Posted by Laura @ 07/30/2002 09:07 AM PST

Is anyone fully aware of how close we got to 200 posts?? ::sigh:: Fine...on to today's topic.

"Not Getting Married Today" by Alice Ripley and the scene that followed absolutely stopped the show when I saw Company in DC. Also "The Worst Pies In London" by Christine Baranksi in Sweeney Todd.

"Hello, Dolly!" with Carol Channing coming down the stairs...all 10 pounds of her, God bless her pea-picking heart pretty much brought THAT show to a hault, too.

Natalie Toro singing "Memory" in the National Tour of Cats left everyone in the theatre totally silent for a few moments and then this HUGE burst of applause occurred and the poor dear just had to stand there, looking disheveled.

And finally, Elaine Stritch singing "Ladies Who Lunch" in her one woman show. But, of course, people were standing before she even finished the song. It was amazing.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 09:21 AM PST

I couldn't stand it anymore. We broke 200 posts yesterday, folks. DANCE A HORA!!!

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 09:30 AM PST

The only problem with yesterday's silliness is that it has now set a completely arbitrary (and unrealistic) barrier to climb over. I, for one, will not participate in such childish behavior again. Well, probably not...

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 09:31 AM PST

The best barriers are arbitrary and unrealistic. After all, they can be overcome!

Posted by Kerry @ 07/30/2002 09:38 AM PST

Before I get to today's subject, HAPGOOD: Bad bar mitzvah? Why else would 13 be so bad?

More on Showstoppers later...

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 09:39 AM PST

The most showstopping number I ever saw--and I saw it twice!--was Andre de Shields and another actor whose name I forget (he sang "Suicide is Painless" in the M*A*S*H film) doing "Rocks In My Bed" in PLAY ON! at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The show was fun, not fabulous--but that number was amazing! And it's not that good a song, so it was 99% the way it was performed.

Posted by Pam @ 07/30/2002 09:44 AM PST

I'll have to go with Carol Channing in "Hello Dolly!" I saw it the first time in 1975 or so. She actaully stopped the show twice-- "Before the parade Passes By" and the title song (BEFORE she even started walking down the stairs. She just stood there and stopped the show. I'd give anything to do that JUST once.)

Evelyn Keyes in "No. No, Nanette" after the tapdance to "I Want to Be Happy." It all worked, and the energy was there-both in the cast and in the audience.

Elaine Stritch in "At Liberty" twice-- once for "I'm Still Here." The other for "Ladies Who Lunch."

If we start talking concert performances, there are more. But I'll limit it to shows.

Posted by Kerry @ 07/30/2002 09:51 AM PST

Oh! I forgot one...Bernadette stopped her own concert with "Not a Day Goes By" in Tulsa. Things were merrily rolling along and she got to that number and the whole house just went nutso. Isn't it funny, though...she never has actually sung that song in an actual production of MERRILY, has she? She did it again with "Being Alive," but that was her finale, so I guess, in the world according to BK, that doesn't count cause the curtain fell soon thereafter.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 09:52 AM PST

Many of the showstopping numbers named here came with a certain amount of pre-expectation. You knew you were going to applaud when Channing came in wearing the red dress or when Stritch sang "Ladies Who Lunch." Many times (as with Dorothy Loudon) the audience is aware that the show had been panned and is closing, so it is giving extra support to the performer. What's really amazing is when a performer with whom the audience is unfamiliar can stop the show. Andre de Shields has done that a number of times even with audiences who have never seen him before. Donna McKechnie was known only to a relatively select crowd when she stopped the show in A Chorus Line. Those are the really exciting moments, for me -- the discovery of a new talent.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 10:01 AM PST

I know everyone is going to be upset with my comment, but how many different people posted yesterday and how many people posted a number of times? Today with 11 posts already there were only 6 people: 2 posting 3 times each, 1 posting twice and 3 posting only once. I'd like to see the number of posts get that high with different people. (I am as guilty as the rest... on many days I've posted several times).

Show stoppers: both from productions of GYPSY: Ethel's entrance opening night in Chicago (1961) where she had to stop and bow before going on and Angela after "Rose's Turn" in a stock production (1976 or 77).

