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CABARET at the Kit Kat Club Previews  Apr 4 2024, 09:24:40 AM

The Distinctive Baritone said: "CoffeeBreak said: "Wow. Ato Blankson-Wood is highly overrated but this is a new miscast. He's not good as Cliff. The creative should recast CliffNOWbefore reviews. The director should have thought this through. Wow. The weakest of the bunch. He almost ruined the reality of the evening."


What exactly is so bad about his performance that he has gotten so many negative reactions in the role so far on this board? It&


CABARET at the Kit Kat Club Previews  Apr 3 2024, 11:01:51 AM

hearthemsing22 said: "I've heard they give you stickers to put over your cameras on phones which I am a huge fan of. This seems like the kind of experience where you want to be all in and not be distracted by taking selfies, or recording bootlegs. Big fan of this!"

Yes this is true. Right as you enter the theater, they put a round sticker over your camera that says "Keep it in the Kit Kat Klub". It was strong enough that after the show, it pulled my len


CABARET at the Kit Kat Club Previews  Apr 3 2024, 10:18:41 AM

I haven't logged into or been on BroadwayWorld in quite some time, but I did get a chance to attend the Invited Dress that happened this past Saturday so I figured I would hop on to share my thoughts.

First of all, I am definitely a huge fan of Cabaret. I saw the original cast of the '98 revival on my very first trip to NY. It was the first musical at a very young age that made me realize that so much more could be done in terms of darker material. I ended up


Lea Michele Twitter  Jun 3 2020, 10:09:50 PM

Jordan Catalano said: "DAMN


So Elizabeth just put it all out there. This story has been known and told formany years on the “inside” and it’s now public. It’s almost like an urban legend so I’m happy it’s finally being told first hand.
"

I saw RAGTIME on my 10th birthday back in 1998 and it was the first Broadway show I ever saw. I waited at the stage door after because I wanted to meet pretty much all of the leads (I had been obsessed with the show for months at that point) but even as a 10 year old boy, something about this Lea Michele girl rubbed me the wrong way. 
 

I distinctly remember her making a star exit from the stage door and basically no one acknowledging her and she looked like she was wanting to strangle us all.

Years later, I passed her on the street and saw a fellow actor friend (this would’ve been around 2013 i believe) and I started to wave in his direction and she thought I was waving at her and she scoffed like I was some peasant and I just said “Lea, darling, I would never wave to you”. 
 

You would’ve thought I destroyed her life as she walked away.

I have definitely heard stories over the years from reliable sources in addition to these (I never worked with her though) but nevertheless I’m happy this is all coming out!!

 


Emptiest/Smallest Audiences at Broadway shows?  Apr 29 2020, 08:59:24 PM
I remember going to a matinee of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES back in 2011. New York got hit with a big snowstorm the night before which led to a fairly empty theatre....I would say less than half full.

My then partner and I actually had box seats but the theatre was so empty that they allowed any one in the mezzanine/boxes to move down, which we promptly did.

It was a testament to how good of a revival it was to how responsive the audience was that it didn’t matter its size.

What was the worst Tony season?  Apr 6 2020, 05:18:55 PM

Jarethan said: "winston89 said: "From what I understand, the location of the theatre has nothing to do with what makes a theatre a Broadway theatre. It has to do more with the kinds of contracts that they have with various unions etc as well as the number of seats.

Back in the day, there were Broadway theatres that weren't in what we would consider to be the theatre district today. Didn't make them less of a Broadway theatre or the shows that they played i


Loudest gasp you've heard in the theatre  Feb 12 2020, 07:55:12 PM
A couple have been mentioned already but one gasp of delight I once witnessed was during the 2014 revival of ON THE TOWN. When the scrim went up to reveal the Battery Park backdrop with the Staten Island Ferry chugging along in the background, the joyous awe from the audience was infectious.

Also, the opening with the boat during the 2015 revival of THE KING AND I made the audience gasp in the same way.

Not Nominated / Should Have Won  Oct 26 2019, 08:20:02 PM
I concur with Ann Harada. That was the very first name that popped into my head and considering some of the weak nominees they chose over her, it becomes laughable (although Anika Noni Rose was very good and a worthy selection).

I also agree with Aaron Tveit for both Next to Normal and Catch Me If You Can although he only deserved nominations.

Sherie Rene Scott for AIDA and Amy Spangler for KISS ME KATE should’ve happened in 2000.

And lastly I also have to agree about

Broadway’s “Memphis” 10 Years Later...  Oct 20 2019, 07:34:29 AM
I definitely didn’t care for MEMPHIS at all. I have to agree with the many others that felt it benefitted from being a nominee in a weak year.

