Around the TheatreScene July/August 2024

Over the course of each month, we'll collect pictures and newsy tidbits from the "TheatreScene." We'll be scouring Twitter, Instagram and other social media for interesting items. And we'd love to share your love of theater, too! Send us your pics from your theater scene - local stuff, school shows, fan art, stage door encounters! Send them to: jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com (careful of the spelling!).

Around the TheatreScene

July/August 2024

Opened: Once Upon a Mattress

The season's first new musical rehearsed and opened this month at the Hudson Theatre! Micheal Urie posted some things from his "first day of school."

Closed: The Who's Tommy

It's the circle of life on Broadway. Shows open and close. This month saw the closing of The Who's Tommy. Sad as that is, a new show (Redwood) will soon take its place. And we suspect that this won't be the last we see of "Tommy," Ali Louis Bourzgui.

Coming Soon: Maybe Happy Ending

Rumors have been swirling since the first preview was postponed a month due to "supply chain issues" that this isn't happening. We choose to be optimistic. So does the Belasco Theatre.

Oh, Mary! Goes Glam and Has a Super Fan!

The hit of the season has had some glamour shots done. Has anything Lincoln-related ever had such luck in the boxes? Plus a certain Broadway Diva has become a big fan of Mary - she even did a commercial for the show!

 

Cole Escola (Mary)     Conrad Ricamora (Mary's Husband)

 

James Scully (Mary's Teacher)     Bianca Leigh (Mary's Chaperone)

 

Tony Macht (Mary's Husband's Assistant)     Peter Smith (Wonderstudy)

Hannah Solow (Wonderstudy)

📸: E. Madrid

Patti LuPone (Super Fan)

Fan of the Month

This fan of The Outsiders really wants to see it! More than 12 hours before the B.O. opens, she's in the rush line. Let's hope she got a seat! (We're having old-school Rent flashbacks...)

It's a Return!

One of our all-time favorites, Paulo Szot, is back at the Sondheim in & Juliet! 

Broadway Flashbacks

One of our Twitter pals, Burnside Gooch, really took us back with this O.G. Chicago pic. Imagine seeing this as you walked into the 46th Street Theatre!

Forty-nine-years ago tonight. pic.twitter.com/IE7GasN8O0

— Burnside Gooch (@akakarenwilson) August 8, 2024

And here's Mike Faist from his Broadway debut days in Newsies, signing at the stage door with a smile! (Circa 2012 - pre Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, West Side Story and Challengers on film.)

Broadway Beefcake

We are glad to see that these guys are staying in shape between shows! 

Our Story of the Month

Harmony and Funny Girl star Julie Benko took to X (fka Twitter) to make a big announcement for her and husband Jason Yeager! Congratulations, Julie and Jason!

Our Story of the Month

Broadway really does care! 

It was only a matter of time before Sasha Saynor made her Broadway debut and we were honored to be a part of it! Thanks to Make-A-Wish for making Sasha's dream a reality! 💙 pic.twitter.com/tMOuBSXfPL

— Back To The Future Broadway (@BTTFBway) July 31, 2024

 

Friday 5: 5 Best Musicals That Need Their First Revival

 5 Best Musicals That Need Their First Revival

Believe it or not, this edition of F5 was actually brought about by the announcement of yet another revival of Glengarry Glen Ross, which feels like it comes around as often as Gypsy. And before that one gets here in a couple of months, I thought about other musicals that would be great to see in a revival. Of course, there are the usuals on the list like City of Angels, Grand Hotel and Kiss of the Spiderwoman. 

But what about true classics that have yet to see the light of day since their original Broadway runs. Surprisingly, there are several Tony Award-winning Best Musicals that have yet to be revived. Here are 5 I'd love to see be revived in the order they that they won the big prize:

Kismet - Best Musical 1954 (583 performances)

An all-star writing team - book by Luther Davis (Grand Hotel) and Charles Lederer, music by Alexander Borodin, music adapted by and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest (Song of Norway, Grand Hotel) - and a cast headed by Alfred Drake, Joan Diener, Richard Kiley and Doretta Morrow. Famous song: "Baubles, Bangles and Beads." Ancient Persia, princesses, a wazir, and a magician could be a nice retreat from reality (a grown-up Aladdin?) Creative staging, authentic casting and a script tweaking could bring this one back in a big way.

Redhead - Best Musical 1959 (452 performances)

The show that marked Bob Fosse's Broadway directorial debut was a Victorian era murder mystery involving an American chorus girl, a wax museum and a timeline shared with Jack the Ripper. Headlined by Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley and Leonard Stone (all three won Tonys), the show had a score by Albert Hague and Dorothy Fields (Sweet Charity, Annie Get Your Gun), who also wrote the book with Sidney Sheldon and David Shaw. Fun fact: the original cast included a singer named Mame Dennis! In the right hands, this could be a load of fun!

