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Post by Kenneth_C on May 2, 2017 23:19:31 GMT
Random thoughts: I'm glad that Falsettos was remembered, and am particularly happy with the nominations of Stephanie J. Block and Andrew Rannells in same. (Loved Brandon Uranowitz, too, but would give the edge to Rannells.) I realize I'm in the minority, but I don't get all the love shown for The Great Comet. Although I adore her, I probably wouldn't have nominated Patti for War Paint. ( Gasp!) She basically plays the same bitchy note throughout, in an unintelligible accent. They really should've found room for Sunset Blvd. in the Best Revival category. A little more attention could've been paid to The Front Page, too. Although I am not seeing Hello Dolly! until the fall, am happy that Gavin Creel was nominated. He's been so good for so long. I also am not seeing Dear Evan Hansen and Groundhog's Day until then, so cannot choose a side in the big Best Musical/Best (Musical) Actor battles. It's almost criminal that Jon Jon Briones didn't receive a nomination for Miss Saigon. And, while we're on the subject of slights: Gideon Glick, Gideon Glick, Gideon Glick!
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 20, 2017 23:50:38 GMT
Brilliant! And it's been professional filmed as well. It was filmed for the Lincoln Center Theater Archive; not for broadcast, unfortunately. Still, I'm ecstatic that it will be recorded. Plus, it's good that the production recouped its entire investment. Might that encourage the producers to mount it elsewhere?
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 19, 2017 16:37:33 GMT
Fixed it for you, westendwendy: Question: Why are there more plants in the previous picture? Has the set changed since then?
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 18, 2017 22:44:29 GMT
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 16, 2017 5:21:40 GMT
The understudy should have been learning the role day one of rehearsals - even if not blocked himself It's not as easy as that. Learning lines and the role itself is one thing, but most understudies are not rehearsed on the stage, or have a put in rehearsal until after the opening night simply because rehearsals for the main cast take priority as they are the ones who 9 times out of 10 are the ones that are on (or at least that is how most cast members are expected to think). A similar situation happened with Hello Dolly! a couple weeks ago. Gavin Creel was out sick and his understudy, Christian Dante White, had to go on without having had a put-in rehearsal. He pulled it off so well that Bette actually gave him the final bow. www.playbill.com/article/bette-midler-gives-final-bow-in-hello-dolly-to-understudy-christian-dante-whiteAccording to that Playbill article, put-in rehearsals for understudies are typically not done until after opening night.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 14, 2017 20:02:25 GMT
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 14, 2017 17:58:41 GMT
Interesting. After weeks of stating "there are no plans for a recording", it now sounds like they may be trying to put it together after all.
Fingers crossed!
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 9, 2017 19:44:32 GMT
Duplicate post Which I will use to clarify the nudity warning given Kenneth's comment above {Spoiler}At the end of the second sequence one of the guards is freaking out about the blood on his face, the other one washes his face and hands for him then helps him change his uniform, in the course of which he's naked for a bit (back to the audience)
Not sure if this is in the script. I can see the scene could be done without the nudity though I had a feeling it was something as inconsequential as that. The script reads: {Spoiler - click to view} Humayun removes Babur's shirt, Babur lets him, but doesn't help. Humayun picks up a large cup from within the urn, filled with water.
HUMAYUN: It's warm, the water is warm.
Humayun pours the water slowly over Babur's head. He does it again, smoothening out Babur's hair, trying to comfort his friend. He pours another cup. It resembles a baptism.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 2, 2017 6:03:45 GMT
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Post by Kenneth_C on Apr 1, 2017 6:34:38 GMT
I saw an excellent production of this last year here in L.A. -- it won the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award for Best Production -- and am curious if anyone is planning on seeing it in London. Opens 7 April and runs through 20 May. www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/guards-at-the-taj/Written by Rajiv Joseph, it's a 2-character piece, set the night before the Taj Mahal is revealed in 1648. Very dark comedy, interwoven with poetic & philosophic musings on beauty and art. Think Rosencrantz & Guildenstern crossed with The Lieutenant of Inishmore. More than that, I will not say (and the less you know going in, the better). When it played Off-Broadway in 2015, it won the Obie Award for Best New American Play and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play. Am a bit concerned about Jamie Lloyd being the director. If he goes all Doctor Faustus on it, it will misfire. Also, the website says " Guards at the Taj contains mild, infrequent nudity" -- which is odd, because there was none in the L.A. production. Instead, our audience warning was about "gore and strong subject matter".
