Broadway musicals

[VGThuy]

So other than the revivals (My Fair Lady; Carousel; and Once on this Island), I'm not looking forward to any of the new musicals for this coming season. They all seem incredibly commercial. We're getting Frozen, Spongebob Squarepants, Mean Girls, Margaritaville (a Jimmy Buffett jukebox musical). None of that excites me.

Oh and I will repeat that I cannot recommend Hello Dolly! enough. It is the perfect production of one of the best musicals ever written. I'm curious to see it with Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber as I already saw it with Donna Murphy and David Hyde Pierce (I was not going to see Bette Midler for the price of rent) and Tony winner Gavin Creel and I'd be interested in her take on the role.

 

[oleada]

Saw Groundhog Day last night. It was so much fun! Andy Karl is amazing and Barrett Doss has a wonderful voice. It's just a lot of fun! I really, really enjoyed it. I was blown away with the staging, and I'm not surprised to read it was the same team as Matilda, which also had fantastic staging. The car chase scene was so cool!

Found out that my (straight, male) friend who I went with last night loves Broadway so I might have a Broadway buddy again.

Oh and I definitely want to see the Mean Girls musical

 

[MacMadame]

I want to see the Mean Girls musical too!

 

[screech]

I'm interested to see what Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond will do with putting the movie into a musical. I'm not overwhelmed by the cast (except maybe Kerry Butler), but I'm cautiously optimistic?

I hated the movie Frozen - it was so overrated and the songs were not usual Disney quality (and Let it Go was so shrieky and annoying). Which is odd to me, because I love Bobby Lopez' work in Avenue Q and Book of Mormon. Hopefully Broadway is better, though the cast looks pretty old for the parts.

I'm really hoping the Barrington Stage Company production of "Company" which played this past month will get a Broadway Run. Apparently Aaron Tveit's run as Bobby has been hailed as Tony-worthy.

Also wondering if/when there'll be any news on the revival of Singin' in the Rain that Derek Hough is supposed to be starring in. It was supposed to open late last year or early this year, but was delayed due to a lack of available theatres. But still no word.

And Jersey Boys is coming back (after being closed for only a year). I loved the show when I saw it in London. Hopefully they get a new cast that does it justice, or maybe it'll help jump start the careers of new stars like the original did (Andrew Rannells made his first performance at the Tonys in 2009 as part of a replacement Broadway cast as Bob Gaudio)

 

[DannyCurry]

I'm back in Paris, those 10 days in NYC were wonderful..
As I must have stated earlier, I loved the quality of Broadway productions, both musicals and plays.
What I didn't like was the noisy audience, which is so annoying. I'm fine with people eating as long as it's before the performance or during intermission. Unfortunately, some people just do it during the performance. Out the 5 shows I've seen, there was only one where people were respectful (and that was at the tiny loft of the Davenport theatre, because 3 naked men onstage were enough of an eye candy ).

Still, some amazing shows. I loved TLK, really liked Miss Saigon, and well, Chicago was very good too (though, honestly, I was asleep most of the time for that one, even if Lana Gordon's stare was pretty intimidating haha). The women in Chicago were not so young anymore, so kudos to them on being in such great shape !

However, my favorite musicals are still Wicked and Billy Elliot, that I had seen in the UK.

BTW, feel free to talk about any musical. I had put Broadway in the title of the thread because I was looking for advice on current productions (and again, thanks everyone for all the tips and suggestions) but I'll well aware that it's not the only place with great shows.

 

[BelleBway]

Found out that my (straight, male) friend who I went with last night loves Broadway so I might have a Broadway buddy again.

Oh and I definitely want to see the Mean Girls musical

If you ever find yourself in need of a Broadway buddy, I'd definitely love to join you for a show so we could finally meet in person.

And I'm also curious about Mean Girls.

 

[oleada]

If you ever find yourself in need of a Broadway buddy, I'd definitely love to join you for a show so we could finally meet in person.

And I'm also curious about Mean Girls.

