This sounds like a major theatrical event that should be getting way more attention. I was I think 15 when I saw the original Broadway production and my main takeaway was that even with millions of dollars, there was no effective way to portray the sinking of the Titanic onstage. I guess they found the solution: don't use a stage!
Seems my comment about the word "trigger" got a lot of responses...I totally understand and respect how people who have had traumatic experiences may want a warning if something like rape, brutal violence, etc. is in the play (or movie, or book, or whatever). However, yes, the phrase "trigger warning" or "triggering" has been both misused and overused so much recently, I'm afraid it might have the effect of alienating or irritating the vast majority of theate
Trigger Warning or Content Advisory for Hair? Aug 6
2018, 12:35:48 AM
Can we just call “trigger warnings” something else? Like “content advisory?” I get that people have triggers but the term “trigger” or “triggering” has gotten overused so much I roll my eyes now whenever I see or hear it.
All Female "1776" Tour Aug 4
2018, 03:04:44 PM
I’m thinking of doing a gender-flexible 1776 at my school, but a purposely all-female one? Why? Just to “stick it to the man?” Are they all the characters lesbians now? This just seems silly.
Apropos of nothing, since Loeffelholz hadn’t performed the role since February, aside from the vacation Mary Sunshine they brought in over the summer, did anyone else play it, or did R. Lowe never call out?
Jeff Loeffelholz suicide news coverage Jul 28
2018, 11:45:37 PM
Leslie Stiffelman is 58...she is probably able retire early due to her success...might be a good idea.
NYT Offensive reviews Jul 27
2018, 11:06:17 AM
This seems to be the offending passage:
“Pythio identifies as “nonbinary plural.” Dametas (Tom Alan Robbins), the King’s viceroy and father of Mopsa, finds himself strangely drawn to her — I mean them.”
What is non-binary plural? Is it meant to be silly in the show? Someone please clarify.
Sarah In Ragtime- A Sugarcoated Character? Jul 23
2018, 04:09:07 PM
Yes - great score, problematic in its overuse of archetypes, onstage narration, and easy to digest, let-the-audience-pat-themselves-on-the-back-for-not-being-as-racist-as-the-evil-white-characters storytelling.
where is john gallagher jr? Jul 22
2018, 09:02:20 PM
He’s doing very well in film. And indeed, he is a “serious” actor that happens to also sing well and play the guitar. He’ll come back to Broadway when the right role comes along I’m sure.
Soaring29 said: "I think it does a good job in showing his reasonings for it, no matter how wrong the acts were."
Well, yes, his reasonings are made very clear. But he's ultimately designed in the show to be this noble hero when he's really almost an anti-hero. The musical almost seems to suggest he was justified for his actions. He sings a pedantic song about justice, and then dies a martyr's death...even though he has killed several people an
Sarah In Ragtime- A Sugarcoated Character? Jul 22
2018, 01:40:55 PM
My biggest problem with Ragtime is how Coalhouse’s murdering of people after Sarah’s death is glossed over in literally about thirty seconds (“Say goodbye to music...”). It would have been so much more interesting to have him be more complicated than he is portrayed in the musical - and truer to his characterization in the novel.
CATS Film Adaptation Thread Jul 21
2018, 01:58:01 AM
I heard McKellan is Old Deuteronomy rather than Gus. Odd.
The wigs and costumes look cheap, but even the Broadway production looked kinda tacky. No one has yet solved the mystery of costuming someone to play a fork.
Jeff Loeffelholz suicide news coverage Jul 20
2018, 11:40:40 AM
Wow. Riedel’s piece is clearly meant to defend Bobbie and shift blame away from him and the production. He even suggests Loeffelholz exaggerated his version of events and must have had “other issues” going on. Riedel clearly had an agenda here, and it is downright disrespectful to Loeffelholz’s memory.
I’m sure Bobbie and Stiffelman had no idea what would happen after they behaved the way they did. They are not necessarily bad people. But come on, they did a cruel thing and must accept
Hudson is a GO for CATS! Jul 19
2018, 11:37:51 PM
Wait, why is this movie happening again? Oh, right. Money.
Amanda Dehnert's ANNIE Jul 16
2018, 01:30:09 PM
Good lord. Why? I always thought masturbation was meant to be done at home with your junk, not in a theatre with someone else’s play.
I agree with you about supporting the intention of the work. If you are doing Shakespeare or the Greeks, you often have to "do something" with it to bridge the gap between the centuries, but if you try to make, say, A Midsummer Night's Dream a serious commentary on the nature of love, it's not going to work. It was clearly written to be a silly comedy, and should be performed as such.
Exactly. When I direct a Shakespeare play, I will cut the hell out of it, reorder scenes, combine or eliminate characters, and make all sorts of self-indulgent directorial choices. However, when I'm doing a licensed property, you really have to just do the damn show - especially something like Annie where everyone is coming in with their kids expecting the same thing they've seen before. Some plays are meant to be like McDonald's, where you get what yo
I was going to post this to Ivo Van Hove thread, but it's been locked...I was fascinated by the "It was all a dream" Annie and had to Google it. Not only did it actually happen, Martin Charnin got wind of it, flew in, and made them cut it out.
I don't have any moral objection to what Amanda Dehnert did, I just find it hilarious that she tried go all "serious theatre artist" with friggin' Annie.