Going even further than that, I honestly can’t think of another year where the show actually could’ve won...at least going back over the last 30 years. Perhaps maybe it would’ve had a shot over CONTACG or JEROME ROBBINS BROADWAY but I just feel like I would’ve ranked it an easy third behind Fela and American Idiot...I really didn’t like Million D

Has their ever been a good sequel to a musical?  Sep 4 2019, 01:03:12 PM

Though I suppose you could argue "Falsettoland" is a good sequel, wven though now it's just Act 2."

And even the act one portion of FALSETTOS (aka March of the Falsettos) is technically a sequel to IN TROUSERS so that’s the biggest exception to the rule in my book.

 


How did Phantom lose Best Score??  Jul 30 2019, 09:46:26 AM
Because Phantom’s score was, as many have said, repetitive...and frankly, even though I consider INTO THE WOODS to be one of Sondheim’s more overrated properties, the score is vastly superior to Phantom.

And Sondheim should’ve won for SUNDAY too.

Shuffle Along - What happened?  Jun 18 2019, 02:31:58 PM
I remember the rush tickets always selling fast but then I managed to buy a ticket on TodayTix to see what I think was a Tuesday evening performance. Then at intermission, I turned my phone back on to find the announcement of its closing. A few theatre savvy people around me started to discuss it as well. It all just seemed so sudden but in retrospect, it was probably the best for them financially
Biggest Tony upset of all time?  Jun 18 2019, 09:09:51 AM
I agree with quite a few of the ones mentioned. I don’t really want to repeat anything but I do have to comment on one win that truly floored me when it was announced: David Hyde Pierce. That simply felt out of nowhere and at the expense of Raul Esparza’s Bobby. I certainly don’t want to begrudge DHP because he is a wonderful actor and someone who does deserve a Tony but I just felt that there was simply nothing there. It felt like a very average paint by numbers performance whereas Esparza gave
Great Scores But Weak Shows?  May 16 2019, 10:20:50 AM
For me, I’ve always adored the score to ANNIE GET YOUR GUN for the most part but find any version of the book to be incredibly problematic.

I also second CHESS and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG...and I also love a lot of the songs from THE BAKER’S WIFE despite its obvious issues.

Songs That Sound An Awful Lot Like Other Songs  Mar 21 2019, 04:08:24 PM
Even though the rest of the songs are different from one another, the same notes are used for the title lyrics IF ONLY YOU WOULD LISTEN from School of Rock and SOMEONE ELSE’S STORY from CHESS
Kennedy Center Honors '18  Dec 3 2018, 12:58:33 PM
I also agree that the HAMILTON selection is more for ratings and even then, I'm not even entirely sure how much ratings they will manage to pull in.

It's not like they did this for other big buzzed musicals like A CHORUS LINE or RENT.

I do feel like it's a shame that the fifth slot was replaced at the expense of a legend.


Most underrated  Nov 29 2018, 02:26:40 PM
FUN HOME deserved a longer run and that's why it gets my vote. I also think Gentleman's Guide and The Band's Visit qualify, especially the latter since it does have a passionate fan base but it also has many people who find it dull (I actually only know one other person who actually loved it, everyone else thought it was fine at best). The fact it won 10 Tony Awards will probably make some people look back on it and say it is overrated but frankly...all you have to do is see what it was up again
What show have you seen the most times?  Nov 12 2018, 08:48:12 AM
When factoring in regional theatres, I've seen Fiddler on the Roof more than any other musical. Probably around 11 times (and that includes the 2004 revival...I missed that Danny Burstein one even though I am living here now).

I very seldom see a show more than once, usually because I just think time (and money) is precious. Even some of the shows I have seen more than once were more for the other person rather than my own desire to rush to it again.

The winners are the origin

NETWORK Previews  Nov 9 2018, 11:42:33 AM

carolinaguy said: "Ugh. Louise and her scene are absolutely essential to dramatizing Max's central conflict and his humanity. Any outlet that cut it "for time" should be burned to the ground. An actress has been cast as Louise in this production, so I assume the scene remains."

I'm glad to hear that. Personally, I've always loved that scene because it is such a raw, emotional moment that Beatrice Straight delivers in spades. In such a dark satir


NETWORK Previews  Nov 9 2018, 11:06:37 AM
I wouldn't be surprised if the Beatrice Straight stuff was removed entirely. There have even been television broadcasts in the past that cut her big money scene for time. I once read a few stories on IMDB years ago where people talked about watching the movie on TV and were curious about her performance only for her big monologue to be cut making her Oscar win seem even more bizarre in that context.
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