I'd love to! Let me know when you are seeing Come from Away again. Or really, anything else too.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

Mean Girls is premiering here in DC and am toying with going in November. I do think Jeff Richmond is talented and am curious if he can really pull off a musical.

 

[gkelly]

I'm back in Paris, those 10 days in NYC were wonderful.

BTW, feel free to talk about any musical. I had put Broadway in the title of the thread because I was looking for advice on current productions (and again, thanks everyone for all the tips and suggestions) but I'll well aware that it's not the only place with great shows.

What is the theatre scene like in Paris?

 

[BelleBway]

I'd love to! Let me know when you are seeing Come from Away again. Or really, anything else too.

I mean if you want to see it, I will pretty much be glad to go on any wknd day when I don't already have plans. I usually don't plan far in advance so right now I have nothing booked.

 

[DannyCurry]

I usually don't enjoy going to musicals in Paris (or around) because it would either be a French production (Notre Dame de Paris, Les Dix Commandements, Robin des Bois for instance) which do not interest me or because the French version would be of lesser quality (TLK, Mamma Mia) with a smaller stage or some performers who are not as strong overall as in the UK or in the US.

I was ok with Frankenstein Junior (inspired by Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein) but mainly because a friend was a lead. I do have high hopes for Singin In the Rain at the Grand Palais in a few months though, and I would have gone to West Side Story if it had not been at La Seine Musicale (really uncomfortable seats, plus it takes me too much time to get there).

Otherwise, you have some really good places for plays (Théâtre du Rond point, La Cartoucherie), but here too you can't avoid the people making pointless comments or checking their cellphones. The same goes for ballets, operas and classical music concerts, only with the added coughing to no end audience..

 

[screech]

Hamilton (and Grease Live)'s Jordan Fisher is on Dancing with the Stars this season. He tied for the highest score of the night in the first week of dances.

In other news, a few Broadway musicals closed in the last few weeks:

- Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 closed the first week of September. Ticket sales had been going down after Josh Groban announced his departure in July, so they got a Hamilton alum to take over the part, but they still weren't up, so they recruited Mandy Patinken to come in for a bit, and people online made it into a big race issue (since Oak, the Hamilton guy was being replaced by a white guy). The negative press helped lead to the closure.

- Groundhog Day closed this week. A tour is starting next year. I hope to get to see it. I wanted to see it when I was in NYC recently, but the friend I was with had no desire to do so.

- Bandstand closed the same day as Groundhog Day after only 160ish performances (plus previews). It did win the Tony for choreography, though.

Luckily, new shows are coming up in the next few months, including Once on this Island, a Spongebob Squarepants musical, a Jimmy Butffett musical, a revival of Carousel (staring Tony winner Jessie Mueller, and Hamilton and Scotsboro Boys' Joshua Henry), a revival of My Fair Lady (no casting announcements yet - this one will be tough to get right), and of course Mean Girls, and Frozen.

 

[oleada]

I mean if you want to see it, I will pretty much be glad to go on any wknd day when I don't already have plans. I usually don't plan far in advance so right now I have nothing booked.

I will be away for the next 3 weeks but after my schedule is pretty free

 

[screech]

So casting has been announced for the My Fair Lady musical.

Eliza Doolittle - Lauren Ambrose (I didn't know she could sing!) Best known from Six Feet Under, Can't Hardly Wait
Henry Higgins - Harry Hadden-Paton (best known from Downton Abbey)
Alfred P. Doolittle - Norbert Leo Butz (2x Tony winner for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Catch Me If You Can)
Mrs. Doolittle - Diana Rigg (I'm not familiar with her, but she was in the 60s 'The Avengers' TV show and won a Tony for the play Medea)

 

[VGThuy]

So casting has been announced for the My Fair Lady musical.

Eliza Doolittle - Lauren Ambrose (I didn't know she could sing!) Best known from Six Feet Under, Can't Hardly Wait
Henry Higgins - Harry Hadden-Paton (best known from Downton Abbey)
Alfred P. Doolittle - Norbert Leo Butz (2x Tony winner for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Catch Me If You Can)
Mrs. Doolittle - Diana Rigg (I'm not familiar with her, but she was in the 60s 'The Avengers' TV show and won a Tony for the play Medea)

Must be the first time we have an Eliza that's older than Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. I know it sort of goes against the text, but I think Ambrose reads younger AND I sort of like it because I'm so sick of the old man/young ingenue dynamic.

