I think her last stage appearance in NYC was in Encores' 70, GIRLS, 70, in which, IIRC, the NYT gave her a lovely review. She had also done the show previously in another role at the York. Nice, talented lady. She was terrific in the old TV series CAR 54. WHERE ARE YOU? She played Sylvia Schnauser, Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis' wife.
The musical is very loosely based on MEASURE FOR MEASURE, and is not nearly as interesting as the Shakespeare play. If you're in the mood for silliness and not in the mood for subtlety, you'd probably like it.
I was also at Saturday night's performance. The audience was whooping it up, applauding, and cheering from the very beginning. I just took that as a sign that the house was heavily comped with friends of the production. Very campy show. Probably not for the Disney crowd, although it has princesses and talking sheep. I found it inane.
FWIW, the Hungarian State Opera is set to make its US debut later this year at Lincoln Center. It will be performing the Janos Vajda opera "Mario and the Magician." The opera is, of course, based on Thomas Mann's great 1929 anti-fascism novella. Sounds like this is an opera company trying to fight the good fight.
Left at intermission. Had liked the Encores production a lot, even the silly "When I'm Being Born Again." Skipped the Connick revisal because it sounded so wrongheaded: this show was always meant as a star vehicle for a singing actress with great comic timing. And what great songs, even the minor ones.
While I've enjoyed the leads in the Irish Rep production in other shows, they are simply too old for their roles here. And were it not
Saw it Saturday night rear orchestra (where seats are $54). That McKechnie was out may have colored somewhat my opinion of the show. (The understudy was underwhelming, especially in her big second act dance solo. ) The show is a cross between A CHORUS LINE and 70, GIRLS, 70. Except you find out who makes the line at the start of the show and there's no shoplifting (or deaths). You know as soon as the show begins basically how it's going to end. What
Dollypop said: "My granddaughter was 5 when I took her to her first Broadway show (WEST SIDE STORY). She was thrilled by it and she still listens to the cast recording.
Each child is different."
No, the difference is that your granddaughter was seeing West Side Story. These toddlers are seeing Frozen.
My understanding is that the church doesn't want to sell the Hellinger. I mean, where would it move to? Saint Patrick's? There are likely a lot of potential buyers out there for the theater (and its air rights).
Apparently the church, at least, is taking good care of the building. Probably better care than when Nederlander owned it. (Of course, the church also is tax exempt.)
The show was a huge cultural phenomenon that resonated with home-front America in the midst of World War II. The story may have been set in turn-of-the century Indian Territory on the verge of statehood, but its subtext was the determination it had taken to tame the frontier — and by implication the courage it would take to defeat fascism in Germany and Japan. When the characters sang the joyous title song, with its proud anticipation of a &
Saw the original Broadway production starring John Wood. Very entertaining, especially if you were an English major. But if you don't know anything about James Joyce or THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, you'll miss a lot of the fun.
My two cents about the ending of MY FAIR LADY. I have not seen the current revival.
MFL is not Shaw's PYGMALION, just as CAROUSEL is not Molnar's LILIOM. (No one talks about resetting CAROUSEL in Budapest or restoring the bleak LILIOM ending.) MFL is Lerner & Loewe, not GBS.
I don't like how the film staged the ending. Harrison's Higgins seems just as smug as in the first scene. And why is Hepburn smiling when he says that last l
The show is not licensed, and the libretto was never published. The show continued to undergo rewrites even during its run. The version being performed through Sunday was cobbled together from something like five versions of the show. Even without the great Michael Kidd's choreography, one wonders while watching the York production why this show did not run longer. Jule Styne was one of Broadway's best composers, and this score is one of his best.
I have my doubts about the ALLEGRO story above. The show was already done by Encores. It was the second show in its first season. Back then these were strictly concert form, using a narrator between numbers. The night I saw it James Hammerstein was the narrator. Another night Sondheim was the narrator. I think it was maybe Celeste Holm's last stage appearance. John Doyle did a reduced version in his first season at CSC. IIRC, Doyle's production wasn
As stated above, Encores did the show a few years ago, with Chuck Cooper in the lead. A few years before that, BBC Radio broadcasted an excellent live performance of the musical. The Broadway revival that flopped at the Imperial starred Brock Peters. A film was later made with Peters, Clifton Davis and Melba Moore for Ely Landau's American Film Theater subscription series. The film was directed by Daniel Mann. I would not recommend the film, though; it is not
I wouldn't count on a new recording. IIRC, the most recent Encores recordings had foundation funding. I doubt that the Fredercik Loewe Foundation, which paid for PAINT YOUR WAGON, would put up the money for another recording of BRIGADOON. The McGlinn recording, which contains more of the score than even the Encores production, is excellent. And the Lehman Engel recording is also very good. Too bad this BRIGADOON wasn't televised. On pape
