Broadway musicals

[PatChan4O]

Heard outside the theater where Pamela Anderson is currently starring in ‘Chicago’:

”Who’s next? Tonya Harding?”

 

[VGThuy]

To be honest, Roxie is kind of the perfect character for those types of celebs. The revival already cut down on the choreo and ever since Melanie Griffith got a rave in the New York Times for replacing singing and dancing with sheer personality and charisma, these types of celebs fit right in now. Thankfully, the last time I took my sister to see Chicago, we saw the extremely talented and amazing Bianca Marroquin. She danced up a storm and even outshined the actress playing Velma, who usually gets the applause for the dancing and singing aspects.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Heard outside the theater where Pamela Anderson is currently starring in ‘Chicago’:

”Who’s next? Tonya Harding?”

I would totally pay to see Tonya Harding in Chicago. Of course, they'd probably need to rename the musical DETROIT during her run. Just because.

 

[orbitz]

I can see Tonya Harding playing Mama Morton. She can even speak-sing instead of full out singing, LOL.
I'm curious to see how Pamela does in Chicago, but I wouldn't shell out money to see it though.

NY Post Review

I can now attest that the actress and “Baywatch” babe moves confidently, carries a tune and, you know, all that jazz.

Anderson sings her big solos — “Funny Honey,” “Roxie” and “Me and My Baby” — just fine. She won’t be headlining Carnegie Hall in September, OK, but she acts the songs with vulnerability and a hint of Marilyn Monroe flirting and hits all the notes.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

I can see Tonya Harding playing Mama Morton. She can even speak-sing instead of full out singing, LOL.
I'm curious to see how Pamela does in Chicago, but I wouldn't shell out money to see it though.

Is it not the theatrical convention that the part of Mama Morton is generally played by a Black actress?

 

[orbitz]

I think that's true. I last saw Chicago on B'Way in 2001. Mama Morton was played by an African American actress. Was it Jennifer Holiday? Queen Latifa played the role in the movie version.
I do wonder though if there would be protests if a white actress is in the role instead.

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

I think that's true. I last saw Chicago on B'Way in 2001. Mama Morton was played by an African American actress. Was it Jennifer Holiday? Queen Latifa played the role in the movie version.
I do wonder though if there would be protests if a white actress is in the role instead.

Answering my own question - Mama Morton was played by a White actress (Mary McCarty) in the original Broadway production and in the initial casting of the 1996 revival (Marcia Lewis).

Chicago (musical) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A list of actresses who have played Mama Morton on Broadway since the 1996 revival production opened (several are Black, some are not):

• Matron "Mama" Morton: Kandi Burruss, B.J. Crosby, Larisa Dolina, Debbie Gravitte, Jennifer Holliday, Cady Huffman, NeNe Leakes, Adriane Lenox, Debra Monk, Anne L. Nathan, Bebe Neuwirth, Michele Pawk, Christine Pedi, Roz Ryan, Camille Saviola, Valerie Simpson, Angie Stone, Mary Testa, Aida Turturro, Sofía Vergara, Lillias White, Terri White, Wendy Williams, Chandra Wilson, Carol Woods

 

[overedge]

To be honest, Roxie is kind of the perfect character for those types of celebs. The revival already cut down on the choreo and ever since Melanie Griffith got a rave in the New York Times for replacing singing and dancing with sheer personality and charisma, these types of celebs fit right in now.

But at least Melanie Griffith has some acting skills. Maybe Pamela Anderson was in a live stage show when she was in school or something, but AFAIK she has no experience in live theatre, much less in singing or dancing onstage. She's great at being Pamela Anderson, and she certainly has the life experience of being a notorious celebrity, but I wouldn't pay to see her in this show.

 

[VGThuy]

But at least Melanie Griffith has some acting skills. Maybe Pamela Anderson was in a live stage show when she was in school or something, but AFAIK she has no experience in live theatre, much less in singing or dancing onstage. She's great at being Pamela Anderson, and she certainly has the life experience of being a notorious celebrity, but I wouldn't pay to see her in this show.