 

[screech]

And Christopher Gattelli is doing the choreography for My Fair Lady. The only work of his I know is Newsies, for which he (absolutely deservingly) won the choreography Tony. The dancing in that show was AMAZING! I hope his work for My Fair Lady is just as good.

 

[Tinami Amori]

I'd go for Anastasia, Cats, and Phantom..... but the list does not contain several others i would recommend.

A question to people in the know: Are there any reasons why The Mikado and Flower Drum Song are not presented for several decades? Copyrights issues?

 

[VGThuy]

I'd go for Anastasia, Cats, and Phantom..... but the list does not contain several others i would recommend.

A question to people in the know: Are there any reasons why The Mikado and Flower Drum Song are not presented for several decades? Copyrights issues?

You mean on Broadway? Flower Drum Song had a revival in 2002-2003 starring Lea Salogna with a wholly new book by David Henry Hwang and major changes approved by the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein estates. It didn't do well financially and thus will probably never be revived again unless someone was game enough to do it and probably with the original book. The music and story of this show isn't seen as good as other R&H shows...it's like on the level of Allegro, Me & Juliet, and other "lesser" R&H shows that don't get revived too often or ever.

The Mikado and other Gilbert & Sullivan was never a major fixture on Broadway but I'm sure there are productions of it and other Gilbert & Sullivan shows in New York throughout the year.

 

[MacMadame]

Mrs. Doolittle - Diana Rigg (I'm not familiar with her, but she was in the 60s 'The Avengers' TV show and won a Tony for the play Medea)

She's amazing!

And she was in Game of Thrones for a few seasons.

 

[Kruss]

She's amazing!

And she was in Game of Thrones for a few seasons.

She also turned in a rather chilling performance years ago in Mother Love, a mini-series that I saw on PBS. Fantastic.

 

[VGThuy]

For this coming season, I have My Fair Lady, Carousel, Once on This Island, and M. Butterfly on my must-see list with maybe some plays being added depending on the reviews (I have no hope nor real desire to see Harry Potter this year or the next). All revivals so far and anything new will probably be plays.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

Carousel is one of my all time favorites. I can't even count how many times I've seen it over the years.

Not on Broadway, but we went to see Fun Home last weekend. It was very moving & I'm still thinking about it. I wonder if they would ever develop a sequel because she also did a graphic novel about the mother.

 

[VGThuy]

Carousel is one of my all time favorites. I can't even count how many times I've seen it over the years.

Not on Broadway, but we went to see Fun Home last weekend. It was very moving & I'm still thinking about it. I wonder if they would ever develop a sequel because she also did a graphic novel about the mother.

I absolutely loved Fun Home. One of the best new works Broadway has produced. I'm glad it found success when it's not the type of material that usually can turn a profit.

 

[Tinami Amori]

You mean on Broadway? Flower Drum Song had a revival in 2002-2003 starring Lea Salogna with a wholly new book by David Henry Hwang and major changes approved by the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein estates..

Oy.... i just read all i could about "that situation".. Mey-Lee was turned into a daughter of anti-communist, and the Aunt is a businesswoman.......... ok...... That's like USSR back in the days. They used to take a "western story" with business people and socialites as characters, and turned them itno "communists" and "farm girls" to suite the "ideology"...... ..... Political correctness my foot.

QUESTION: What do you think of "Kiss of a Spiderwoman" on stage?
Chita Rivera.... sooner or later...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VSAtVzGvxo
(i thought Johnny someday might skate to the title song)....

 

[VGThuy]

You know I get annoyed by people getting mad at "political correctness" but in this case I really agree with you. I wasn't a fan of that whole thing either. I think there were some interesting themes in that changed version that spoke to the Asian-American community that I think Henry David Hwang should have just written an original piece centering around those themes.

