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!
We also have on the record statements from the likes of Anthony Hopkins about a director not knowing how to direct actors. And yes actors win nominations for there acting which is directed.
I adore Marian! Had the pleasure of working with her on Three Tall Woman (have a wonderful post card she sent me from the road on that show somewhere in storage). Also worked with her on The Play About the Baby. The last time I saw her was at the opening night reception of the Irish Rep's The Emperor Jones. She came over and gave me a huge hug and a kiss and said, "I only wish Mr O'Neil were still here to see how you realized his text!". She was just beginning to get il
I worked on Muppets Take Manhattan and it was indeed a set in Kaufman. Made all the singing wedding cakes amongst many other varied things. I think after the sucess of Muppets Live at the hollywood Bowl, Disney discovered that the old formula for the Muppets are what people craved. I wouldn'i be suprised of a show very much like that one with perhaps rotating guest performers. That is if Disney is SMART and doesn't try to infused weird Office like backstories to these well loved chara
I have worked with and directed Bunraku style puppets (I have as stated before worked with Julie on many productions). The performers in black does work very well when the are performing a character well. The same way people follow the Avenue Q puppets with the performer visible. It is not a convention you have to be see 9or in this case, not see). It just happens. Sometimes it doesn't work. It depends on what it is used for. If it is to move flats, it has to be done gracefully, hopefully
Ripped, I have always found Lion king to be very schizophrenic. On one hand it tells a Disney story and it is then laced with Taymor art installations and stage pictures. Yes, it is still raking it in. Good for Disney, Good for Taymor. Personally I found it, after the first 10 minutes and a couple of scenes throughout, to be quite boring. I might be alone in this. I found her earlier off-Broadway work much more appealing.
Having worked with Taymor in the past, she is not an actor's directer. Even Anthony Hopkins publicly blasted her for that. She sees a production as almost non-sequitur visual vignettes. Story telling and character driven work is not her forte. She likes to hold things at a dstance and admire them. Anything with feelings and human interaction she tends to not be interested in.