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Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 27, 2017 15:10:59 GMT
Putting my faith in my fellow TheatreBoard members, I have just filled one of my few remaining May slots with a front row ticket to 42nd Street.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 27, 2017 14:30:28 GMT
Transfers to the Harold Pinter Theatre. June 9 - Sept 3 Then it is "not to be" for me. Would love for NTLive to broadcast it, but I think that's unlikely. They have the Barbican/Cumberbatch monstrosity on repeat, and seem to have relegated the superior NT/Kinnear to the archives. I doubt they will see the need to have a third Hamlet in their stable.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 17, 2017 1:39:55 GMT
There is no other choice. Really, the resemblance is striking.* * If you're standing 100 yards away and near-sighted. But, still... If Jake is too busy, then I'm willing to accept Ben Whishaw in a pinch.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 16, 2017 6:02:19 GMT
I saw SUNSET BLVD last week on Broadway, after having seen it last year at the London Coliseum (and, before that, during its original L.A. run back in '94!)
Re: Joe's corpse. It flies up towards the ceiling and, as I was sitting in the Orchestra [Stalls], it was completely out of my view. I imagine, though, that people in the balconies could still see it -- if they can tear their eyes away from the magnificence that is Glenn Close on stage. (The only thing I found strange was that, when Joe is shot at the end, he falls off stage left, whereas the corpse dummy appears stage right.)
Re: Merchandise. I didn't see the costume prints, but they are selling a "limited" line of costume jewelry dubbed "The Norma Desmond Collection". (Yes! You too can accessorize like a crazed, washed-up silent movie star!) Prices ranged from $50 to over $150 -- and they were actually selling! (Pre-show, a necklace of black glass & rhinestones was on display, but it had been sold by the interval. Price $180.)
Re: The Production. I spoke to Siobhan Dillon [Betty Schaefer] after the show. When I told her I had seen it in London, she asked which I liked better. I responded, "Aren't they the same?" She said that they've made a number of changes -- but I honestly couldn't tell you what they are, and she didn't elaborate.
Re: Glenn. Oh. Em. Gee. As spectacular as I thought she was in '94 and again in '16, she has somehow managed to take Norma to new heights. Take, for example, when Hog-eye turns the lights on Norma during her visit to Paramount. Without saying a word, the multitude of expressions that crossed her face -- pride, joy, sorrow, fear -- caused the audience to erupt in applause. I've never seen a response like it. (With one look, indeed!) And "As If We Never Said Goodbye" stopped the show dead in its tracks, eliciting a huge standing ovation that went on & on & on.
Truly, one of the all-time GREAT performances.
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War Paint
Mar 12, 2017 15:13:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 12, 2017 15:13:19 GMT
I saw this Thursday night.
Although it's an enjoyable evening, due to the star power on display, it's sadly no great shakes as a musical. There are a couple of good numbers, but the book is hobbled by a back-and-forth "ping pong" structure.
For example:
Ping! Rubenstein (LuPone) mounts a WWII war effort/ad campaign. Pong! Arden (Ebersole) mounts a WWII war effort/ad campaign. Ping! Arden turns down a TV advertising sponsorship. Pong! Rubenstein turns down a TV advertising sponsorship. And so on...
Both ladies are pretty terrific, though I give the edge to Ebersole. She gets the best song, "Pink", and is not saddled with a Polish accent that is occasionally incomprehensible.
Costumes were gorgeous, tech credits were solid, and the whole thing was mounted with utmost professionalism. Still, it never really caught fire and, at the end, only about half the house stood in ovation.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Mar 10, 2017 16:27:27 GMT
I saw it a couple months ago during its pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles.
I'm sure it will have changed some since then. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to have fixed all of the things that were wrong with it, including a samey-samey score & tissue-thin characters.
