THE MUSIC MAN 🎵

[jo]

I wonder if Hugh's post has anything to do with this singular honor being accorded Sutton Foster by the Drama League on October 28 ?

The Drama League has announced that award-winning actor, singer and dancer Sutton Foster is the Honoree at the 36th Annual Drama League Benefit Gala. The black-tie evening honoring Ms. Foster - two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Fred Astaire, and Gracie Award winner -- will take place on Monday, October 28, 2019 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in New York City at The Plaza(768 Fifth Avenue).

"The Drama League is thrilled to celebrate Sutton Foster for her artistic brilliance and enduring impact on the American theater next October," said Stelian-Shanks. "Sutton is treasured for her talents as an actress in plays, musicals, in television and film, but we also want to celebrate her passion for sharing the arts with future generations. She embodies the best of what our industry can be. We are honored to have the opportunity to celebrate her achievements as she prepares to return to Broadway next season."

[ruby]

Oct 28, 2019 22:18:54 GMT -5 jo said:

I wonder if Hugh's post has anything to do with this singular honor being accorded Sutton Foster by the Drama League on October 28 ?

The Drama League has announced that award-winning actor, singer and dancer Sutton Foster is the Honoree at the 36th Annual Drama League Benefit Gala. The black-tie evening honoring Ms. Foster - two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Fred Astaire, and Gracie Award winner -- will take place on Monday, October 28, 2019 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in New York City at The Plaza(768 Fifth Avenue).

"The Drama League is thrilled to celebrate Sutton Foster for her artistic brilliance and enduring impact on the American theater next October," said Stelian-Shanks. "Sutton is treasured for her talents as an actress in plays, musicals, in television and film, but we also want to celebrate her passion for sharing the arts with future generations. She embodies the best of what our industry can be. We are honored to have the opportunity to celebrate her achievements as she prepares to return to Broadway next season."

Of course he recorded this to play at the event.

[jo]

Yes, a black-tie dinner to honor Sutton -- but what an irony! Sutton lost out on the Distinguished Performance Award (Hugh got it for TBFO) to Mark Rylance. She was nominated for Anything Goes while Mark was in the play Jerusalem. Now they're finally recognizing her tremendous all-around talent! And Hugh thinks this understudy in The Music Man has a bright(er) future ahead of her

Btw, the Distinguished Performance Award can only be awarded once for any actor!

Jo

[njr]

Oct 28, 2019 21:57:00 GMT -5 jo said:

Er…

http://instagr.am/p/BvblbgknpDy

Hugh was being facetious in that video when he said he’d never met her. He also said it will be great for HER to work with him! And what was that about her being an understudy? Another one of Hugh’s joke videos.

Nancy

[mamaleh]

Ha, his mini-dance with Sutton at the Tonys was to a tune very familiar to him: “Steppin’ Out with My Baby.” I’d forgotten that.

Ellen

[jo]

Oct 27, 2019 23:05:23 GMT -5 jo said:

It looks like Hugh was not able to attend the recent September workshop ( mainly dance lab) --

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edit: here’s a picture of everyone involved in the latest workshop:

http://instagr.am/p/B3iTZDuprPo

Updated On: 10/27/19 at 02:55 PM
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lesfles
Four weeks with these incredible humans. Creating a Broadway show takes a village. Here’s to the end of Chapter One!! @musicmanbway

Four weeks for development work...on a revival of already a well-hailed musical??

Wow - this is going to be some magnificent show!

PS: Hugh will have a lot to learn from the results of the lab! Unless some of the choreo has already been tested by Warren on Hugh in the music tour

Jo

[jo]

I was looking at some clips of Sutton playing in so many musical comedies on Broadway...but I never knew that she once sang the role of Eponine in the stage production of LES MISERABLES! Something that connects her to Hugh on an artistic level

It is going to be a slightly different portrayal in TheMusicMan for Sutton, given her very outgoing personality. But if being Eponine on stage is an indication - she could tackle the role of the more serious Marian Paroo with equal talent!

I wonder if her renowned dance prowess will be capitalized on by Warren Carlyle and Jerry Zaks? Or with Hugh for that matter?

Jo

[njr]

www.imdb.com/name/nm1900397/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

www.imdb.com/name/nm1900397/otherworks?ref_=nm_pdt_wrk_sm

Nancy

[jo]

I've only seen her onstage once - in The Drowsy Chaperone.

But this clip gives us an indication of how much stage experience she has … since 1997!