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 07/30/2002 10:04 AM PST

Gee, William, how many times have you gone to a dinner party and spoken only once? It's called conversation. Yesterday was a joke -- which I participated in -- which hardly reflects the usual participation here. There are many days when I do not post at all and others when I feel like joining it. The number of posts, for me, is irrelevent. BK's column has become a pleasant place to converse. Unlike at a party, no one person can monopolize the conversation here because there is always bandwidth for one more posting. I'm not upset with your comment. If you want to post only once, by all means do so. :-)

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 10:18 AM PST

I agree. It's that we took the time to post. We've participated off and on every day. Yesterday we were just giddy.

Robert: It's better to attempt to climb over an arbirtary and unrealistic barrier than it is to climb over an arbitrary and unrealistic barrister!

You may quote me.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/30/2002 10:25 AM PST

Yes, yesterday was fun and merry and I'm sure we'll have other days when we feel like doing that. It isn't the number of posts, although I enjoy it when there's a fun dialogue going on about interesting topics (not always mine) and that's what this is all about. It's a gathering place for those in the know, those who are with it, those who are hip and cool, man, cool, those who are the ginchiest, and that includes the majority but not all of our lurkers out there in the dark (you know who you are).

I don't know how I could have left off Miss McKechnie's Music and the Mirror - I saw the show at a matinee during previews at the Shubert and the explosion of applause after she finished was prolonged and unbelievable and she just had to hold that position forever. I also agree about Rocks in my Bed - because I recorded the show, I saw it many times, from its first incarnation in San Diego to Broadway, and that number, brilliantly performed literally stopped the show, due strictly to the power of the performances and the staging.

Posted by bk @ 07/30/2002 10:26 AM PST

And yes, we must climb over every barrier - we must have no barriers - we must climb ev'ry mountain and ford or chevy ev'ry hill. Did Mr. Hammerstein save some money by leaving out the 'e' in the middle of 'every'? We must not be held back by artificial barries or artificial flowers, let alone artificial intelligence. We'll Never Walk Alone if we remain Hainsies/Kimlets to the end.

Posted by bk @ 07/30/2002 10:29 AM PST

In William's defence, I think he is only alluding to something that several of us mentioned yesterday. Artificially inflating the number of posts by submitting one word at a time renders the number of posts totally meaningless (if that number was ever meaningful in the first place...) The number of posts is only really meaningful if a) a large number of posts are being submitted by a large number of people(meaningful for Bruce and Mark) or b) the quality of the posts is such that there is interesting discourse being contributed (meaningful for the rest of us).

Getting back on topic, I have to agree that often when a performer stops the show, it is only because the audience has been conditioned to applaud. We have been told by critics or columnists that Carol Channing is wonderful in HELLO, DOLLY!, and that her entrance down a staircase is a sight to behold, so like Pavlov's dog we applaud when she makes that entrance. We are so thoroughly conditioned that we forget that the woman can't sing, and never could.

And, of course, the performer will contribute to the phenomenon. As much as some fans might want to believe that the applause stopped the show, Ms. Channing's pause at the top of the staircase is designed to elicit the applause, not the other way around. We've also heard tales of certain performers who use certain gestures during their bows in order to get the audience on their feet. (as if audiences today needed any encouragement to give the obligatory standing ovation...)

At least in those cases people are applauding a performer. How sad is it when audiences are taught to applaud a chandelier or a helicopter?

Posted by Dave @ 07/30/2002 10:38 AM PST

Hmmmm, such a shame that "I Am What I Am" does not fall into our criteria, by closing out the first act. Nineteen years ago, after Geo. Hearn defiantly ripped off that wig and strode up the aisle of the Palace, there was MUCH sustained applause before the house lights came up.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 10:42 AM PST

And as long as Jason mentioned BP's "Not a Day Goes By," I may as well bring up Ms. Minnelli's "Some People" which always brings down the house.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 10:44 AM PST

Finally, I thought of one that meets all criteria:

Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Cooper doing "The Grass is Always Greener" in WOMAN OF THE YEAR.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 10:48 AM PST

I've heard rumour that there is a bootleg video, not that I support bootlegs, of the opening night of Dreamgirls and the audience's reaction at the end of "And I Am Telling You..." was bizarre. Apparently, since they hadn't been told that this was the best thing since sliced bread and they'd never heard of Ms. Jennifer Holliday or her wobbly jaw, they were the first few people to hear the song completely fresh and without any hype. It's my understanding that the audience heard the number, and then sat there dumbfounded for a moment before going absolutely wild.

