I didn't hate Irwin but I didn't love him either. His acting scenes were fine and I loved him in One Last Kiss. Didn't care for his Kids though.
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
Gershon was saved by her acting chops. He failed as a singer and dancer but she made up for it in other ways.
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
Gershon is not anywhere near the worst thing about this production in my mind. Does she suck? Generally speaking, yeah. But I've had more of an enjoyable time staring at the ceiling than I did watching John Stamos' performance. But he's not the worst thing about this production either. The joyless direction is.
I enjoyed Gershon, I didn't think her singing was as bad as people was saying it is, as I said in another thread, she did have some issues staying in tune with the orchestra, but I enjoyed her singing and acting...It's hard to tell with the dancing, no she wasn't particularly good, but the choreography they gave her was so terrible, it was hard to judge her skills. I've only other seen Irwin in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED and thoroughly enjoyed him. I cringed every time he was on stage during BIRDIE. Sorry to say this but I agree with all the critics regarding his performance. Though you gotta blame Longbottom's terrible direction, a good director would have been able to rein him in.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Wall Street Journal is a Pan - Teachout is HARSH!!!
They Can't Sing (Don't Ask Them)
Mr. Stamos couldn't carry a tune in a bucket with the lid welded on, and Gina Gershon, who plays his sexy secretary, isn't much closer to the mark. Mr. Funk is said to have been battling tonsillitis at the preview I saw, so I can't say whether he sounds better under normal circumstances, but what I heard last Sunday afternoon was far below Broadway standards. As for Bill Irwin, who plays Miss Trimm's father, his performance is impenetrably bizarre??I never did figure out what he thought he was doing up there??and he can't sing at all. Instead he emits disjunct honks and squeaks that make mincemeat out of Mr. Strouse's handsome melodies.
Allie Trimm seems like the only one getting the postive reviews. I did love the teen ensemble. Jake as Randolph was adorable and did great in the role. I have to admit "Telephone Hour" was excellent.
I really didn't like the teen ensemble to be quite honest. And "The Telephone Hour" was cute and one of the highlights of the show but that's not really saying much considering the rest of the show was really boring. In a great BIRDIE production, this "Telephone Hour" would have been horrendous. But in this production, it works in a weird, twisted way.
Re-conceiving Conrad Birdie as a bubblegum teenie-bopper idol is one of those wrongheaded directorial notions that ought to be outlawed.
Like having characters in Tosca give each other blowjobs or having the Sharks speak Spanish sometimes and sometimes not for no good reason while a boy soprano sings "Somewhere" because he symbolizes innocence or something, somewhere, somehow...
Or having Damon Runyon wander aimlessly around the set of Guys and Dolls or directing the Follies women to be "bad dancers" because they're sooooooo old.
PJ, pass that peace pipe! I don't know what you're smokin' but that post was hilarious.
Oh, wait... you've SEEN these shows. I guess others are doing the smokin'.
And Miss Penny ... I loved your casting! But I would add in Jill O'Hara, so we can ensure that this will be reviewed as the WORST SUNG BROADWAY SHOW IN HISTORY.
Poor Jill. Poor Modern Broadway.
... and so it goes ...
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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