Overall, it seemed more interested in referencing the film (by, for example, shorthanding character interactions or inserting plot points without any development) than in establishing its own identity as a theatre piece.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 28, 2017 7:10:05 GMT
Was the La Jolla version that bad? On Broadwayworld everyone puts blame on Schwartz supposedly in inapt son, who they all claim is the biggest failure as director. I was sick on the day I had a ticket to the La Jolla production, so was unable to attend. But I caught the Glenn Casale-directed Hunchback last year in La Mirada. From what I've heard, it fixes some of the problems with the La Jolla/Papermill version. Unfortunately, it is still far from perfect. (FYI, the film is one of my favorites from Disney's Renaissance, despite all the distortions to the source material.) The good news is that the stage musical is far closer to the book than the movie. The bad news is that the stage musical is far closer to the book than the movie. The ending is vastly improved, with the fates of the characters resembling those in the book. The beginning is needlessly drawn out, with an extended prologue about Frollo and his brother being ultimately superfluous. (I couldn't help feeling that Hunchback wanted to be like that other musical based on a novel by Victor Hugo.) The score is (a) glorious, and (b) monotonous. It features some of Menken's best work, but there are far too many choral passages. At times you feel as if you're listening to an album of Gregorian chants. Too often the score just reiterates what we can see. For example: Quasi and Phoebus sing about searching for the Court of Miracles while we watch them search for the Court of Miracles. (Columns move while the actors skulk, sing & look around. And it's boring.) "Hellfire" needed to be much more dynamic. It's stunning in the film, and staging it simply with Frollo on his knees confessing really didn't cut it. The big special effects scenes, like the pouring of the molten lead, were not licked. Red, fluttering cloth really didn't do it. The BEST thing about the La Mirada production was the casting of John McGinty as Quasi. He's a deaf actor, and spoke the dialogue beautifully (in a powerful, slightly hollow-sounding voice). His singing voice was provided by Dino Nicandros, who played one of the gargoyles (which also served to make their inclusion in the piece thematically sound). I still get chills recalling their joint rendition of "Out There". McGinty's signing/miming + Nicandros vocals = Pure theatrical magic! In the end, I'm very glad I saw Hunchback. There was much to like, but also much to critique. I really think there's a great musical in there; it just hasn't been brought out. A short video promo of the production:
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 27, 2017 18:51:25 GMT
Is this one produced by ATG? I know it's in one of their Broadway theatres. If it's one of their productions, that might increase the likelihood of a transfer. Yes, it is an ATG production. One major issue for a transfer is, I imagine, Jake's schedule. He's got 4 movies scheduled for release this year and another couple in development. He was supposed to open in Lanford Wilson's Burn This (also at the Hudson) next month, but that got pushed to next season due to scheduling conflicts. No new date for that has been announced. Sunday in the Park was slotted in its place as the opening production at the Hudson for a short 10-week run, instead. Still, I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that he could do a short run in the West End, à la Sunset Blvd. Or even a few one-nighters... I'm wishing for a cast recording, film, London transfer and for Jake to visit my flat .... Heh. I just found out that my hotel in NY next week is located opposite the Hudson's stage door. (I swear I had no idea.) I should tell them to give me a room in the back, or else I might spend my whole trip stalking gazing out the window.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 27, 2017 0:25:21 GMT
My #1 is, and probably always will be, Brideshead Revisited.
One of the most sublime works of art in any medium.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 25, 2017 6:14:27 GMT
I don't care who's in the cast. You couldn't pay me to see Benedict Andrews muck up another Tennessee Williams play.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 24, 2017 6:36:18 GMT
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 24, 2017 6:10:28 GMT
It appears that the Apollo would be the only theatre available for a relatively direct West End transfer. I hope it happens! I am trying to keep a slot open during my May trip to the UK, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. I sure hope there is word soon.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 13, 2017 20:00:59 GMT
Very interesting to read the debate. FWIW, I'm with mallardo on this one.
Even without the gender-swapping, I find the whole idea of a "contemporary" Company to be extremely problematic. I saw a local L.A. production a couple years ago which was well-sung and -acted, but which transported the action to the present day (Bobby played Xbox, used a cellphone, etc.). It just didn't work. And it wasn't only due to the "marriage" issue.