Pamela Anderson is an actress...not sure if she's a good one, but did get her start as an actress. Apparently, she's serviceable in the role and was able to sing the songs well enough from the review above. She probably, and sadly, isn't going to be the worst stunt casting this revival has had. It's the longest running American musical in history and has had its history of truly bizarre stunt casting just to keep the show alive. Many of the past celebs that played Roxie didn't have much in the way of acting experience either, so Pam Anderson is just more of the same except Pam Anderson is actually one of the much more known actors they got to stunt cast.

I'm just glad that all the times I've seen it, I saw real Broadway actresses in the role. When I took my sister and saw Bianca Marroquin, it was during a week when Melanie B aka Scary Spice was off during her 3 or so month-long engagement and I was so happy with the timing. Before, I saw the exquisite Charlotte D'ambroise. I'm glad I never saw a celeb in it, though I kind of wish I saw someone else when Amra-Faye Wright played Velma opposite D'ambroise. Wright may be a theatre-trained and experienced B/C-string actor but she's been in the show for far too long and you can tell she's been over it for some years.

 

[overedge]

Pamela Anderson is an actress...not sure if she's a good one, but did get her start as an actress.

She got her start as an actress running around in a red swimsuit on a TV show. The red swimsuit was more convincing in its role than she was in hers.

Acting on TV is very, very different from acting on stage. She has no stage experience that I'm aware of.

Apparently, she's serviceable in the role and was able to sing the songs well enough from the review above. She probably, and sadly, isn't going to be the worst stunt casting this revival has had. It's the longest running American musical in history and has had its history of truly bizarre stunt casting just to keep the show alive.

I get that this is stunt casting and that this show does stunt casting. But personally as a theatre-goer I wouldn't pay to see someone who has zero stage experience and hasn't shown much acting skill at anything she's done. I especially wouldn't pay Broadway ticket prices to see them in a musical.

 

[VGThuy]

She got her start as an actress running around in a red swimsuit on a TV show. The red swimsuit was more convincing in its role than she was in hers.

Acting on TV is very, very different from acting on stage. She has no stage experience that I'm aware of it.



I get that this is stunt casting and that this show does stunt casting. But personally as a theatre-goer I wouldn't pay to see someone who has zero stage experience and hasn't shown much acting skill at anything she's done. I especially wouldn't pay Broadway ticket prices to see them in a musical.

I totally get that. I would never pay money to see a no-experience celeb tackle on the role just to see a celeb. Now, if there was an actual actress who was making their stage debut because for whatever reason they never were able to get prior stage experience and knocks it out of the park based on actual skill, then I would pay to see that but that's not just seeing a celeb just to see a celeb.

 

[PatChan4O]

FWIW, Chicago’s box office for last week was up $286,100 from the previous week, with a 92.97% capacity and average ticket price of $103.23, if I’m reading the chart right:

Broadway Grosses, Broadway Box Office - 4/17/2022

Broadway Grosses for all currently running Broadway shows and theatres including all Broadway box office stats.

www.broadwayworld.com

As for any controversy, nothing but nothing can compare to Beanie Feldstein’s Funny Girl, which is selling out in previews but has the Broadway Boards ballistic regarding her merits (or lack of).

 

[MacMadame]

She got her start as an actress running around in a red swimsuit on a TV show.

That's where she came to fame but she does have some acting credits before that.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

As for any controversy, nothing but nothing can compare to Beanie Feldstein’s Funny Girl, which is selling out in previews but has the Broadway Boards ballistic regarding her merits (or lack of).

Critics are having a field day roasting Beanie, mostly being unfavorably compared to Streisand in their reviews.

I am reminded of when Chait and Sakhnovski skated to Bolero, and Dick Button said, "If you're gonna sing the national anthem, make sure you're Whitney Houston and not Rosanne Barr."

I always found Feldstein an unusual and risky choice, and it also baffles me that Richard Linklater chose her to lead my favourite musical, Merrily We Roll Along, in the version he is filming. Although, Beanie was very good doing snippets of MWRA in Lady Bird.