Does anyone know the answer to this question...? I've heard that Michael Bennett decided to add the little tag with the "new" Dreams in order to stop the applause after Ms. Holliday's number. Is that true, or was that always in the score? Did any of that make sense?

I've this strange feeling that I've been scolded for being silly. I'm sorry, Doctah! I'm sorry, Doctah! Geez...we were just trying to have a little fun. I guess I won't try to do THAT again.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 10:59 AM PST

Dave, since I'm the person who started the one word at a time postings yesterday allow me, in my own defense, to point out that I was using it to make your point exactly -- that artificially inflating the numbers makes the "totals" completely irrelevant. I, for one, can see when the column has a vibrant and interesting discussion going without paying any attention to the actual number of posts. As I said above (and Bruce reiterated) it was a joke. I would hate to think that this carefully written response to William and your postings would be considered in the same light as my one word postings from yesterday, even though I have already been heard from five times today.

And, yes, Marilyn Cooper was a genuine showstopper in Woman of the Year and my wife and I are proud to have her as a friend.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 10:59 AM PST

Not only did Pearl Bailey stop "Hello Dolly", she COMPLETELY stopped the show to chat with the audience in her best "Pearly-Mae" style. Petra in ALNM stopped the show (shortly after it opened on Broadway). We were so prepared for the success of Glynis' "Send in the Clowns" that the unexpected triumph by the maid topped everything that had proceeded it. I'll never forget Ms. Stritch in the original Company ordering/challenging us to "rise, rise, rise..." Boy did we ever. And Ms. Bergen stopped the show and made us cheer that she was still here.

Posted by mrD @ 07/30/2002 11:47 AM PST

Joanna Gleason's "Moment in the Woods." HUGE response.

Wish I could say the same for Ms. O'Malley's.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 11:48 AM PST

Jason:

I saw Dreamgirls very early in its run. (About a month and a half after it opened)I did not know anything about it except that is was loosly based on the Supremes. I was totally blown away by the number and it still after all these years still fresh in my mind. I also heard the story that to curb the applause Bennett tacked on the extra thirty seconds or so. I know that being in the orchestra seats the audience went wild and if that new scene wasn't there I am sure the audience would have refused to leave it was that powerful.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 11:55 AM PST

Chita Rivera stopped THE VISIT simply by sitting on a hydrolic lift and coming up through the floor. I think that goes back to expectation and celebrating her celebrity (redundancy is my friend--see yesterday's posts.)

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 11:55 AM PST

Elaine Stritch stopped Elaine Stritch: At Liberty cold with “Zip,” “I’m Still Here,” and “The Ladies Who Lunch.” I would go to see Stritch in anything.

Marilyn Cooper is an incredibly gifted comedienne. Her Woman of the Year duet with Lauren Bacall “The Grass Is Always Greener” was a real, true show-stopper. I had loved her performance on the Tonys, but it was even better in person, when I was lucky enough to see her in Chicago. It was so exciting that at intermission I bought a ticket to return the next day to the final Sunday matinee just to see her again. She is a friend of my elementary-school drama teacher, so I even got to go backstage to meet her and, boy, was it fun. Marilyn Cooper’s presence is reason enough to go see a show—any show in which she appears.

A Chorus Line, Saturday 28 April 1990, performance 6,137, “I Hope I Get It,” and every number thereafter, stopped the show; usually about 135 minutes long, it ran about 2½ hours due to all the applause.

Rent, New York Theatre Workshop, March 1996, “Seasons of Love.”

I will share more as I think of them.

Robert Armin: You and your wife have a very special friend in Ms. Cooper. Do you all (y’all) play poker?

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 11:57 AM PST

The only true show stopping moment that I ever experienced was when I saw Annie. Shelly Bruce was Annie then. Most of the original orphans were still in the show (including Sarah jessica Parker) and they played the matinee. I saw the evening the performance where most of them were replaced with understudies. Parker played the evening performance but as different orphan.