Hallelujah, Baby!  - Best Musical 1968 (253 performances)

This concept musical tracing social injustice through the early to mid 20th century, it seems this show could be more relevant than ever. An updated book with a little more bite may do the trick. The original team behind it was no less than Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. And it made a star out of Leslie Uggams, making her Broadway debut. To date, this remains the only Best Musical winner that was already closed when it won the award.

Applause - Best Musical 1970 (896 performances)

Comden and Green did it again, with one of my favorite scores of the 70s, and a book by the writing team that brought us Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. An updated musical version of the film All About Eve, the show starred 

Lauren Bacall, Len Cariou, Penny Fuller and showstopper, Bonnie Franklin. Considering how much fandom, hero worship and the quest for fame has pervaded our Tik Tok/Instagram society, this could - with some updating - be a huge hit. Or it could go vintage as written, but with pointed direction and concept. Either way, I think Broadway is ready for another dose of Margo Channing and Eve Harrington!

Two Gentlemen of Verona - Best Musical 1972 (614 performances)

I'm dying to see the show that bested the now-classic Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease and Follies. I'm sure I'm not alone. With music by Hair's Galt MacDermott, lyrics by playwright John Guare, who also adapted Shakespeare with Mel Shapiro. It starred Clifton Davis and Raul Julia as the titular gentlemen, and featured the debut of a young lady named Stockard Channing. I wonder why this hasn't seen the light of day since it closed?

Play It Again: Oliver!'s "As Long As He Needs Me"

Play It Again:

Oliver!'s "As Long As He Needs Me"

For this new series, Jeff has invited me to choose some classic Broadway show tunes and compare versions of these songs from several different cast recordings. Wherever possible, I’ll link to the songs on YouTube, where I listen to most of them myself.

Lionel Bart’s classic Oliver!, though not my favorite score, will always have a place in my heart, as it constituted my first close contact with musical theater. When I was in seventh grade, my school brought in an outside music teacher to lead us in producing a heavily truncated, very sloppy, and almost certainly unlicensed performance of the show, for which I served as a stage manager. As I recall, our version followed the gist first act, but then skipped to the final “Consider Yourself” reprise to give Oliver a happy ending with his new chosen family.

Needless to say, Nancy’s tragic fate at the hands of Bill Sykes did not make the cut, nor did her second-act torch song “As Long As He Needs Me.” Sung at a point in the story where the audience knows more than Nancy does about the danger she’s in, this textbook example of dramatic irony furnishes a great opportunity for a singing actress to exhibit extremes of both pathos and passion. The four recordings considered here demonstrate how four different performers attempted to do just that. Once again, though the melody and lyrics haven’t changed over the decades, these versions display a remarkable variety in vocal style and musical texture.

My overall favorite version is marked with two stars (**); one star (*) is used to indicate that a particular version stands out in terms of singing, orchestra, sound, or other miscellaneous qualities.

ORIGINAL LONDON CAST (1960) - YouTube

Nancy: Georgia Brown

SINGING: Brown gives a much more straightforward vocal performance than the others, sticking to the written melody and staying on meter throughout the song. Within these confines she does a nice job shaping character with her rather sharp, jabbing delivery of certain lines and her dynamic control, creating dramatic build-ups and releases.

ORCHESTRA: This version features a lovely dissonant introduction and is marked by distinctive, pearly, descending woodwind “puffs” for the duration of the song. The overall sound is the lushest of the four, though it’s not particularly varied in musical quality.

SOUND: The stereo sound is quite good, and there’s a nice layered effect for various parts of the accompaniment, but some details are a bit too quiet and get lost in the mix.

MISCELLANEOUS: The four versions differ markedly in tempo; this one is on the slow side, with the track clocking in at 3:51.

MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (1968) - YouTube

Nancy: Shani Wallis

SINGING: Wallis’s interpretation is extremely actorly, favoring characterization over vocal perfection. Certain parts are sung in a halting, lachrymose manner; there are quick changes in volume and long, dramatic pauses (listen for both near the lyrics “the way I feel inside”), as well as spoken lines (“he doesn’t say the things he should”) that abruptly give way to soaring melody. It seems a bit over the top to me, but it’s clear from the general feel of the recording that this was largely a directorial choice.

ORCHESTRA: The string-heavy orchestration is rather spare for the first half of the song, matching Wallis’s bare-knuckled delivery, but builds up nicely in the second half. I particularly liked the sound of the late-song bridge (“if you are lonely…”).

SOUND: The sound is atmospheric but a little muddy at times. (To be fair, the YouTube video appears to be a capture from the film rather than a track drawn from the recording, so it’s hard to make direct comparisons with the other three.)

MISCELLANEOUS: The tempo is very, very slow, exacerbated by the singer’s long pauses; the track comes in at a whopping 4:45.

**LONDON REVIVAL CAST (1994) - YouTube

Nancy: Sally Dexter

*SINGING: Striking the perfect balance between Brown’s musical precision and Wallis’s freewheeling laxity, Dexter does a beautiful job creating a vivid character while maintaining high vocal standards. Her very soft, almost catatonic delivery at the beginning creates a sense of something like menace; this gives way to a more demure style that effectively conveys the character’s attempt to hide her fears under the cloak of  passionate love.

