Have at it. Here's a photo Michael K had me take of him when we went to see our favorite show for the 15th time:
15 times! I saw "Cats" second performance here in New York. That was that. Although I must confess to having listened to the London album many, many times before it came over here. It was addictive. The Times today is reporting that "Jerry Springer-The Opera" will be opening on Broadway on October 20, 2005. No theatre yet. It will have a six-week tryout in San Francisco during the spring of 2005.
This isn't a knock either, cause you can't argue taste. But I'll take Rodgers & Hart over Lerner & Lowe in a heartbeat. In my opinion, the L&L stuff is a bit more soaring and theatrical -- like Camelot, Danced all night, On a Clear Day -- which probably holds a great appeal for most. Rodgers and Hart's stuff might be simpler and "poppier," and that's exactly why I like it. I Could Write a Book, This Can't Be Love, I Wish I Were in Love Again, Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered -- all much more adaptable to the pop sensibility as well as being suitable for the Big Treatment. "Bewitched" alone, actually, would win the argument for me because there' such humour and warmth in there. It's practically Cole Porter (who trumps em all, for me). Even their soaring stuff is simpler and more catchy (in my opinion) -- Where or When, Falling in Love with Love, My Romance and of course My Funny Valentine. Again, My Funny Valentine is sort of a single shot argument winner for me. Just my two cents.
JS:TO should not be on Broadway. It is tailor-made for Off-Broadway. About the various songwriting teams -- here are the highlights of the L&L lexicon, as found here: Brigadoon Paint Your Wagon My Fair Lady Gigi Camelot And, here's a samlping the R&Hart group, from here: A Connecticut Yankee On Your Toes Babes In Arms I Married An Angel The Boys From Syracuse Too Many Girls Pal Joey By Jupiter Then, there's R&Ham: Oklahoma! Carousel South Pacific The King and I Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music State Fair From a show perspective, I think there's little doubt that R&Ham have made the most lasting impact. Every single high school in the country has probably staged at least three of those shows. And to some extent people have to view the songs in relation to the shows that they were written for. But I'd still take songs from R&Hart before R&Ham. Oklahoma! is way overrated as a show, by the way.
Bombay Dreams Some thoughts on tonight's opening. Let's realize that it is quite likely there will be loads of misunderstanding and misinformed opinion being expressed Friday morning in reviews for Bombay Dreams. I have a weakness for shows with exotic settings, so something like this almost has built-in appeal for me. I'm more than willing to meet it halfway. Bollywood has never been particularly on my radar screen, although I have seen a few. Turner Classic Movies showed a slew of them some months back. I suppose there are those critics who will consider the show one big stupid put-on and will pan it outright. But, let's face it, we're not talking about a musical based on a Satyajit Ray movie. The overall cartoonish and melodramatic treatment is apparently pure-Bollywood and if you're willing to go along for the ride, there's no reason you shouldn't enjoy yourselves. This has been re-staged and re-written, so is somewhat different from its London edition. Songs have been dropped, added, and re-ordered. Being familiar with the cast album, I was sorry to see some songs go, such as "Like An Eagle," and glad to have some elevated in status. The throbbing "Salaam Bombay" is now the opening number and is reprised several times. It's essentially become the theme song for the show. The number which is being pushed as the break-out hit, "Shakalaka Baby," is basically nothing but a glorified disco piece. I didn't care for it on the album and still don't, but the water-sprouting staging it is given is great to watch. There's even been some rap added to the score (quick, somebody tell skipshady). The music is by AR Rahman, billed as the "Asian Mozart"(!). The Asian Irving Berlin is more like it. He's produced several catchy melodies, something I don't go around knocking. By the way, he's now working on the future West End musical version of Lord of the Rings, the very idea of which won't go over big with some of you, I'm sure. The lyrics were dreadful and eye-rolling when I first heard the album. Don Black is responsible for the English ones. I'm less exercised over them now, but they haven't been improved for New York. The choreography is terrific and a big selling point. The production numbers come almost non-stop, especially in the first act. They obviously know where their bread is going to be buttered and it's what the show should push. They're colorful and garish and have plenty of undulating bodies present. Something else I don't go around knocking. This isn't a cheap production with a threadbare ensemble trying to look like more than it is. It's cast with unknowns, but certainly standing out is Ayesha Dharker as Rani, the movie diva/temptress. She came over from the London production and is playing the part to the hilt. It's nothing deep, but if you are up for something involving untouchables, eunuchs and other good stuff like that romping all over the place, it'll be your cup of tea. Don't be turned off by what will probably be critical slams.