But in that movie, she was portraying a teenager in a high school musical.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

TBH, at this point Chicago on Broadway is just functioning as a tourist trap. I think you'd get a much better production from a local professional or semi-professional theatre.

 

[canbelto]

I saw Into the Woods last night at NY City Center. It was awesome!!!

Encores' Into the Woods Fulfills Every Wish

Into the Woods cast, photo @ Sara Krulwich Every once in a blue moon, a performance is so wonderful that the entire evening is an exchange...

humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com

 

[bardtoob]

Who’s next? Tonya Harding?”

would totally pay to see Tonya Harding in Chicago. Of course, they'd probably need to rename the musical DETROIT during her run. Just because.

I can see Tonya Harding playing Mama Morton.

A musical adaption of "I, Tonya" would be fun

 

[VGThuy]

Tony Award Nominees 2022



Best New Musical
Girl From the North Country
MJ
Mr. Saturday Night
Paradise Square
Six: The Musical
A Strange Loop

Best Musical Revival
Caroline, or Change
Company
The Music Man

Best New Play
Clyde’s
Hangmen
Skeleton Crew
The Lehman Trilogy
The Minutes

Best Play Revival
American Buffalo
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
How I Learned to Drive
Take Me Out
Trouble in Mind

Best Original Score
“Flying Over Sunset,” music by Tom Kitt; lyrics by Michael Korie
“Mr. Saturday Night,” music by Jason Robert Brown; lyrics by Amanda Green
“Paradise Square,” music by Jason Howland and Larry Kirwan; lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare
“Six: The Musical,” music and lyrics: Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss
“A Strange Loop,” music and lyrics: Michael R. Jackson

Best Direction of a Play
Lileana Blain-Cruz, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Camille A. Brown, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
Sam Mendes, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Neil Pepe, “American Buffalo”
Les Waters, “Dana H.”

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, “A Strange Loop”
Marianne Elliott, “Company”
Conor McPherson, “Girl From the North Country”
Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, “Six: The Musical”
Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”

Best Leading Actor in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Adam Godley, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Adrian Lester, “The Lehman Trilogy”
David Morse, “How I Learned to Drive”
Sam Rockwell, “American Buffalo”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Lackawanna Blues”
David Threlfall, “Hangmen”

Best Leading Actress in a Play
Gabby Beans, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
LaChanze, “Trouble in Mind”
Ruth Negga, “Macbeth”
Deirdre O’Connell, “Dana. H”
Mary-Louise Parker, “How I Learned to Drive”

Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Billy Crystal, “Mr. Saturday Night”
Myles Frost, “MJ”
Hugh Jackman, “The Music Man”
Rob McClure, “Mrs. Doubtfire”
Jaquel Spivey, “A Strange Loop”

Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Sharon D Clarke, “Caroline, Or Change”
Carmen Cusack, “Flying Over Sunset”
Sutton Foster, “The Music Man”
Joaquina Kalukango, “Paradise Square”
Mare Winningham, “Girl From the North Country”

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Alfie Allen, “Hangmen”
Chuck Cooper, “Trouble in Mind”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Take Me Out”
Ron Cephas Jones, “Clyde’s”
Michael Oberholtzer, “Take Me Out”
Jesse Williams, “Take Me Out”

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Uzo Aduba, “Clyde’s”
Rachel Dratch, “POTUS”
Kenita R. Miller, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
Phylicia Rashad, “Skeleton Crew”
Julie White, “POTUS”
Kara Young, “Clyde’s”

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Matt Doyle, “Company”
Sidney DuPont, “Paradise Square”
Jared Grimes, “Funny Girl”
John-Andrew Morrison, “A Strange Loop”
A.J. Shively, “Paradise Square”

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Jeannette Bayardelle, “Girl From the North Country”
Shoshana Bean, “Mr. Saturday Night”
Jayne Houdyshell, “The Music Man”
L Morgan Lee, “A Strange Loop”
Patti LuPone, “Company"
Jennifer Simard, “Company”

