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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 12:15:07 GMT
Yes that production was a work of genius. Brilliantly conceived and designed. Julia McKenzie was sublime.. oh how I miss her being in musicals Yes it's a shame we never got her Madame Rose, Mame, Dolly, Desiree etc... Feel blessed that we got her Sally, Lovett, Witch and Adelaide, and that they were preserved on disc but yes she has been missed on the musical stage over the last 25 years. |
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Post by learfan on Nov 21, 2019 12:25:47 GMT
Yes that production was a work of genius. Brilliantly conceived and designed. Julia McKenzie was sublime.. oh how I miss her being in musicals Yes it's a shame we never got her Madame Rose, Mame, Dolly, Desiree etc... Feel blessed that we got her Sally, Lovett, Witch and Adelaide, and that they were preserved on disc but yes she has been missed on the musical stage over the last 25 years. Hear hear! |
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Post by alece10 on Nov 21, 2019 12:59:14 GMT
I remember being at a show years ago and everyone was very excited that some pop star (forgot their name) was in the audience. I was more excited as Julia Mackenzie was also there sitting near me
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Post by craig on Nov 21, 2019 13:01:58 GMT
Why did Julia McKenzie retire from musicals?
Forgive me, and let's blame it on age, but I first knew of JM as Miss Marple and remember being so surprised the first time I saw her performing as a musical theatre star. I think it was rewatching Hey Mr Producer sometime in the noughties that I first realised.
She's fantastic and I would have loved to see her on stage.
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Post by sf on Nov 21, 2019 13:11:00 GMT
Why did Julia McKenzie retire from musicals? She did an interview when she was in Sweeney Todd - I think in the now-defunct Show Music magazine - in which she said she thought she probably wouldn't do another musical simply because she found summoning the level of energy required to play a big role in a musical so debilitating that after a week of performances she ended up spending Sunday in bed. |
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Post by craig on Nov 21, 2019 13:28:26 GMT
Why did Julia McKenzie retire from musicals? She did an interview when she was in Sweeney Todd - I think in the now-defunct Show Music magazine - in which she said she thought she probably wouldn't do another musical simply because she found summoning the level of energy required to play a big role in a musical so debilitating that after a week of performances she ended up spending Sunday in bed. I can well imagine. It amazes me, for example, that Patti LuPone is able to 8 performance a week in Company. It's quite a feat. I suppose that wasn't a leading role, but still... |
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Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 21, 2019 13:59:27 GMT
Why did Julia McKenzie retire from musicals? She did an interview when she was in Sweeney Todd - I think in the now-defunct Show Music magazine - in which she said she thought she probably wouldn't do another musical simply because she found summoning the level of energy required to play a big role in a musical so debilitating that after a week of performances she ended up spending Sunday in bed. I’m not surprised - her Nellie Lovett was a powerhouse (and my favourite stage performance by a country mile). I wish there was more footage from the London Into the Woods (and that I’d payed more attention when shopping in Honest Ed’s). She did look quite frail at the Sondheim gala at the Drury Lane a few years back though so hopefully she’s enjoying her retirement and maybe she can be tempted out of it (temporarily) for a cameo in the upcoming Follies movie. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 14:58:36 GMT
Yes that production was a work of genius. Brilliantly conceived and designed. Julia McKenzie was sublime.. oh how I miss her being in musicals Yes it's a shame we never got her Madame Rose, Mame, Dolly, Desiree etc... Feel blessed that we got her Sally, Lovett, Witch and Adelaide, and that they were preserved on disc but yes she has been missed on the musical stage over the last 25 years. She has played Mame. If you can find it online, the Radio 2 concert recording of Mame, for me, is Julia McKenzie at her very best. The voice, the comedy, she nails it all. |
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Post by mrbarnaby on Nov 21, 2019 18:14:05 GMT
Yes it's a shame we never got her Madame Rose, Mame, Dolly, Desiree etc... Feel blessed that we got her Sally, Lovett, Witch and Adelaide, and that they were preserved on disc but yes she has been missed on the musical stage over the last 25 years. She has played Mame. If you can find it online, the Radio 2 concert recording of Mame, for me, is Julia McKenzie at her very best. The voice, the comedy, she nails it all. I know but I’ve never been able to find it?? |
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Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 21, 2019 18:55:02 GMT
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Post by JJShaw on Nov 21, 2019 18:58:45 GMT
This maybe further hijacking of this thread by the Julia McKenzie fan club but because for me that’s more than enough of a reason to share the production shots of arguably the finest/darkest Into The Woods that ever there was. #SorryNotSorry postimg.cc/gallery/232spb1fu/Im always here for a hijacking if its to talk about this production! The few videos and pictures and stories about this version sound so unique and we never get redirected transfers or reimaginaitons quite like this very often also very excited for Dolly to finally come over, wouldn't be thrilled if it was Imelda (I do like her but just not who I would cast), perhaps we will have a Tuesday alternate too? |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 20:34:39 GMT
This maybe further hijacking of this thread by the Julia McKenzie fan club but because for me that’s more than enough of a reason to share the production shots of arguably the finest/darkest Into The Woods that ever there was. #SorryNotSorry    Thanks for these - I always love seeing images of this production. It was so beautiful. And Julia at her best, just after doing Sally and just before her finest hour as Mrs. Lovett. In between she did the Witch. And I believe she would have loved to have played the Baker's Wife - she once said in an interview that perhaps ten years earlier she would have been a perfect fit for that role - but she settled for the Witch... In doing so, she did some of her best vocal work, wildly different from Bernadette Peters and other interpreters of the role, but making full use of her classical voice and belting the house down in Last Midnight. Listen to the first few phrases of her 'Children Will Listen' in the finale on the London cast album - it is chilling and so moving. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 21, 2019 20:44:00 GMT
This Thread created with posts from the Hello Dolly thread.
