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Post by mamaleh on Apr 29, 2013 20:35:46 GMT -5
I can't remember when they didn't announce a host by this time. The other day someone on AllThatChat opined that the host would be THE BIG BANG THEORY's Jim Parsons, who was in HARVEY and THE NORMAL HEART on Broadway last season. Or perhaps they're going with the no-host concept?
Ellen
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Post by Jamie on Apr 29, 2013 21:40:38 GMT -5
I can't remember when they didn't announce a host by this time. The other day someone on AllThatChat opined that the host would be THE BIG BANG THEORY's Jim Parsons, who was in HARVEY and THE NORMAL HEART on Broadway last season. Or perhaps they're going with the no-host concept? Ellen Wandering around trying to figure out how to write on the new board format. In the meantime, I hope with the nominations tomorrow morning, they might indicate who will be the MC for the show. |
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Post by carouselkathy on Apr 30, 2013 8:08:36 GMT -5
Just watched the Tony noms on line. So happy for Stephanie J. Block! Also delighted to see Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA revival get so many nominations. Word has it that Andrea Martin in PIPPIN is terrific. Wish I could be there and see everything. Still no word about who the host will be.
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Post by mamaleh on Apr 30, 2013 23:47:24 GMT -5
I second that about Andrea Martin, Kathy. She absolutely steals the show. She even got a standing O at the conclusion of her big number, "No Time At All." Reminds me of a certain Broadway superstar who has been known to generate such a frenzy from time to time.  Ellen |
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Post by JH4HJ on May 2, 2013 10:22:25 GMT -5
I can't remember when they didn't announce a host by this time. The other day someone on AllThatChat opined that the host would be THE BIG BANG THEORY's Jim Parsons, who was in HARVEY and THE NORMAL HEART on Broadway last season. Or perhaps they're going with the no-host concept? I'd enjoy seeing Jim Parsons host the Tonys (assuming Hugh is unavailable  ). I became curious about him when he did Harvey (a long time fave of mine) and have been playing "catch up" with reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It took me a while to get into it, but I'm loving some of the tongue twisting dialog he spouts. It's hard to believe he just turned 40. He looks like a college kid to me. Ellen, I'm green with envy over your recently seen shows. Sorry I missed Ann, which was just barely starting previews during my last trip. I'd love to see The Nance - I'd really love to see Nathan Lane having a field day with a role like that. I'm sad to miss Bette Midler on stage, even if she is glued to a couch for this one. I'm hoping there will be a commercial DVD, as there are with many of her shows (or at least a bootleg, if nothing else). I haven't seen her LIVE on stage in decades. ... and Pippin - I saw the original production of that one! Oh heck, I'd like to see everything, but "geography" gets in the way. dagnabit. Tangent: for those who've asked (and those who didn't) my Avatar is the "combo" version with a shot of my backyard (OK, it's actually a few miles north of here) used as background. |
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Post by birchie on May 4, 2013 13:32:47 GMT -5
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Post by mamaleh on May 5, 2013 18:57:59 GMT -5
Valerie, it helps to take advantage of standing room, which, depending on the fire laws in the particular theater, is often available at sold-out hit shows. Rush helps save $$, too, although that method can sometimes require waiting in line early in the morning. Once in a while, one-person shows make their way to PBS. Unfortunately, Bette's no-holds-barred portrayal of the feisty Sue Mengers will not likely do so owing to the very salty (but very funny) language; maybe Showtime or HBO? In any case, agreed; a DVD would be great. I could more readily see ANN as a PBS Great Performances or Live from Lincoln Center presentation.
By the way, I like your custom avatar.
Ellen
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Post by mamaleh on May 6, 2013 20:35:15 GMT -5
The past week took me from the ridiculous to the sublime. I start with the ridiculous: the notion that ADDICTED TO SHOW BUSINESS was stage-worthy. Ugh. Writer-comedian-former child actor Dave Konig assumes various personae to tell the story of his lifelong obsession with show business. Most of his bits landed with a thud, and it all adds up to "who cares?" Ninety minutes of torture.
