.
I am sure at this point in the game the costume builder's have bolts of customer dyed fabric and construct the unitards according to the actresses measurements. Unitards are not hard to make at all.
I saw Hair 26 times in the recent revival. It has a very strong book! I also found it strangely Patriotic in an unpatriotic protest about an illegal war. I lived during that era and on more then one occasion say the black Continentals pulling up to people's homes on my paper route with Military Officers delivering the sad news to families.
To this day I cannot listen to Flesh Failures/ Let the Sun Shine In, without bursting into tears.
i always go to Gahalage'rs whenever I am in the area. Adore their CHICKEN POT PIE! Plus it has such a wonderful ambiance. Where you sit in a dark booth on the second floor and still get waifs of the lively conversations.
Ben_Platt_Out said: "Scottsboro Boys. I still think about it."
Yeah loved that show. Met John Cullum at the Irish Rep a few years after and he told me the protestors of the show, which caused it to close , were invited to a free performance. They were all moved to tears when they saw how the Black Face and Minstrel aspect was used. Says a lot for knee jerk reactionism!