[jo]

Check out an ad for THE MUSIC MAN on the right hand side of this BWW topic on discussion. Please scroll down if this does not show up immediately.


www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?page=2&thread=1119918&dt=39


The show is not opening for previews till 10 months from now ( Sept 9, 2021)!


Jo

[mamaleh]

I just signed up, I assume for updates and related promo features.

Ellen

[annetter]

OOPS Jo, previews start Sept 9, 2020

[jo]

Yup - my moving fingers writ the wrong date

Mea culpa, Scott Rudin, Hugh Jackman!

Haha!


Jo

[jo]

With the pending closing of TOOTSIE, there are a lot of speculations as to which show will likely take over the Marriot Marquis Theatre.

On BWW --

GreasedLightning
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#154

Posted: 11/12/19 at 10:35am
Mike Barrett said: "magictodo123 said: "Mike Barrett said: "magictodo123 said: "Mike Barrett said: "My guess would be Almost Famous is they're really looking to get in this season. If not, Billy Crystal makes the most sense to me. Unless theres something unannounced that we're getting. No play would ever go in here unless it had an A-lister and even then I doubt it."

I didn't read the reviews--did Almost Famous do so well that they'd try to transfer it?"

No idea but there's been rumors of a transfer forever.

Is there any chance in the world Music Man goes here? Not ideal maybe for show viewing, but in terms of $$ making they could easily a killing there with Hugh in the show. Or, transfer Beetlejuice to the Marquis and have Hugh still take the Winter Garden. We shall see, but I think everyone is surprised Beetlejuice has caught on like it has."

I think a lot of people were also wondering that, but isn't it not a Shubert house? Wasn't TMM going into a Shubert theater?"

Oh ya, totally forgot about that. Well this should be interesting then haha. No idea how thats all going to play out. I could still see Beetlejuice going to the Marquis but idk if they can't switch from a Shubert to non Shubert theatre."

The question isn’t whether they can make the switch, but if they can afford the switch.

The MARQUIS is a modern theatre ( but part of the Nederlander Group), being part of the Marriott Marquis Hotel structure and may be more suitable to a show like Beetlejuice... while the look of the Winter Garden suits the turn of the century look of The Music Man.

I think the issue could be if Rudin is willing to help defray the cost of moving Bettlejuice to the Marquis, assuming that Bettlejuice has an ironclad contract with the Shubert Org for the Winter Garden.

But it seems most people assume readily that The Music Man and Hugh Jackman will get what they want - the Winter Garden


Jo

[jo]

More discussions --

Mike Barrett
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#156

Posted: 11/12/19 at 10:55am
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "There's no world in which Broadway's biggest star and Broadway's most powerful producer would agree to play the dank, lifelessMarquis Theatre (a Nederlander house). The Winter Garden, the Shubert, or the Broadway are basically its only options."

Which, could hypothetically all be available. If WSS is a complete flop out of the gate (December/January) then likely this is where the show goes, in my opinion. I don't see the point in moving TKAM when their advance still seems to be pretty strong, I'm sure there are more "names" that can play Atticus, its in an iconic theatre, I see no need for a switch there. Should be interesting but if I recall The Music Man promised a theatre announcement in June, its now October. My guess is plans for the Winter Garden have changed.

I do NOT remember that there was an expected theatre announcement in June for The Music Man. All they promised was that would be the starting period of the Group Sales. Individual sales were to occur in September!


JO

[jo]

Among my nosy finds on ATC is a link to a group discussion by famous people connected to the theatre re FAVORITE MUSICALS.


This was in 2011 -- but you might enjoy the discussions on favorite musicals --

nymag.com/news/features/greatest-new-york/70476/


There is mention of THE MUSIC MAN, as underrated. Funny thing is, if I am not mistaken, one of the discussants is EGOT orchestrator Jonathan Tunick. He is doing the orchestrations for the revival of TMM - in 2020!


Excerpts --

Ephron: Oh, My Fair Lady, definitely. And The King and I. And She Loves Me. And Guys and Dolls. The Music Man has a pretty good book.

Rich: I know of one politically correct school in New York where they felt that boys and girls should have equal roles so they gave Harold Hill a sister – and it still worked.

Tunick: The Music Man is very underrated. It’s sloughed off as being superficial, or corny, or not deep. But I think it is deep.

Rich: I agree. I think it’s a very touching show, and of course the score is great.

Green: Perhaps it’s underrated because it came out in 1957, the same year as West Side Story.

Wolfe: And it won the Tony over West Side Story, so it’s been punished ever since. Of course, West Side Story also has a significantly underrated book. It’s got all that “jabber jabber” bad slang, but the craftsmanship is really quite exceptional. It’s got a screenplay efficiency to it, and incredible emotional potency...