Lord, yes. "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet is For Porn" are the funniest things I've heard in a really long time. Incidentally, I saw Little Shop of Horrors when I was back on the East Coast a few weeks back. Aside from the amazing puppet work on the plant (done by Jim Henson Productions), it really wasn't all that impressive.
Pacific Overtures The Times today reports that B.D. Wong has been cast in the role of the Reciter for the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, which begins performances November 12 at Studio 54.
Mama Mia is playing in that theater now, right? I've never been a big fan of Cats. My thing with musicals is that the songs should be driving the story instead of vice versa. It felt for me like the story in Cats existed for the sake of the songs. But that's just me.
Cats hangs over all true musical theater fans in the way that the uncle that was accused but never convicted of child molestation charges hangs over Thanksgiving dinner. There is no suitable explanation for the fact that it's the longest-running show ever, other than its popularity among Japanese tourists who didn't understand a word of English. I suppose that's one way to enjoy the insipid lyrics. The SNL parody of "Cats Behind The Scenes" is a classic.
Re: Pacific Overtures Isn't that where Assassins is? Are they planning to move it? The reviews have been good enough that it should be able to survive through the year, I'd think.
I must disagree with this. You're obviously right about the outrageous ticket prices, but a quality production of a musical on stage is better than a movie anyday. I'd go as far to say no movie version of a Broadway show has probably ever been better than it's original staging. Of course, it really depends upon whether one ultimately prefers theatre to film. I like video versions of Broadway shows more than glossy film treatments, which is why I'm glad a show such as Into The Woods is on video in its original staging rather than having been turned into a feature film. Perhaps an argument could be made for something like Cabaret, which was overhauled by Fosse. I would also add that original film musicals, such as Gigi, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Singin' in the Rain have turned out to be generally lousy in their stage incarnations. They were probably best to have remain just movies.
Re: Bombay Dreams Yes, Howard Kissel got it. His last paragraph: "Like its sources, Bombay Dreams strives for nothing more than unabashed entertainment. It succeeds."
Re: Bombay Dreams The last musical I saw was Moving Out. Very good. I think the star of the show (Cavanagh I think) is a better singer than Billy Joel himself...
Frank Rich's article on Assassins is in today's Sunday Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/arts/02RICH.html Tickets for The Frogs, Sondheim's take on Aristophanes, go on sale tomorrow at Lincoln Center. This was originally presented at Harvard in 1974 in a swimming pool. It was adapted by Bert Shevelove (A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum) and the book has now been further adapted by Nathan Lane, who will star. It's been expanded from being a brief one-act show and will include six new songs by Sondheim. Direction and choreography are by Susan Stroman. Previews begin June 22. The cast album for Bounce, which closed in Washington, DC, last year and never made it to Broadway will be out in stores this Tuesday, May 4. It is on Nonesuch. Nonesuch also has a recording of The Frogs score available.
So our theater company at the University of Chicago got blacklisted earlier this year by a certain musical theater publishing company as a result of one grad student's personal crusade against us. One one hand, we don't care, cause the majority of the shows they own are stuff like Bye Bye Birdie and Kiss Me, Kate, which we would never touch with a ten foot pole anyway. On the other, some people are pissed that we'll never be able to stage City of Angels or You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.