Company comes from a time when you got busy signals, when people had answering services -- staffed by real people! -- to take and deliver messages. It was a time when smoking marijuana was still slightly scandalous, and zombies were cold, dead things and not flesh-chomping corpses. A time of "Scrabble on Sundays", the Kama Sutra, Sazarac Slings, and Vodka Stingers. (Thank goodness Boeing still makes jets or they'd really be in trouble.)
These cultural references woven into the piece -- but the problem goes both ways. How do you have a "contemporary" show about modern relationships without reference to cellphones, texting, social media? Nowadays, your friends wouldn't sing "Have I Got a Girl for You"; they'd just make sure you had the appropriate apps on your iPhone.
And they meet through Tinder and the Facebook friends Who they never know. Will you pick me up, or do I Uber there, Or shall we let it go? Did you get my voicemail 'cause I looked in vain? Can we check on Google Tuesday if it's gonna rain? Look, I'll text you in the morning or my Twitter will explain. And another thousand people just got off of the train...
I think there's still a lot of value to be found in Company but would much rather see a production that embraces its era rather than try to deny it.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 7, 2017 22:07:53 GMT
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 4, 2017 19:48:21 GMT
For anyone who saw it in New York, what is the on-stage seating like? Worth the money? Trying to figure out whether to go for these, or a normal Stalls seat. I sat in one of the tables right in front of the stage and it was an amazing experience. I don't know if they'll do the same in London, but we had a waiter for table drink service along with a complimentary glass of champagne. Really helped to set the mood. Once Audra appeared, the illusion was complete. Her immersion into the character was so total that I was more than happy to play my part. I felt like I actually was a patron of Emerson's Bar & Grill, seeing Billie Holiday. I will not be in London to see Lady Day again, but, if I were, I would not hesitate to buy another table seat.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Feb 1, 2017 21:07:28 GMT
Straight after it's Almeida run.. theatre- I'm sworn to secrecy So, chances are that it will be open when I am in London in May? That would be terrific! I'll have to leave at least one slot open for this.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Jan 31, 2017 21:35:22 GMT
I've just been listening to the Ragtime OBC, so I'm going to vote for Sarah. It doesn't get much more tragic than that.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Jan 31, 2017 19:12:59 GMT
I want to see this when I'm in New York in September, but they're going to have to release more tickets at lower prices.
$399 for Orchestra [Stalls] is absolutely ridiculous. That's $100 more than I'm paying to see Bette Midler in Hello Dolly! Even $189 for 5th row Mezzanine is a bit much, when a 2nd row Mezz ticket for Hamilton on the same trip only cost $199. (Yeah, I said "only".)
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Post by Kenneth_C on Jan 31, 2017 18:45:43 GMT
One interesting thought: if the London system works and defeats touts, will Broadway adopt it on their scalpers... or will the "free trading dollar" prevail and leave their system unchanged? First, they would have to change the law. The State of New York requires that paperless tickets be transferable to another party. They also require having the option of obtaining a traditional paper ticket. It is the only state to have those restrictions on the use of paperless tickets. Last year, the New York Attorney General released a report entitled "Obstructed View: What's Blocking New Yorkers from Getting Tickets". (You can find it online.) One of his recommendations was to end this de facto ban on paperless tickets.
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Post by Kenneth_C on Jan 31, 2017 9:28:28 GMT
Even though Sweeney kills god knows how many people? And what if none of their souls were saved? They went to their Maker impeccably shaved. Mrs Lovett is trying to make the best of a very bad situation. She doesnt (entirely) lie to Sweeney, she says Joanna poisoned herself, its Sweeney who assumes she died because of it. She never kills anyone and uses the 'meat' that she is given. Mrs Mooney actually killed cats Mrs Lovett does it all out of love for Sweeney. Oh, please. She locks up Toby and actively pursues his death. Sweet, loving, dependable, nothing's-gonna-harm-you Toby. You can't get much lower than that! (And it's LUCY who poisoned herself. You know, the lady who is hanging 'round their front door every g-damn day.) I think of HAIR - and the way Claude separates from the tribe. I think it's pretty tragic for the tribe to lose their best friend to the exact thing they're protesting for. I never sat with a dry eye at the end of HAIR. Excellent choice!
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