I'm not a fan of totally changing classic works to meet today's sensibilities because I feel like if you're going to do an older piece, you should just do it as is. If the material is so dated and won't past muster with the communities it represents today, then just don't do it. I get that the original material is problematic in some ways, but I still think it was a whole lot better than what they turned it into. I think if the Estates of Rodgers and Hammerstein allowed changes, then they should have just kept the original story and characters and change the jokes, add some new dialogue, add new dimensions, etc., but not make it into an entirely new and ultimately inferior butchered thing. Plus they cut Sammy Hong and the song "Sunday" which are two of my favorite things in the original.

It's like when they changed Gigi two or so seasons ago and it's like, if you have to make that many changes to the material, then you really shouldn't do it.

Now, I'm not saying new directors/actors can't find new angles and subtext that they can pull from the original book, music, characters, and highlight new things to make the piece seem new or refreshing or offer a new and interesting and even deeper take on the work. But I'm against butchering of any kind or changing the substance of the material or putting something there that changes the entire meaning of the material.

 

[Tinami Amori]

It's like when they changed Gigi two or so seasons ago and it's like, if you have to make that many changes to the material, then you really shouldn't do it..

Pray tell me, what did they change in Gigi? she is now a girl-scout? and her mother is a VP of major corporation trying to get her an internship instead of a wealthy lover?

 

[VGThuy]

Pray tell me, what did they change in Gigi? she is now a girl-scout?

Changed Gigi and Gaston's ages so they were nearly the same age and she's 18 instead of 15, made her aunt and grandma sing "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" as they feared an old man singing it would be creepy to today's audiences (which is a fair point but having two old ladies sing about little girls can still be lechery but in a different way), cleaned up the aspect that Gigi was being groomed to be a courtesan (it was still there but very vague and downplayed), santified/Disneyfied it, and had Gaston propose to Gigi herself rather than ask her grandmother for her hand (again probably a fair choice as people today probably wouldn't get over Gigi's lack of autonomy) among other things. Like I said, if that many changes had to be made, then maybe it doesn't need to be made today. Plus, it didn't make any money so it wasn't a sound business decision anyway. I think anybody could have foreseen that this wouldn't have made much money because I doubt too many people are interested in this material these days.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Changed Gigi and Gaston's ages so they were nearly the same age and she's 18 instead of 15, made her aunt and grandma sing "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" as they feared an old man singing it would be creepy to today's audiences (which is a fair point but having two old ladies sing about little girls can still be lechery but in a different way), cleaned up the aspect that Gigi was being groomed to be a courtesan (it was still there but very vague and downplayed), santified/Disneyfied it, and had Gaston propose to Gigi herself rather than ask her grandmother for her hand (again probably a fair choice as people today probably wouldn't get over Gigi's lack of autonomy) among other things. Like I said, if that many changes had to be made, then maybe it doesn't need to be made today. Plus, it didn't make any money so it wasn't a sound business decision anyway. I think anybody could have foreseen that this wouldn't have made much money because I doubt too many people are interested in this material these days.

Re: Like I said, if that many changes had to be made, then maybe it doesn't need to be made today. I say 100% correct!

Interesting, and predictable changes though.. But i think the material would be interesting to theatre goers today, perhaps IF the production had more "pageantry of Gay Paris" and group numbers in elaborate costumes.

Another question (rare opportunity to ask such from a theatre expert): Do you know why in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, they substituted "Bring on the men" for "Good and Evil"? morality? copy-right issues?

 

[skatesindreams]

Lin-Manuel Miranda interviews Stephen Sondheim:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/...date&nl_art=3&nlid=69275138&ref=headline&te=1

Sondheim was a mentor to him.
They have been friends for some time.

 

[bardtoob]

..... ok...... That's like USSR back in the days. They used to take a "western story" with business people and socialites as characters, and turned them itno "communists" and "farm girls" to suite the "ideology"......

My Fair Lady would be hilarious under these constraints . . . Maybe Henry would learn how to work for a living from Eliza so he could be a functional member of society ...