Things began looking up with another Off-Broadway offering, ACCORDING TO GOLDMAN--as in William Goldman's famous dictum about predicting what movies will be successful: "Nobody knows anything." This quirky drama with musical highlights recalls the magic of the era when movies were truly on a silver screen. Plot: A faded screenwriter is teaching a course in his former trade when he meets a student from an unusual background whose knowledge of movie lore eclipses even the teacher's. The student--played by a hearing-impaired young actor who steals the show--has a great original idea for a movie. Whaddya know, the teacher desperately needs a new idea to restore his former career. There are intriguing twists and turns, audio clips of Astaire at his most charming, a little dancing and a satisfying ending. Not a great play, but an enjoyable semi-gem.
Thanks to a contest, I won tickets to a play I hadn't given much thought to seeing. But THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL turned out to be a smile-inducing evening at the theater. I could not get over how 80-something Cicely Tyson not only memorized all those lines but also engaged in a lot of physical bits that would have left me tired. Go, Cicely! I'd never seen any previous treatment of the story, which concerns an elderly woman who wants to see her birthplace hundreds of miles away before she dies. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is the son who tries to dissuade her, and Vanessa Williams is the daughter-in-law whose primary interest in her husband's mother has to do with the latter's pension check. Tom Wopat appears briefly as an understanding Texas sheriff. It's a sweet, sassy, funny and often touching character study with fine performances throughout.
THE LAST FIVE YEARS, a sung-through musical from 2002, is being revived at Second Stage and is as wry, sad and tuneful as ever.The story of a five-year marriage that crumbled is told in alternate solos by the young wife and husband. She sings her side of their relationship beginning with their breakup; his songs begin with their first meeting. The staging is creative and the performers, Betsy Wolfe (DROOD) and Adam Kantor, have great voices.
Bette Midler is the ideal actress to play the larger-than-life superagent pf the '60s and '70s, Sue Mengers, in I'LL EAT YOU LAST. Draped in a flowing blue caftan and seemingly glued to her couch in her gorgeous Beverly Hills living room (the set was eye-popping), the brash and ballsy Mengers held court in her heyday, throwing sumptuous dinner parties with one rule: only superstars need attend. Plenty of hilarious and often quite ribald wisecracks and anecdotes about such luminaries as Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Ali McGraw, Steve McQueen (no love lost there) and especially her old friend Barbra Streisand keep the scant 80 minutes going at a rapid pace. There's even some audience participation that I have a feeling always involves, as it did at the performance I attended, a good-looking young guy spotted by Bette/Sue. A fun show--if you're not offended by a barrage of deftly delivered four-letter words.
Ellen
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Post by Jamie on May 7, 2013 6:58:58 GMT -5
Thanks to a contest, I won tickets to a play I hadn't given much thought to seeing. But THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL turned out to be a smile-inducing evening at the theater. I could not get over how 80-something Cicely Tyson not only memorized all those lines but also engaged in a lot of physical bits that would have left me tired. Go, Cicely! I'd never seen any previous treatment of the story, which concerns an elderly woman who wants to see her birthplace hundreds of miles away before she dies. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is the son who tries to dissuade her, and Vanessa Williams is the daughter-in-law whose primary interest in her husband's mother has to do with the latter's pension check. Tom Wopat appears briefly as an understanding Texas sheriff. It's a sweet, sassy, funny and often touching character study with fine performances throughout. Ellen I'm jealous about this one. I loved Geraldine Page in the original 1985 movie. It is such a beautiful sensitive story and Cecily Tyson has always been one of my favorite actresses. |
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Post by mamaleh on May 13, 2013 8:43:45 GMT -5
Some recent theatergoing:
I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF is a fascinating musical history as well as song performance by cabaret entertainer Mark Nadler. His focus is on the popular songs of the '20s-early '30s Weimar Republic and its aftermath in Germany, along with American songs from the same era. I hadn't realized how open-minded Germany was in the prewar period. Songs about the gay lifestyle that would be banned not too many years later were openly sung in clubs, although the theme of being "by myself, alone" (as American songwriters Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz put it) prevailed, as in the show's title song, composed by Kurt Weill, whose works predominate in the show. Nadler relates the theme to his personal story, which is quite touching. But it's an uneven mixture of moods: At one point, Nadler does a Peter Allen-Hugh bit as he sits on an audience member's lap and flirts.
