Revivals

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 4:48pm

Why do the powers that be keep on reviving the same shows every 10 years. I know Gypsy is great but how many times can you stage this? Why not revive the following shows which have yet to have a major revival ?

1. Lil Abner
2. Irma La Douce
3. Barnum
4. Applause
5. Golden Boy

I would really like others revived but since they were flops that ain't gonna happen

Updated On: 6/28/03 at 04:48 PM

[PigletH13]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 5:43pm

well, as for Golden Boy...I saw the one they were going to do at the Long Wharf...yikes!

[Phantom05]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 5:47pm

I would like to see Barnum revived, but I think that they should re-work it a little, there was something missing in the overall show! There was just something wrong with the plot, but that was just the feeling that I got!

Phantom05

Updated On: 6/28/03 at 05:47 PM

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 6:13pm

Do you think Evita or Cats would come back?

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 8:45pm

Cats might but I doubt Evita.

[Phantom05]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 8:48pm

Yeah, I think "Cats" will make a big return in about 8 or 10 years!!!

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 9:28pm

Hopefully! Cats is an awesome show! I love the taped version.

[PJ]

Posted: 6/28/03 at 10:07pm

I'd love to see a revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Speaking of "Cat..," is this play still be revived this fall w/ Ashley Judd as Maggie or has that idea been laid to rest and I just haven't heard about it?

[catcher]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 12:41am

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is being done this fall with Ashley Judd and Jason Patric and Ned Beatty (the only person from the London cast).

[King Stevos]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 2:23am

I wanna see parade brought back. And a GOOD productiong of "The Shadow Box"

STEVOS

Posted: 6/29/03 at 2:30am

"Do you think Evita or Cats would come back?"

Oh, God, please, NO!!

Posted: 6/29/03 at 4:24am

Sunday in the Park with George

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 5:40am

My Fair Lady.

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 11:26am

I would like to see Cats or Evita! Mostly Cats though.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 11:33am

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is being done this fall with Ashley Judd and Jason Patric and Ned Beatty (the only person from the London cast)."
I can't wait to see that! I'm not a big fan of Ashley Judd, but I think she will be very good in that role.

I would love to see "My Fair Lady" revived. The only version I had ever seen on stage was a local theatre production.

I would really like to see "Mack and Mabel" revived, but Jane Krakowski is the only person I could picture playing Mabel.

[magruder]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 12:13pm

Out of that list, Mr. Roxy, I think we can only expect to see Barnum again. Mind you, I really like all of the shows you mentioned, but:

Li'l Abner has a lot of 50s topical humor and Cold War paranoia worked into its script, plus entire generations have grown up not knowing the original comic strip and the title means little to them.

Irma la Douce, I've been told, hasn't worked well divorced from the original expressionistic Peter Brook production that surrounded it. I love the score (and that rambunctious overture!) and think that with a charismatic star, it would work, but I don't expect to see it hitting the boards any time soon.

Applause could possibly work, but the score has a few clinkers, ("Fasten Your Seat Belts," "Hurry Back" among them) and that very 70s sound that would need a tune-up. And it failed quite spectacularly in that recent Stephanie Powers tour that closed on the road.

Golden Boy is unearthed every few years, between the Long Wharf production and the recent Encores production, and always seems to fail to rise to the occasion, despite that lovely score.

Barnum has a paper thin book, but it really doesn't matter. It's a terrific entertainment, a marathon central role, a fabulous Cy Coleman score and audiences love it. I think it will receive a mounting in the next few years, if the right star comes along. (Wouldn't Hugh Jackman be something as Barnum?)

[tpdc]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 12:22pm

I saw the Stephanie Powers tour of APPLAUSE and sadly it didn't hold up well. Gene Saks and Ann Reinking also made a few decisions that undercut the material. John Dosset and Kate Jennings Grant were good. Powers was game. I think a revival of BARNUM could only work with the right star. I think the success of the Broadway and London versions were due to their stars. I seem to recall that the critics didn't like the original very much except for the score and Jim Dale.

[PigletH13]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 12:38pm

I wholeheartedly agree about The Shadow Box. God I wish I had seen it when it was on Broadway...just reading about the cast gave me such insight to the characters.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 1:31pm

I can also see Kristen Chenowith as Mabel.

There is an excellent television version of THE SHADOW BOX (I know Woodward is in it and I think Newman might have directed); I think that play's script is great but a little overwritten and needs a slight trim. I also think it would be most interesting to update the script slightly so the gay couple's life-threatening illness is not cancer after all. The "Summer of Love" references is all that dates that play; otherwise it is timeless.

There are a couple of "little-done" shows I'd like to see revived, among others: 110 IN THE SHADE (the Signature version was a good start) and HALLELUJAH BABY. I'd also like to see a first-class fully-produced revival of CARMEN JONES, CABIN IN THE SKY, and/or PURLIE. I think between Audra and Vanessa (among others) there is plenty of capable star power around for those shows.

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 3:11pm

"I can also see Kristen Chenowith as Mabel."

I tried to picture that, but no. She's too country. Mabel is a New Yorker; not a twangy midget with a mouth too big for her face.

[BatBoi]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 4:17pm

I'd love to see Parade brought back. . even though it might take years. Also, Chess (Reworked (AGAIN) because there really is something there!) And maybe even Wild Party (Can *I* be Jackie?).

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 4:36pm

I'd love to see the following shows revived:

HIGH BUTTON SHOES (a great score and wonderful dance numbers. Imagine what this would be like in Stroman's hands?)

EQUUS (a great play. Why hasn't it been revived?)

FANNY (again, the score is marvelous. I can see and hear Jason Daniely singing the title song and making me cry!)

MY FAIR LADY (wouldn't Hugh Grant make a great Higgins? He's grousing about how tedious film-making is. I think he'd rejuvenate his attitude by playing to live audiences!)

DEAR WORLD (It didn't click the first time around, but there's another great score and a wonderful story to be told)

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (My favorite play. I always find something new whenever I read it or see it performed live)

COCO (This show was almost ruined by Katherine Hepburn's acting and "singing". Still, I think there's a good story and some of the music is quite good--despite the terrible quality of its cast recording. Were they singing into tin cans???)

NO STRINGS (yes, the Encores! version left much to be desired, but it showed that the score is still a gem and with the right cast and the right director, this could be a memorable evening in the theater again)


......and of course, the world is always ready for another production of TWHM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skingdom]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 5:20pm

Revive Edwin Drood!!!!!
Laura Benanti (Rosa), Kerry O'Malley (Puffer or Drood), Sarah Uriarte Berry(Rosa)

[BrdwyThtr]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 5:54pm

The Goodbye Girl

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/29/03 at 6:23pm

Funny Girl
the Shadow Box