I was not a great fan of OKLAHOMA!, and maybe because of that, my hope on this production is that he casts singers that can really do justice to this score. It's basically an opera and we don't need poorly sung, folk rendition of it. The last Broadway revival did the piece with two pianos which was for my money unsatisfying musically, though it was one of the first 'stripped down' revivals that critics felt made the musical more accessible.
Surely Mary Test
First Look At Meryl Streep & James Corden in The Prom Movie Dec 16
2019, 01:19:45 PM
And before we even go there, let’s remember that Donna Murphy has publicly denied that she did any dubbing for Meryl Streep in the Into the Woods film.
I mean I'm sure most everyone would really love if Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell would play the roles on stage for a few weeks. They don't look any older than the actresses who are routinely being cast in the roles in the states and internationally.
WEST SIDE STORY (2019 Revival) Preview Thread Dec 11
2019, 02:51:05 PM
Since when has West Side Story not been bleak? Since when has there not been a scene where Anita has been assaulted? Since when has the script not been a male driven story?
I hate to say this but Anita also usually stands out because, on stage, more often than not, the actors playing Tony and Maria lack charisma and chemistry. That was certainly true of the last Broadway revival.
Fish cut almost all the choreography out of Oklahoma along with all the music that went with it. And Agnes DeMille’s contribution to that show was right up there with Jerome Robbins’s on West Side Story. To say Fish didn’t cut anything is to miss the point completely. Yes he did. He cut a lot.
I think the gossip column bate is likely far-fetched. I find it hard to believe after months of development and workshops and rehearsals, Scott Rudin is simply going to dump Ivo Van Hove's concept and his team and reinstate the Jerome Robbins vision for the work before there has even been one preview. At least I hope its far fetched. I was looking forward to seeing new and different.
And I agree about OKLAHOMA. Daniel Fish's OKLAHOMA had years of development an
West Side Story revival? Dec 7
2019, 10:00:12 AM
Cast members have been reporting that Stephen Sondheim has regularly been attending rehearsals for this production of West Side Story. I doubt the final product- even with the cuts- is going to be as bizarre or unorthodox as some of the posters here are fetishizing...
I haven't seen this production, and I agree with Brantley as often as I disagree with him, but I do think he often is searching for relevancy in his reviews. I really do think it would be wise for The New York Times to begin phasing him out. He's been the chief critic there for almost 25 years, and that in my opinion is too long for anyone to hold that kind of post and be consistently excellent and insightful.
Long preview period are about one thing: raising money. A production legally can raise money until opening night. Most shows raise a substantial amount of their capitalization during previews. If a show makes artistic changes that better the production in that window too, that's great, but its not usually the reason a show like WEST SIDE STORY will have 6 weeks or more of previews.
The New York Times review of EVITA at City Center had a lot of qualms with the production, so that alone would give any producer pause about attempting to transfer it.
Before he died, Hal Prince was helpful of bringing his (magnificent) original staging of EVITA back to New York City. I hope that still happens.
Well, no, as the show is currently written at least, it has to be set in the 1970s or many of the characters (from the actual era of the Ziegfeld Follies) would be dead and certain plot points regarding time wouldn't be applicable. I don't particularly have a problem with actors in their 60s playing the four leads, but it would still expressly be that they are playing characters in their 50s. That's again just as the show is written and it would be very hard to change that.
Just wanted to note for posterity that many of the people involved with the producing of the planned FOLLIES film (BBC films) were also involved with the film JUDY and I would be quite surprised if Renee Zelwegger isn't being considered for Sally. As far as film is concerned, she is pretty ideal casting (and remember even if they cast Renee Fleming, they would likely lower the keys for the songs to make them more conversational - this is the truth with almost every movie musical).
To echo what Bettyboy says, one of the reasons why Grimes was so wonderful (and ideal) for the role of Dorothy Brock was that she recalled the actual stars of 1920s -1930s Broadway musicals - performers like Gertrude Lawrence, Bea Lillie and Billie Burke, none of whom were great singers but all of whom had a glamour and a star 'quality' that made them appealing in the time. I suppose, on some meta-level, you could say that Brock represents a brand of entertainer that by the mid
I saw Tammy Grimes in 42ND STREET and was she magical. It's true she had an unusual singing voice but it was completely unique and she had real star quality -- there was a strange glamour to her and unlike anyone else I've ever seen play the part she was very, very funny.
Don't ever underestimate the qualities of the original cast of a hit Broadway musical. They usually play a strong part in what made the original production appealing.
Actually, Ravenclaw this has nothing to do with perspective. It has to do with accountability and integrity. People all the time own up to their mistakes or their contribution to the problem and the public usually finds it refreshing because it's honest. Never has LuPone said, 'you know what, he or she was right and I was wrong.' Never. With her its always that she was bullied - by the cast, by the composer, by the audience - and on it goes. And as s
Regarding Hal Prince. If you've never seen this documentary from 1978, filmed when Prince was rehearsing EVITA in London and preparing SWEENEY TODD for Broadway, I highly recommend it. I also think it gives a pretty insightful perspective on his manner in the rehearsal room.
I leave it then to you to decide if Mr. Prince was a bully or if perhaps LuPone was / is neurotic, insecure and continually looking for new stories that paint her as a victim and keep her in the spot
I don't see how Hal Prince telling the Broadway company that the Los Angeles company is better is abuse in any way or even a show of ego. Clearly it was intended to motivate the NY company to clean up their act. and perform the show better. There were a also lot of issues on Broadway in the 1980s with drug abuse etc. There have been others on these boards who have posted those stories. but suffice to say that Prince wasn't the only director who had to be called b