Jo

[jo]

Re Jonathan Tunick --

Jonathan Tunick (Orchestrations) is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer. Tunick's stage career began with Take Five (1957). He went on to collaborate memorably with Stephen Sondheim, orchestrating shows such as Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Into the Woods, Passion, and Putting It Together. Additional notable Broadway credits include Promises, Promises; A Chorus Line; Nick & Nora; A Funny Thing...; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Nine; A Gentleman’s Guide...; and 110 in the Shade. In 1997, he won his first Tony Award, for his work on the musical Titanic. This accomplishment gave Tunick “EGOT” status: one of only 15 people who have received all four major entertainment awards—he had previously received an Academy Award for A Little Night Music (1977), an Emmy Award for Night of 100 Stars (1982) and Grammy Award for "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods (1988). With over 111 credits to his name over a fifty-year career, Tunick is the most prolific and acclaimed orchestrator on Broadway.

Remember the duet which Hugh did with Sunset Blvd co-star Debra Byrne? It is called NO ONE IS ALONE, from Into The Woods!

In this YTube upload, it is incorrectly titled "Children Will Listen" ( that is the second part of the duet) but the beautiful duet is mostly for No One Is Alone!




Jo

[jo]

If you're interested on what that discussion group, very famous people, had concluded and why -- here is the summary part of the article --

Jan. 7, 2011
The Greatest Musical: “I Can’t Live With ‘West Side Story’ Not Being Among the Finalists”
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Green: Everyone done? Let me tabulate. Okay, it’s a three-way tie for first place. Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, and Sweeney Todd. Followed by The King and I and then West Side Story. The rest of the top ten are Carousel, Porgy and Bess , Show Boat, A Chorus Line, and Sunday in the Park.

Wolfe: Ah, we can live with that.

Ephron: Oh that’s exactly right. We’re the greatest jury ever.

Rich: I say we just leave it there.


Green: Except to ask if our conclusions are too personal to be meaningful.

Rich: When I was looking back at the shows that had such a great impact on me as a child, what I found was that the common element uniting Damn Yankees, Gypsy, Music Man, and Carousel was that they all had kids with single parents. Even though it was never acknowledged in any of the shows except for Gypsy. Well, in Damn Yankees, there wasn’t a kid, but a marriage technically breaks up for the length of a show.

Ephron: So for you it was just about being a child of divorce?

Rich: But I didn’t figure it out for 30 years.

Green: The theme that informs my love of certain shows is alienation: the outsider who wants to come in, and is usually crushed. Caroline, Bess, Billy Bigelow. I won’t explore the implications.

Wolfe: For me it’s that energy that exists in Gypsy: “It’s bleak out there, but I’m gonna make it.” So I think I’m particularly drawn to defiance.

Ephron: I like too many musicals to have one theme, but I was thinking about why I didn’t love She Loves Me when I first saw it, but then fell so deeply in love with it later on. And its partly that at a certain point in your life you don’t have the intelligence to know that the sentimental show is also great, because you’re so busy being hip and loving the dark shows. And then you get older and you love the ones that are—whatever you want to call them—romantic.

Rich: Hopeful.

Wolfe: I looked down at Rodgers and Hammerstein when I was a teenager, and then as I got to be older I thought, “What was I thinking?”

Tunick: I’ve always been drawn to shows with some epic element. And when I say epic I don’t mean necessarily grand, but that portray some aspect of life on a generous scale. Guys and Dolls is a picture of all New York.

Wolfe: I also respond when two worlds that don’t belong together end up together. That’s why the musical could only have been born here: New York is all these little countries sharing a city. All the different rhythms of those different communities is what made the American musical possible.



THE ARGUERS

Jesse Green
moderator

Nora Ephron
author

Frank Rich
columnist

Jonathan Tunick
orchestrator

George C. Wolfe
director

Frank Rich is the most prominent of all theatre critics, past and present.

Btw, didn't George Wolfe once directed Hugh Jackman in that one-man variety show he did in Las Vegas for the WYNN Hotel inauguration ( with guests the like of Pres Bush, Sr,. Pres Trump, Elizabeth Taylor, etc)?

Jo

[jo]

Wow !!! Look what I found while looking for a reference to the Hugh Jackman Las Vegas show!