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, “POTUS”
Es Devlin, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Anna Fleischle, “Hangmen”
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, “Skeleton Crew”
Scott Pask, “American Buffalo”
Adam Rigg, “The Skin of Our Teeth”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, “Flying Over Sunset”
Bunny Christie, “Company”
Arnulfo Maldonado, “A Strange Loop”
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, “MJ”
Allen Moyer, “Paradise Square”

Best Costume Design of a Play
Montana Levi Blanco, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Sarafina Bush, “Pass Over”
Jane Greenwood, “Plaza Suite”
Jennifer Moeller, “Clyde’s”
Emilio Sosa, “Skeleton Crew”

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Fly Davis, “Caroline, or Change”
Toni-Leslie James, “Paradise Square”
William Ivey Long, “Diana, the Musical”
Santo Loquasto, “The Music Man”
Gabriella Slade, “Six: The Musical”
Paul Tazewell, “MJ”

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Joshua Carr, “Hangmen”
Jiyoun Chang, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
Jon Clark, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Jane Cox, “Macbeth”
Yi Zhao, “The Skin of Our Teeth”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin, “Company”
Tim Deiling, “Six: The Musical”
Donald Holder, “Paradise Square”
Natasha Katz, “MJ”
Bradley King, “Flying Over Sunset”
Jen Schriever, “A Strange Loop”

Best Sound Design of a Play
Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, “The Lehman Trilogy”
Justin Ellington, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
Mikhail Fiksel, “Dana H.”
Palmer Hefferan, “The Skin of Our Teeth”
Mikaal Sulaiman, “Macbeth”

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Simon Baker, “Girl From the North Country”
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, “Company”
Paul Gatehouse, “Six: The Musical”
Drew Levy, “A Strange Loop”
Gareth Owen, “MJ”

Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf”
Warren Carlyle, “The Music Man”
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, “Six: The Musical”
Bill T. Jones, “Paradise Square”
Christopher Wheeldon, “MJ”

Best Orchestrations
David Cullen, “Company”
Tom Curran, “Six: The Musical”
Simon Hale, “Girl From the North Country”
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, “MJ”
Charlie Rosen, “A Strange Loop”

 

[Stefanie]

Disappointed that “Plaza Suite” wasn’t nominated for anything but costumes…

 

[PatChan4O]

No Katrina Lenk? Go Patti LuPone.

 

[orbitz]

Nothing for "Funny Girl" ? Or does that show qualify for next season nomination instead ?

 

[Wyliefan]

Nothing for "Funny Girl" ? Or does that show qualify for next season nomination instead ?

Jared Grimes got a Best Featured Actor nomination.

 

[overedge]

I hope the broadcast this year will have more musical numbers/excerpts from shows than it did last year.

 

[VGThuy]

Nothing for "Funny Girl" ? Or does that show qualify for next season nomination instead ?

Jared Grimes got a Best Featured Actor nomination.

After reading those reviews, I wasn't surprised.

 

[screech]

I have to say, I feel kind of bad for Jesse Williams and everyone else involved with Take Me Out, that the show's nominations are being overshadowed by the photos/videos being posted online.
Phone usage is not permitted in theatres under normal circumstances. To take and post photos and videos of actors in the nude is absolutely a violation of their privacy. Especially since for privacy purposes for this show, audience members are required to lock their phones and other devices in Yondr pouches during the show.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Anyone watching the Tony Awards?

 

[Wyliefan]

I'm watching on and off while I work on some other stuff. The musical numbers have mostly been very good so far. But I must say, trying to refresh the Broadway World board tonight has given me a WHOLE new appreciation for FSU. This board held up so much better during the Olympics (except during Nathan's performances) than that board has tonight.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

The Billy Crystal performance was SO boring for me and the audience was loving it.

 

[Badams]

I'm watching, because my daughter is completely obsessed with Six. Covid quarantine was spent with her listening to the soundtrack all day, everyday. So, needless to say, we all know every word to every song. She's impatiently waiting for the performance. I enjoyed the MJ performance. And A Strange Loop. Not so much the others, so far.

 

[Badams]

And, wow! Paradise Square! That was amazing!