ENCORES!' ON YOUR TOES played for only seven performances in keeping with the Encores! paradigm, which is too bad. I'd like to see this production of the Rodgers & Hart '36 classic moved to a longer run. This delightful musical is a satire on the "serious" ballet vs. "low-brow" jazz conundrum that commercial producers in the '20s and '30s had to contend with. The plot is contrived and rather silly, as with most pre-OKLAHOMA! shows: vaudevillian hoofer boy grows up to be a music professor, falls in love with a comely student (who happens to write songs), is dazzled by a Russian ballerina and returns to his early passion, the dance--with, of course, complications along the way, including a jealous dancer and a gangster. It's all pretty predictable, but the music ("Glad to Be Unhappy," "There's a Small Hotel") is deservedly classic, and the dancing amazing. "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" was impressive enough, but choreographer Warren Carlyle (Hugh's OK! costar and BoB choreographer) outdoes himself in a very creative title number. I never saw the fabled, Tony-winning (for Best Revival and its female star) '83 revival, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I had a goofy smile on my face all evening.
Hubby and I celebrated Mother's Day weekend by deciding to catch MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL. We knew it was sold out so wore comfy sneakers and went via standing room. It's an easy stand, especially in the center. The reviews pretty much tell it like it is: The song performances are mostly entertaining and energetic; the book scenes range from corny to dumb. (That aspect separates this show from, say, JERSEY BOYS.) But that's what happens when the show's creator (Berry Gordy, Jr., Motown Records' founder) has no editor or dramaturg. Still, those scenes are of little consequence; the audience is there for the music and dancing, which obviously counts the most--which explains why Valisia LeKae was Tony-nominated for her Diana Ross; her acting was lackluster although the song performances were quite good. On the other hand, Featured Tony nominee Charl Brown, as Smokey Robinson, excelled in both. One final caveat: I've heard that the kid playing Michael Jackson as a youngster at evening performances is better than the young actor at matinees. I'm inclined to believe it. The show runs about 2:45, but despite the silly book it zips along; you won't mind the length.
I'd been looking forward to Playwrights Horizons' musical version of the movie FAR FROM HEAVEN since I missed its early-version world premiere last summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Now at PH in the city, it has an intimate, chamber-musical feel that serves the material well. Kelli O'Hara plays Cathy (the Julianne Moore role), the ultimate '50s housewife whose world is thrown into a tailspin when she learns her husband's secret. She is in fantastic voice and carries the show. Steven Pasquale sings the role of the husband beautifully (full disclosure: one of my primary motivations to see the show was my appreciation of Pasquale's singing voice, and I was not disappointed; his big number, "I Never Knew," is thrilling). Isaiah Johnson, playing the African American gardener whose relationship with Cathy is viewed as scandalous, also has a powerful instrument, best heard in "The Only One." The lilting, semi-operator score, with lots of sung recitative, is by the GREY GARDENS team, Scott Frankel & Michael Korie. I could see this transferring to Broadway.
Also caught MURDER BALLAD over the weekend. This rock musical, by Juliana Nash, had been downstairs at City Center but recently resumed performances in Union Square in a set redesigned to approximate a bar, complete with pool table. The watchword here is LOUD--it's nonstep, strident rock that blares the tale of a deadly love triangle. It's a wonder that the actors--Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, John Ellison Conlee and narrator-participant Rebecca Naomi Jones--don't emerge from each performance with bruises. They thrash each other around and are knocked into tables and counters for much of the evening. A visceral experience, yes, but I grew tired of the repetitive action: the story could have been told in 20 minutes instead of 80. It has energy and attractive performers, but I found it a bit too much sound and fury, signifying if not nothing, then not as much as the producers were aiming for.
