Get thee to the Shubert Theater...

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/2/08 at 11:53pm

to see Merle Dandridge as the Lady of the Lake!

I was fortunate enough to catch her first performance tonight, and she didn't disappoint. She was fabulous! Incredible voice, great presence, and she looked fantastic in the costumes. She totally made the role her own, adding in a number of her own little bits and appeared to be having an absolute ball up on stage. Find Your Grail blew the roof off the place, and the Diva's Lament was hilarious. She looked completely comfortable onstage, and most people didn't know it was her first show.

The rest of the show was fine. It was funnier than I remember it being. Stephen Collins is a serviceable Arthur. He's funny enough. His singing isn't great, but it works. I'd say he was about as good as Jonathan Hadary was, the last Arthur I saw.

Drew Lachey was also quite good, surprisingly. I, for some reason, thought he was playing Sir Robin, the role Clay Aiken played. It was not until Sir Robin appeared, and I realized that he looked nothing like Drew Lachey, that I figured out he was actually playing Patsy.

The show itself was fine...not my favorite, but it has its moments.

[dakota242]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 12:29am

Yikes! She is better than Hannah? I guess I will have to check it out but I will wait for Clay.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 1:31am

I have no idea if she is better than Hannah. The night I went to see Hannah I got Emily Hsu as the Lady of the Lake.

She is far, far, far, far, better than Emily Hsu, whose performance could best be described as a train wreck.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 2:57am

Glad to hear that she was good. I'll admit, for some reason I thought she was starting last week for some reason, so I got confused when Marin Mazzie was still listed, but I was wrong. I was extremely disappointed with her performance. That was a train wreck because she put absolutely nothing into doing the role. Now I might have to see it again. LOL!

And I was lucky to see Hannah too, and she was very good, but so far, I have unfortunately not found anyone better than Sara Ramirez.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 8:58am

Two other moments I just remembered this morning...

The Knight of Ni (Rick Holmes) added a joke about Sarah Palin's "dirty daughter," which, despite my dislike of Sarah Palin, seemed way out of line. After the dirty daughter line, as they were leaving the stage, he said, "Let's go dig up some more dirt on the Palin kids."

Funny moment...at the very end of the show, just before the curtain came down, and the cast was heading offstage for the curtain call, Merle Dandridge just kind of stood in the middle of the stage, looking around, like she wasn't quite sure where to go for the curtain call. Stephen Collins turned around, and glided her offstage. It sounds silly now, but it was really cute when it happened.

Also, they don't have her name in the Playbill yet, but she has a special insert welcoming her to the company. There was also a sign up at the back of the house, near the bar, welcoming her (and welcoming another woman back) to the company.

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 9:39am

Palin jokes are fine.

Palin's children jokes are completely crossing the line. Leave the kid alone, for christ sakes. America AND Broadway has gone down the ****ter... and it's not only Bush that created this.

Did people actually laugh at that Palin joke, Adam? So innapropiate. Who's idea was that?

[MotorTink]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:10am

yay! yay! yay! So happy to hear this report, thank you so much! I cannot wait to see her!

[winston89]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:15am

I will admit, that I do find the situation of Palin not even considering abortion while her teenage daughter is pregnant to be funny. However, just making a joke about her daughter isn't something that I would find funny.

[Amalia Balash]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:31am

I hope the joke about Palin's daughter turns out to just be a one-time thing that Rick Holmes thought better of after he said it. Comedy often is the funniest when it comes close to, but doesn't quite cross, the line of really bad taste. I think it's hard to recognize that line sometimes until you've crossed it.

What I would find amusing would be a Spamalot Palin joke that plays off of Sarah sharing a last name with Michael Palin, a Python.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:33am

Get thee to the Al Hirschfeld!!!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 10:45am

Marianne, I felt the same way about Marin (and I've really liked her in everything else I've seen her in). She was just wrong for Lady of the Lake (and not very funny, at least when I saw it).

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/3/08 at 11:20am

It wasn't so much laughter as it was gasping and a nervous chuckle. It certainly didn't land very well.

Again...I think Sarah Palin herself is fair game. She's an elected official and a public figure. But not her daughters.

[zepka102]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 8:40pm

I'm so glad to hear she was great! I really can't wait to see her... upset I have to wait until October!

[SirNotAppearing]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 8:50pm

YEs, Palin's children are off-limits...except for when she brings up her son in the army.

[sally1112]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 8:59pm

Is Palin in Spamalot?

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 9/4/08 at 10:29pm

Are there any pictures?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 12:07am

I went and saw it tonight, standing room. AdamGreer, you're right. Merle is simply amahzing as Lady of the Lake. (Is she the first one who's done the "drop it like it's hot" move in the Camelot scene?) Absolutely adored her!! She was my favorite Joanne, and I think undoubtedly she's my favorite Lady of the Lake.

The Knight of Ni still had a joke about Bristol, but now it's that he's the real father of her baby and "Come on, let's go find Bristol." But tonight's audience ate it up by and large.

Very glad I went!! (and very glad I made it before Clay comes back.)

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 9:47am

Are Stephen Collins and Drew Lachey still there? I know they're leaving soon.

Glad you enjoyed it, jordangirl. Merle is freakin amazing.

[Patash]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 7:32pm

Regarding the Palin lines, are you serious? A Monty Python show? Spamalot? Using political humor and biting satire and insults? Can you imagine such a thing? Duh!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 7:34pm

adamgreer ~ They were in last night. I want to say today might be Collins's last shows? I'm not positive. But I know he's out soon. And someone else was in as King Arthur at Broadway on Broadway...not that that necessarily means anything. Don't know how long Drew's in either.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 7:36pm

Was it Michael Siberry? I know he's taking over, I just don't remember when.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 7:42pm

Um... I'll check my recording (if I can hear) and get back to you. I don't remember. Sorry!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 7:49pm

No worries!! This is, of course, highly insignificant in the grand scheme of things!

[My_Candle]

Posted: 9/14/08 at 8:13pm

Michael Siberry begins his King Arthur role on Tuesday, September 16. That might have been him today--whoever I saw in a clip looked a little lost.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 12:19am

I have actually heard she is better than Sara, but I REFUSE to believe that. I love Merle and I am sure she is fantastic. I never cared for Hannah.