TBFO - Regional Show(s)

[jo]

I wonder if the regional productions also carry the same dance production numbers ?

In addition to the singing, that also takes a lot for the actor who plays Peter to deliver.

Jo

[mamaleh]

Here's a review of a current production in San Francisco:

www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/sanfran/s1585.html

Ellen

[jo]

Thanks, Ellen.

The name of the reviewer, Richard Connema, sounds familiar.

However --

Director Jon Rosen faultlessly weaves Allen's songs into this narrative.

Unless he changed how the songs fit each situation, I think the credit for fitting in the tunes to fit the musical biopic should really go to the original creative team ( director and book writer) of the Broadway THE BOY FROM OZ.

Re the fit of the songs into the biopic -- the Broadway critics were not so kind -- they called the musical all sorts of names for a jukebox musical


I wonder if a Broadway revival might be forthcoming in the next few years - it has been close to 12 years since the show closed at the Imperial! If not, maybe other regional productions?


Jo

[mamaleh]

Jo, Richard Connema is, I believe, a San Franciscan who had worked for Warner Bros. in Burbank for decades. He is a longtime Allthatchat contributor and reviewer. He has shared fascinating anecdotes of his Hollywood days on that board.

Ellen

[jo]

Lol - that is where I would come across his name -- on ALL THAT CHAT

I wonder if he never saw THE BOY FROM OZ with Hugh, given his comment that it was the work of the San Francisco director which fitted the songs so seamlessly to the book in this jukebox musical, when the credit really goes to the original creative team on Broadway...or maybe actually to the original creative team in Australia but which was improved on by the Broadway group?



Here's another review, this time from SFGate ( which I believe is published in the pages of the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) -

www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Oz-lands-in-Chinatown-s-Great-Star-Theater-7387865.php

Nathan is also presenting the Great Star’s first Broadway musical production, a revival of “The Boy from Oz” by the upstart Landmark Musical Theater Company. One of the earlier jukebox musicals, this 1998 Australian show tells the life story of flamboyant 1970s-ʼ80s singer-songwriter Peter Allen. Mired in song-clearance issues for a decade, the show disappeared after Hugh Jackman won the Tony for Best Actor in the 2003 Broadway revival. This production, seen on Friday, April 29, is its Bay Area premiere.

Allen is mostly remembered for co-authoring hits like Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You” and the Oscar-winning “Arthur’s Theme (Best that You Can Do)” from the Dudley Moore film “Arthur” — and for being Liza Minnelli’s first ex-husband. The show spans from his troubled Outback upbringing to his discovery by Judy Garland’s fourth husband, Mark Herron (with whom Allen had an affair while married to Liza) to his death from AIDS and that of his partner, Greg Connell. Along with all the ballads, Allen wrote the salsa sing-along “I Go to Rio,” which ends the show joyfully. “It brings you back to the fun part of Peter’s life,” says director Jon Rosen. “That’s what he says he always wanted people to do, just live.”

In the lead role, Dan Seda captured Allen’s beach-boy affability, exultant showmanship and selfish ambition, if his musical pitch was uneven. Seda has a natural chemistry with Ivan Hardin’s kind and loving Connell. In her musical theater debut, Kat Robichaud, herself best known as a top-10 contestant on “The Voice,” plays Liza. She shows a lot of promise, with a warm singing voice that she tunes to her character’s emotions.

Connie Champagne is lovely as Garland — the warble in her voice, the way she fidgets and tousles her hair, that world-weary humor. Champagne has won awards for her many Garland portrayals, including Off Broadway, but “It was always my dream to do ‘Boy from Oz,’” she said backstage. “The love that Peter has for Liza, and then Greg — people who come to the show see that love.”

Richard Gutierrez worked wonders with the Kickstarter costume budget, engineering dozens of smart wardrobe changes for the leads and eight-actor ensemble. Tammy Hall ably led the band on keyboards, but the ensemble needs tuning.

Landmark and the Great Star took a chance on the dated “Oz,” which is as homespun as it is heartfelt. But that’s just as it should be. Sitting in the Great Star’s old red seats, the aromas of popcorn and Champagne drifting over from the in-theater bar while watching something risky and imperfect, feels enchantingly old and wonderfully new again.

Claudia Bauer is a Bay Area freelance writer.

ALERT VIEWER“The Boy from Oz”: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through May 15. 2 hours, 20 minutes; one intermission. Great Star Theater, 636 Jackson St., S.F. $25-$50. www.landmarkmusicals.com.

Was it just the song-clearances issue which put this show out of reach for revivals for a decade?

Interesting about the critic's comment about the show being "dated"...but that "it felt enchantingly old and wonderfully new again"!

Maybe San Francisco is the right venue to revive the show or to set it on a tour?


Jo

[mamaleh]

The 2003 B'way mounting was not a "revival," nor was TBFO one of the "earlier" jukebox musicals. Remember BEATLEMANIA and AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' in the 1970s? The writer should have done a bit more research.

At least the price is right: $25-$50 tickets. If the B'way show had been thusly priced, I'd have doubled my visits.

Ellen

[mamaleh]

A proliferation of TBFO seems underway. Here's a glowing review of an L.A. production:

www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Review-Splashy-West-Coast-Premiere-of-THE-BOY-FROM-OZ-20160503

Ellen

[jo]

And a review from the Los Angeles Times --

www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-boy-from-oz-review-20160516-snap-story.html

A 2004 hit on Broadway, where it won Hugh Jackman a Tony Award, “Oz” is at best a serviceable jukebox tuner, Martin Sherman and Nick Enright’s libretto workmanlike.

Yet rethinking the property in intimate terms transcends its limitations, creating a salon from which legendary singer-songwriter Peter Allen (played by Andrew Bongiorno, a find) narrates his life story.

Bongiorno, who makes the entire audience feel as if he’s addressing us individually, is a star on the ascendant.

I wonder if the critic saw the Broadway production?

The hallmark of the Broadway show was Hugh repositioning it to create the atmosphere of an immersive experience for the audience - almost like a party in which they can participate in the storytelling.

[jo]

Another revival, in New Jersey, from May 12-21, 2017.


www.nj.com/mercer-community/index.ssf/2017/04/kelsey_theatre_presenting_the_3.html

[jo]

There is a new revival...this time where the show originated!

www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/boy-from-oz-revival-has-a-big-heart-but-lacks-star-power-20180812-p4zx12.html

[jo]

Another review of the Aussie revival --

www.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/the-boy-from-oz-review

Of course, the shoes are hard to fill, and that’s not even talking about the man himself. Todd McKenney initiated the role to much acclaim, only to be pipped (or bludgeoned, depending on who you ask) by Hugh Jackman. It’s hard to imagine the show storming Broadway without that cast change...

Er… who would turn up to watch Todd M on Broadway... or for that matter, would it have even reached Broadway? Maybe Peter Allen fans around the tri-state but maybe not enough for the show to become the hit that it was on Broadway. And to get a key music house like the Imperial? Would it have found support like the show did with Broadway bigboss Gerald Schoenfeld who visited Hugh often and watched him on the wings a few times a week?

Can't they please let go of that sentiment, after all these years ?


Jo