Ellen
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Post by carouselkathy on May 18, 2013 13:07:35 GMT -5
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Post by carouselkathy on May 18, 2013 13:32:24 GMT -5
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jo
Ensemble
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Post by jo on May 18, 2013 22:22:16 GMT -5
If I recall right, Hugh said that the onus of the decision belonged to "FOX 2000" ( a subsidirary of 21st Century Fox - new and updated name by sometime this year), which expressed interest but has not greenlighted it ( meaning, agreed to provide the funds). Hugh has not mentioned it lately, so I am no longer very hopeful about the project. Hopefully, I am totally wrong  Jo |
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Post by carouselkathy on May 18, 2013 23:10:40 GMT -5
If I recall right, Hugh said that the onus of the decision belonged to "FOX 2000" ( a subsidirary of 21st Century Fox - new and updated name by sometime this year), which expressed interest but has not greenlighted it ( meaning, agreed to provide the funds). Hugh has not mentioned it lately, so I am no longer very hopeful about the project. Hopefully, I am totally wrong Jo I knew this has been the status for awhile. I just wondered if Chapin would have anything new to report. Kathy |
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Post by mamaleh on May 19, 2013 9:11:06 GMT -5
I heard about that Kevin Williamson incident. I can understand his motivation, but he did go a bit too far. If house management were more responsive to such provocations, there would be no need for such incidents. I didn't get to the CAROUSEL screening, either. But I do remember watching it on TV when I was a kid. Who doesn't love the deep resonance of Robert Goulet's voice, which could soar to the rafters. Ellen |
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Post by JH4HJ on May 19, 2013 11:39:59 GMT -5
No. Not far enough IMHO. He should have tossed the kid, not just the phone. OK, that would have been a bit too far, but the incessant use of phones - everywhere and anywhere - is starting to annoy me. The last time I was in NYC I sat behind someone who played games on her phone all through Act 1 of Nice Work If You Can Get It. I tapped her on the shoulder a couple of times and motioned for her to put it down. She was holding the phone at eye level - clearly visible to a large section of audience. The ushers must have seen it, but did nothing. At intermission I realized her mother was sitting next to her. I told the mother that if I saw the cell phone again I would take it away from the girl and not return it until the show was over. "It's just a game" was her reply. I told her I'd traveled 2,000 miles and spent a pretty penny for orchestra seats at a Broadway musical and her daughter could play her game when the show was over. "You can't take her phone!" "Oh, no? Just watch me." That worked, but seeing how dense the mother was made me slightly more understanding of the daughter's rudeness. Anyway, I got to enjoy the Act 2 in peace, and a number of my neighbors thanked me at the end of the show. And while we're on this topic - did anyone see the news report about Helen Mirren's reaction to a disturbance outside her theatre a couple of weeks ago? I love this woman! Full article, and a bit of video |
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Post by foxie on May 27, 2013 7:08:29 GMT -5
Has anyone seen Matilda?Some folks I know saw it and said they didn't understand it??
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Post by mamaleh on May 31, 2013 12:13:18 GMT -5
I saw MATILDA in an early preview. The sound design for that show is imperfect, to say the least. Often the musical drowns out the kids' voices. And when they sing in unison, in that English accent, it can be difficult to decipher some lyrics. The lyrics, by the way, are clever and fun, so I'd recommend reading them first, and then seeing the show.
Is that what you meant, Carol, by "didn't understand"? Or did you mean the story itself? For a better understanding of that, see Roald Dahl's book or the movie version.
Caught MACBETH the other evening, a postponed Mother's Day gift from my daughter. She even attended with me. It's essentially, with some exceptions, a one-person show with Alan Cumming doing all the parts. What a tour de force for him. I was exhausted just watching what he goes through. Can't imagine his doing the play on 2-show days! He's a patient in a mental institution who, with a subtle change in tone or how a towel is thrown over his back, enacts everyone, from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth to Macduff, Banquo, Malcolm, etc. I was really surprised Cumming was not nominated for a Tony.
My daughter is so clueless about/uninterested in theater, she had no idea it was not a straightforward version of the Shakespearean play, LOL. She said she probably wouldn't have opted had she known, but she enjoyed it anyway. One caveat: If you haven't read MACBETH in a while, it might be a good idea to refresh yourself on the text so that you know exactly which character is speaking.