*ORCHESTRA: I’m not generally a “less is more” person when it comes to orchestrations, but the mantra definitely holds for this recording. The piano begins the song alone and remains prominent throughout, soon to be supplemented with lovely, restrained punctuation from the strings, including some striking string solos. The orchestration builds as the song does, with an especially nice, horn-tinged bridge and the expected stirring finale.

*SOUND: This recording is very clear, with a nice stereo balance. Like many classical recordings and a few other cast recordings (e.g. the original Sweeney Todd), the dynamic range is a little jarring here, requiring some intra-song volume adjustments; but this is a feature rather than a bug, since it accurately captures the build from an eerily quiet beginning to the impassioned ending.

MISCELLANEOUS: These last two versions feature a much brisker pace, which I think works best for this song (this one is 3:16).

LONDON REVIVAL CAST (2009) - YouTube

Nancy: Jodie Prenger

SINGING: Prenger’s approach is similar to Dexter’s, and most of the praise I heaped on the latter applies also to the former, but she’s maybe ten percent less effective. Her rather extreme accent and late-song emotional breakdown disturb the balance just a tiny bit.

ORCHESTRA: The orchestration is again piano-heavy and similar to the 1994 recording, but it’s both fuller and less subtle.

SOUND: The sound is clear, and the balance between singing and accompaniment is quite good; there’s just a little fuzziness in the very loudly performed ending.

*MISCELLANEOUS: This is a live recording, but the performance is excellent, and you wouldn’t know it was live if it weren’t for the applause at the end. Once again, the overall tempo is fast; in this case, a relatively relaxed first half gives way to a more urgent conclusion, a very effective combination. (For the record, this one comes in at 3:08.)

Olympians on Broadway

Well, the 2024 Summer Olympics are in the history books. Like many of you, I enjoy the Games every time they come around, even though sports really aren't my thing, generally. But this Olympiad had everything theater lovers could possibly want. From day one there was dancing, pageantry, music and, well, theater. From Lady Gaga to drag queens to Les Miz to the stunning return of Celine Dion, the first day was like 3+ hours of musical theater. And there was dramatic controversy and enough behind the scenes bitchery to satisfy months worth of Broadway chat room gossip!

But, of course, the best drama happened when athletes facing those do or die moments after years of training. The best of the best were there, and medals or not, they were all winners. It reminds me of the end of each Broadway seasons when some artists and their shows are nominated for awards and some win and some lose, but really, even getting there is a win.

Olympians on Broadway

So, there have been several stand-out athletes ("performers," if you will), and I got to thinking, wouldn't it be cool if some of them made their Broadway debuts soon? I mean, it's not without precedent - Olympian Cathy Rigby has played Peter Pan on the Great Bright Way several times, and a host of other roles all over the country. So why not some of these wonderful people?

How about Yusuf Dikec (Turkey) in a revival of Les Miserables? He'd be chilling on the barricade.

Armand Duplantis (Sweden) would be fearless way up high in Water For Elephants, wouldn't he? Maybe even in a re-vamped Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark...

With his matinee idol looks and 1000 watt smile, Léon Marchand (France) could have his pick of roles, but maybe he'd get Roxie off the hook as Billy Flynn in Chicago? Or a charming prince in Into the Woods? Or a great new Gatsby?

And who better to headline a new production of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman than America's favorite Clark Kent, Stephen Nedoroscik (U.S.A.)?

 

I can think of at least two shows that would benefit from pairing up gymnastics phenoms Simone Biles (U.S.A.) and Rebeca Andrade (Brazil). They could both be defying gravity in Wicked (maybe swapping roles every other performance as Glinda and Elphaba?) or as the Merry murderesses Roxie and Velma in Chicago.

Speaking of great duos, wouldn't synchro divers Tom Daley and Noah Williams be perfection as the Johnstone twins in a new revival of Blood Brothers?

I'd pay top dollar to see any of these wonderful human beings in any show, really. But they'd better bring serious skills to the stage...

Broadway Games: Marquee Match-up III

Like most theater fans, we long ago set a goal of seeing a show in each of Broadway's 41 theaters. We've been lucky enough to have done just that some time ago. How many have you been to? Whether you've been to all of them or not, we bet you can remember which shows you've seen and where! This week's game has a lot to do with that. 

Broadway Games:

Marquee Match-up III

DIRECTIONS: Match each of the marquees with two of the shows below. They may be current, past or future shows. Good luck! 

1.  2.  3.

4.  5. 

 

A. B.C.D.

E.   F. 

G. H. I. J. 

The marquee images above are magnets available HERE.

 

STOP!

The answers appear below!

Scroll when you are ready for the solution.

1.  E.    G. 

2.  B.    J. 

3. C.     H. 

4.    D.    F. 

5.  A.       I.