Great photos of some parts of the show! First time ever that this seems to have been available to the public!



www.batwinandrobin.com/projects/hugh-jackman-time/




At another time, in a slightly different costume -- he has always been the Greatest Showman

[jo]

Sorry for hijacking the thread -- but he is still A Music Man, no matter the venue --

travelingstarproductions.com/OO/WynnOpening.htm

Besides the large crowd, there was an A-List of about 2,000 celebrities, VIPs and Players who were invited to four days of behind the scene special events and performances: Former President George H. Bush, Donald and Melaina Trump, Steven Spielberg with wife Kate Capshaw, Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Brad Pitt, Terri Hatcher, Tony Robbins, Don Johnson, Lee Iacoca, George Hamilton, and on and on.

We were treated to VIP treatment which included a formal tour of the property, the premier performance of LeReve, a birthday party for Elaine Wynn, dinner at the restaurants of our choice, a one off performance by Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Van Helsing, Swordfish), and a black tie affair entitled: "The Party - A Dinner Affair."

The report from that time said that Hugh went down the crowds to sit on Elizabeth Taylor's lap briefly...that must have been the inspiration for his BackOnBroadway lap-sitting antic ( Ahem!)


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

One of the earliest member of the BWW board shares this --

BroadwayBaby6
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#160

Posted: 11/15/19 at 2:01pm
I have heard from reputable sources that BJ will be moving to a smaller Broadway theatre, albeit in a scaled-down (ready to tour) version. I am also hearing that Sing Street is virtually guaranteed a theatre, even though it hasn't even opened yet off-Broadway...

That sounds pragmatic and logical - that a tour-ready version solves 2 current concerns. Make room for THE MUSIC MAN at the Winter Garden, at the same time put the transition to good use by shaping the production for smaller houses and for touring.

Jo

[jo]

On the one hand --

On the other hand --

It also makes a difference if you are coming in to NYC as an overseas or a domestic tourist because there is no assurance you can get choice/good seats on your planned visit dates.

Jo

[jo]

Discussions on theatre moves/assignments at BWW continue --

VotePeron
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joined:5/2/13
Broadway Real Estate for the 2019-2020 season


Posted: 11/16/19 at 10:58am
Like most, I cannot believe Beetlejuice is succeeding the way it is. The reviews were bad, but will it always have an audience? Or just now as it’s a viral teen sensation?

The Music Man is taking the Winter Garden, that’s done. I just feel spending millions of dollars to relocate BTJ and rebuild a set is not worth it. And will be sad if the show falls on its face. They should go out in style and tour asap.


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SouthernCakes
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Broadway Real Estate for the 2019-2020 season


Posted: 11/16/19 at 11:15am
It depends. I mean, They are likely going to tour. So building the tour set & then using that in the new theater is smart and then tour once that production closes.

But if they are making their weekly nut, can they even be pushed out?


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ErmengardeStopSniveling
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Broadway Real Estate for the 2019-2020 season


Posted: 11/16/19 at 3:25pm
BEETLEJUICE is complicated.

If it has a bad winter and continually drops below its breakeven (probably about $700k), it wouldn't be worth it to move to a new theatre & keep it running. At this rate, it's also going to take forever to recoup the reported 21 million.

It can also probably run at the Winter Garden til July, which is still a healthy run (8 more months).


************************************

Mike Barrett
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Broadway Real Estate for the 2019-2020 season

Posted: 11/16/19 at 3:38pm
Exactly, it’s not like Beetlejuice needs to close right now lol. Let’s see how it does in January/February, that’s going to really show how strong the pull is for this show. If it’s still going strong then and come March/Early April theeeennn idk what’s going to happen haha

Rehearsals for The Music Man start from July 2020, as announced. The theatre may have to undergo some changes for the production ( which design is likely already underway, at the same time that other creative aspects are already in the planning stage) and sets will be constructed and set up presumably some time before previews open.

Jo

[foxie]

Oct 28, 2019 22:18:54 GMT -5 jo said:

I wonder if Hugh's post has anything to do with this singular honor being accorded Sutton Foster by the Drama League on October 28 ?

The Drama League has announced that award-winning actor, singer and dancer Sutton Foster is the Honoree at the 36th Annual Drama League Benefit Gala. The black-tie evening honoring Ms. Foster - two-time Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Fred Astaire, and Gracie Award winner -- will take place on Monday, October 28, 2019 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in New York City at The Plaza(768 Fifth Avenue).

"The Drama League is thrilled to celebrate Sutton Foster for her artistic brilliance and enduring impact on the American theater next October," said Stelian-Shanks. "Sutton is treasured for her talents as an actress in plays, musicals, in television and film, but we also want to celebrate her passion for sharing the arts with future generations. She embodies the best of what our industry can be. We are honored to have the opportunity to celebrate her achievements as she prepares to return to Broadway next season."