Ellen
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jo
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Post by jo on May 31, 2013 18:20:55 GMT -5
Re British accents -- weren't there some problems understanding the Northern England accents( wasn't the setting supposed to be Yorkshire?) when Billy Elliot first played on Broadway? Didn't they bring over some of the British cast? I remember when I first saw it in London that the accents were hard to understand but the dancing was electrifying! Of course, having seen quite a few productions at the West End ( including "the" MOUSETRAP) and having quite a few Brit friends, it has become a little easier for me. I also remember that I listened to BBC a lot in the course of my work, talking to a lot of foreign fund managers ( including those who spoke with the BBC proper received accent) - LOL! Re Shakespearean plays -- before I saw Hamlet on Broadway, I did my homework ... I saw a filmed version ( Richard Burton), bought an annotated copy of the book/play, and tried to imagine how Jude Law would sound, English accent and all. Happily, I sailed through the evening without much problem. Also, I made sure I was seated very close to the front, so I can also see facial expressions, in case the accents stumped me. It also kept me from nodding my head off in the more dull moments -LOL! On another Shakespearean play -- when I went to see Julius Caesar, Denzel's delivery was very disappointing ( he spoke too fast and didn't sound like a classical actor at all) while his more classically-experienced co-stars were impressive. But I could never forget my first time seeing a professional play -- this was in Minnesota, as part of a Fulbright cultural orientation program for students which was hosted by the U of Minn, we were taken to see a play. It was Chekov's Caucasian Chalk Circle -- and I came out not really understanding what I saw - LOL! It was a good thing that when I visited NYC for the first time that someone introduced me to Broadway and it was a musical ( Funny Girl ) -- and the love affair started from there! Jo |
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Post by foxie on May 31, 2013 21:00:41 GMT -5
llen yes the folks I talked to didn't know what Matilda was about They should have known better and read up on it it was a gift but they r big broadway people so they should have!Unfortunately I can't stand Alan Cummings And it is childish but remember "Circle of Friends"?I have never been able to stand him since I saw it!!!
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Post by mamaleh on Jun 7, 2013 13:16:25 GMT -5
NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 is an exhilarating piece of musical theater based on WAR AND PEACE, or at least a segment of it. It's done in gorgeous era-authentic (I think) costumes, although the songs (it's 99 percent sung-through) are contemporary in style. The "theater" is the Kazino nightclub on W. 13th St. near the West Side Highway, and the lighting is fantastic, almost another character of the show. I rushed it for $49, which included a mimosa and a plateful of pierogies. Regular, non-rush tickets cost up to $127 but include a multi-course meal. The staff are also actors in the musical and interact with the patrons, who sit at little tables. I enjoyed this one very much.
If you're in the mood for a sublimely silly and entertaining comedy in a Monty Python-esque style, go see THE EXPLORERS CLUB at City Center (downstairs). It's all "veddy British" and set in a club whose members are a bunch of intrepid if somewhat daft Victorian-era gentlemen who pursue inane hypotheses and discuss their findings at the club. Jennifer Westfeldt (Jon Hamm's girlfriend) is the sole female explorer; her application to the club is not met with favor by elderly misogynistic Bible thumper John McMartin, who is out to prove that the Irish are one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. McMartin, whom I've liked since I was a teenager, is hilarious. Westfeldt brings her living, breathing find to the club, which sets the antics in motion. The set, by the way, is a show in itself.
Ellen
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alma
Auditioning
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Post by alma on Jun 23, 2013 12:39:20 GMT -5
This isn't about any show in particular, but about "Great Performances" on PBS: “Broadway Musicals: a Jewish Legacy” (shown last Friday). Not a new show, of course, but I wish it had been twice as long! Included interviews and video bits about a good number of those I'd just READ about in Stanley Green's World of Musical Comedy.
cancan (the "Chorus Line" icon? giggle )
Alma
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jo
Ensemble
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Post by jo on Jun 23, 2013 17:10:13 GMT -5
cancan cancan cancan Lol - I'd like to think those are the Rockettes, with Hugh/Peter somewhere in there   Jo |
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alma
Auditioning
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Post by alma on Jun 24, 2013 16:37:47 GMT -5
Of course!!! Even the feathers are the right color!!!
8-)
Alma
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Post by carouselkathy on Jul 12, 2013 15:26:17 GMT -5
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). I became curious about him when he did Harvey (a long time fave of mine) and have been playing "catch up" with reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It took me a while to get into it, but I'm loving some of the tongue twisting dialog he spouts. It's hard to believe he just turned 40. He looks like a college kid to me. 