This will be moved to Performers when you’ve had a chance to stick your oar in 🙂
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Post by sf on Nov 21, 2019 21:00:06 GMT
Yes that production was a work of genius. Brilliantly conceived and designed. Julia McKenzie was sublime.. oh how I miss her being in musicals Yes it's a shame we never got her Madame Rose, Mame, Dolly, Desiree etc... Feel blessed that we got her Sally, Lovett, Witch and Adelaide, and that they were preserved on disc but yes she has been missed on the musical stage over the last 25 years.
There was a plan, once upon a time, for the Tyne Daly 'Gypsy' to transfer to London, with McKenzie taking over after a few months, but it never happened.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 21:07:16 GMT
Yes I think I remember reading that somewhere. And also I know after she did Sweeney, she was trying to get a Gypsy on at the Donmar with her Sweeney director Declan Donnellan, but again it fell through.
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Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 21, 2019 22:01:23 GMT
This Thread created with posts from the Hello Dolly thread. This will be moved to Performers when you’ve had a chance to stick your oar in 🙂 Well you’ve unleashed a monster now... And a fabulous one that was never in Les Mis, Wicked or Waitress at that... 😉 |
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Post by ukpuppetboy on Nov 21, 2019 22:53:32 GMT
Sweeney Todd - 1994 NT Cast (Quilley/McKenzie/ Benjamin)
For any that haven’t had the pleasure of her definitive Mrs Lovett (sorry Imelda) then you can listen to it on the audio player here. Also worth every second for Barry James’ Beadle Bamford - who took scene stealing to new glorious heights.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2019 23:30:42 GMT
i know I've said this before but seeing this production of Sweeney in the Cottesloe is one of my top theatre going highlights. Being in the front row as Mrs Lovette tipped a bucket of blood into the drain at my feet was something I'll never forget.
The whole thing was so menacing. and very intimate. To be so close and to hear their voices naturally was fantastic.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2019 11:15:36 GMT
Sweeney Todd - 1994 NT Cast (Quilley/McKenzie/ Benjamin)
For any that haven’t had the pleasure of her definitive Mrs Lovett (sorry Imelda) then you can listen to it on the audio player here. Also worth every second for Barry James’ Beadle Bamford - who took scene stealing to new glorious heights. Agreed. His parlour scene with Julia on that recording is glorious |
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Post by tmesis on Nov 22, 2019 13:07:54 GMT
I've only seen her once but it was in the legendary, and near definitive, Guys and Dolls at NT in the early 80s. She was absolutely sensational as Miss Adelaide (although I then saw it a decade or so later and Imelda was nearly as good in the same part.)
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Post by horton on Nov 22, 2019 15:07:09 GMT
In Guys & Dolls she was a revelation.
In Sweeney she was definitive.
In Into the Woods she was unmissable (as was that genius never-matched production)
She is most definitely retired now but still incredible.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Nov 22, 2019 15:18:36 GMT
And in Fresh Fields she was incomparable. I swear I believed in that marriage to Anton Rogers...
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Post by lonlad on Nov 22, 2019 16:36:37 GMT
Not to mention her Sally in FOLLIES which was definitively heartbreaking
And how I would love to seen her in ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY singing that thrilling Cy Coleman score -- one can only dream.
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Post by alece10 on Nov 22, 2019 16:38:23 GMT
My introduction to Sondheim was at the Cottlesloe all those years ago with Julia and Denis Quilley and her version of A Little Priest is my favourite, closely followed by Angela Lansbury.
I've seen her in a few things including some gala Sondheim concerts, an anniversary concert of Side by Side and Hey Mr Producer.
She was, and possibly still is, a regular judge for the Sondheim Society student performance of the year award.
Met her once and I just talked a load of rubbish which I do when I meet someone I am in awe of.
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Post by frankubelik on Nov 22, 2019 16:56:11 GMT
From the chorus of Mame and Maggie May to her breakthrough roles in Cole and Side By Side, she has been seriously under-used and under-rated. There was nobody like her. She has my utmost respect for withdrawing from musicals when she did, realising the commitment was simply too much and also that her voice was no longer (after Sweeney) in peak condition. Very very classy. I will not forget her Sally not to mention her appearances in Ayckbourn's plays (Woman in Mind and Communicating Doors) - take a look at her "Ice Cream" on Youtube. Stunning.
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