If THE GOOBYE GIRL didn't work with Bernadette Peters and Martin Short, then nobody can make it work. They are doing a TV remake with Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels.
The Kennedy Center did concert versions of CARMEN JONES and PURLIE. CARMEN was wonderful and it would be great to see a full production. PURLIE works best as a concert now. Maybe Encores will do it.
The revivals I want to see are... Lil Abner- its such a great show and hardly anybody knows about it! Hello Dolly! Camelot Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat West Side Story Calamity Jane I hope they all revive while I'm still alive!
"Have a child for warmth and a baker for bread and a prince for... whatever!"
Wish I could have seen that CALAMITY JANE in London (revised and revamped score) with Debbie Shapiro.
CAT was not-that-long-ago revived on B'way with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. I look forward to Judd but wish she was paired with Brendan Fraser, who played it in London. I think Patric is a good actor, but that Brendan is more suited. But Patric could surprise me, who knows? I didn't know he did stage work at all.
I agree about DROOD (one of my favorite shows) and I love Sarah Uriate Berry.
The real Mabel Normand was not only more Chenowith's size ("midget") than Krakowski's or even Bernadette's, but I particularly think that faultin a person for the state of their birth is a pretty far reach. Normand was born on Staten Island, but in her biography published in LOOK Magazine in 1930, claimed to have spent most of her childhood in Atlanta. Do we then need an actress who can do a combination of New York and Southern dialect? Chenowith can belt beautifully (CHARLIE BROWN) and has a very good legit top for the rest of the score (MUSIC MAN). And again, as I have posted elsewhere in threads on this forum, there is no need to insult someone else's choice for a role ("twangy" "mouth too big for her face") just because it doesn't match yours. If your choice is truly suited (and I think Krakowski definitely is), running down other possibilities doesn't really make your case for her any stronger. It just looks desparate and immature. And it doesn't suggest you really "tried to see her" in the role at all.
So may theatre people I respect love FANNY that I need to further investigate that show!
Finally, I think ABNER is also a great score with a hopelessly dated book (not the setting or time period, but the nature of the characters themselves, as their comic strip has passed from popular consciousness). On the other hand, ANNIE still works without the companion strip. Perhaps it depends on the treatment of the libretto....
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
Actually, I tried very hard to picture Chenoweth in the role. I think she is a wonderful singer and actress. I don't think she is right for that part is all. Excuse me for thinking that! People around here knock my choices for castings some times; I don't have a fit if they disagree with me. I know that they just can't picture my choice; and that's fine with me.
"Normand was born on Staten Island." Really? That's where I was born (and still live...but I don't really like admitting that).
"It's the little things; the details, that distinguish the Barbra Streisands from the Rosalyn Kinds."~Gilmore Girls~
What you think is definitely your right and your business. How you expressed it in an open forum is all I took exception to. I gave specific examples of your choices which did not support your side of the discussion, is all. And when I noted that I had posted in other threads on the issue of alleged "rival" choices for roles, it was not meant to imply all those posts were directed solely at you. It is simply an unfortunate trend I see on this board.I was careful to try and not insult you, and if I did so anyway, I apologize.
P.S. Staten Island should be proud to claim you. It's not where you start, it's where you finish, Tommy Tune. *grin*
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
I have heard that Beach actually has learned Georges (or was that Lee Roy Reams?) to go into the show prior to it closing. I think either would be very interesting.
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
It was Lee Roy Reams who was set to go into LA CAGE before it closed. I saw him play Albin at the Westbury Music Fair. He was quite good in the role, actually.
My dream cast for a STREETCAR revival:
Stanley-TSMrW Stella-Mary Louise Parker Blanche- Cherry Jones Mitch- John Ellison Conlee The Mexican Flower Seller-Dollypop (gotta be there to see TSMrW shirtless every night!)
Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago did a revival of STREETCAR a few years back with Gary Senise as Stanley. I thought he was miscast and over the top, however, if there is a B’way revival, they could not find a better Mitch than John C. Reilly. He was brilliant.
I'd love to see a revival of Mack and Mabel too. And I can see Kristin Chenoweth as Mabel, but I'm also sure there are plenty of other actreses who could play her well too.
I'd like to see Barnum revived because I saw it when I was very young and can't remember much, so I'd love to see it again. A few of my friends were in a local production 2 months ago actually, but I never got to see them in it.
and also, Pippin, and anyting Fosse really. But that's just me.
"In a really well-written musical, you talk until you just can't talk anymore, you're going to have to sing. And when you're just so full you can't sing anymore, then you have to dance. It's a natural progression." ~Bebe Neuwirth
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF was last revived with Kathleen Turner, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Polly Holliday and Charles Durning. STREETCAR was revived with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. Lange did appear in a TV version of CAT with Tommy Lee Jones and Kim Stanley. She also did a TV version of STREETCAR with Baldwin.
I absolutely loved Evita. What is wrong with a revival of that? I heard they are doing a revival of My Fair Lady. I would like to see Sweeney Todd but never Cats.......ughhhhhhhh I am also happy to announce they are doing a revival of West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof......
"Life is not measured by the number
of breaths we take, but by moments
that take our breath away."
"Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
but how to dance in the rain."
When I ad'd for the show recently our "gay couple" (if you really think Brian is Gay) used a cancer that actually comes from the reception of AIDS. It is the cancer that Tom Hanks got in Philadelphia.
STEVOS
"IF I TRY THERE MAY BE A CHANCE / WE COULD LOVE WITH OUR EYES CLOSED/ WITH OUR EYES CLOSED WE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!"- Stephen Dwight
The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Smell Of The Crowd Woman of the Year Drood They're Playing Our Song Dear World
In Neil Simon's autobiography he says that the problem with The Goodbye Girl was that it essentially is about three people and by opening the story up (to include others) it throws the whole thing off balance, also when the show was trying out in Chicago, Bernadette Peters realised that she had no laughs ( she plays straight man to the Martin Short charcater) and wasn't happy and wanted her own gags and at this point things started to fall apart.
I, too, would love to see MACK & MABEL come back, but Jane Krakowski as Mabel???!! Jane's a good actress and has wonderful stage presence, but Mabel has to be a big ol' belter -- and Jane's weakpoint is her vocal ability.
Possible Macks: Douglas Sills (wasn't he slated for a revival at some point?) Howard McGillin (did it in London, didn't he?) Marc Kudisch Chris Seiber Shuler Hensley Michael Cumptsy
Possible Mabels: Kristin Chenoweth Vicki Lewis Paige O'Hara Jennifer Gambatese Kate Reinders
Itty Bitty Geisha?
Toyland?
Gypsy Pasadoble?
Just a few popular favorites...
I've assumed that the majority of people posting on these message boards are all theater-saavy, tasteful folk.
THEN... I see people wanting to revive CATS???!!! We FINALLY got rid of it and now you want to bring it back again? The litterbox isn't even cold at the Winter Garden yet. One of ALW's worst EVER! Followed closely by PHANTOM (which can't exit soon enough). EVITA is his best, no question. Not sure how a revival would go over, though.
I like the suggestions of LI'L ABNER and BARNUM.
How about: THE PAJAMA GAME REDHEAD THE RINK (which would need some reworking, but the score is great) DREAMGIRLS HELLO, DOLLY! (without the beloved CC) MAME (already in the works, I think)
Itty Bitty Geisha?
Toyland?
Gypsy Pasadoble?
Just a few popular favorites...
A revival of ON THE 20TH CENTURY would be great! Signature Theatre in VA. is doing an "adaptation" of the play 20TH CENTURY by Ken Ludwig as the first show of their new season.