It happened in the second act. The orphans did You're Never Fully Dressed Without Smile. The audience loved it. The freeze after the number and the audience applauded and applauded. Dorothy Loudon enters as Miss Hannigan and tries to start the scene, But the applause does not die down. Miss Loudon turned and exited to allow the orphans get the applause. Not only was that class but it really did stop the show.

Stuart mentioned the Grass is Always Greener. I saw the show into the run. Bacall and Cooper were still there. Well at least Bacall was there in body. I felt she was sleep walking through the performance. (It was a Saturday matinee. Maybe she was saving herself for the evening show, but that was no excuse)So instead of the scene being a show stopper, Cooper stole the show from Bacall. She was definitly a high point of the very mediocre show.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 12:06 PM PST

Carol Channing stopped Hello, Dolly! cold with “So Long, Dearie” at her final performance 28 January 1996. It was like being transported back in time to some dream age of Vaudeville. She was brilliant.

Some may think that single-word posts should not count, but clearly they do per the Unseemly Comments total. Single-word posts are extraordinarily unseemly, so they must be especially welcome here. Let’s give them cake. Maybe brownies instead.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 12:06 PM PST

Showstoppers I have experienced live and in person:

Ms. Lansbury doing ROSE'S TURN;
Ms. Verdon and Ms. Rivera doing NOWADAYS and HOT HONEY RAG;
Ms. Kitt doing I'M STILL HERE in London's FOLLIES.

Posted by Philip Crosby @ 07/30/2002 12:06 PM PST

Don't play poker, but I'll copy your comments and give them to her. She'll be delighted. Would that New York's casting directors were as astute as audiences -- she'd be working more.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:09 PM PST

Hey, Folks,

Mosey on over to Playbill on-line if you haven't already. All sorts of news popping up.

Here's the link

http://www.playbill.com/

click on "all news for the last 4 days". News about the musical of Marty, Full Monty's close date, casting change in Dance of the Vampires, Rosie O'Donnell bringing George Michael's show to Broadway (groan) and a mention of Brent Barrett and the Website that shall not be named. Very interesting (an Arte Johnson imitation just doesn't work when you're typing it)

Posted by Ben @ 07/30/2002 12:15 PM PST

It is absolutely ridiculous that Marilyn Cooper does not work constantly. There are few people capable of doing what she does as consistently and expertly as she does, even if just a radio voice in Broadway Bound. How terrific is she in just a couple of lines on the original cast recording of West Side Story? I Can Get It for You Wholesale would be a must-have recording even if there were not that young girl from Brooklyn in a small featured role. Ms. Cooper positively—and delightfully—stole Fiorello! from Jerry Zaks and everyone else. I would go to see her in anything, too. I LOVE MARILYN COOPER!

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 12:17 PM PST

And she says very nice things about you...

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:20 PM PST

Forgive the ignorance...who was she in "West Side Story?"

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 12:21 PM PST

I thinking people were applauding Carol Channing for just being there. I think there was more Carol than Dolly in the show. I did see her on tour and I think the audience were expected to applaud and they milked it. Seeing it in 1996 there was nothing left to stop the show. Who ever does Dolly now will be compared to Carol, Mary, Pearl, Martha, Ginger, Betty, Phyllis, Ethel, Dorothy, Eve and/or Barbra.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 12:24 PM PST

Marilyn Cooper was a scream in the 1991 Touring production of Bye Bye Birdie with Anne Reinking and Tommy Tune. Can you just picture her next to the Tune. (She played Mrs. Peterson) It was a halarious. Her expert timing showed the lack of experience with other cast members. She was given a number that so far has been performed only in that toruing company. He's Mine!

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 12:30 PM PST

In West Side Story, she was the girl who loved Puerto Rico in Ameica!

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:32 PM PST

Michael, my wife was the Mayor's Wife in Bye, Bye Birdie -- the one who faints when Conrad sings. That's where she first met Coopie.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:33 PM PST

I hesitate to correct my typo (America) for fear of looking like I'm "padding."

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:34 PM PST

Robert Armin:

This is a day of wow what a coincidence. As soon as I finished my posting I received an email from an internet buddy of mine who just got a soundboard recording of The Bye Bye Birdie tour.

Also like to point out that Belle Callaway was in the show when I saw it on tour in Boston. I most recently saw her as Roxie in the touring company of Chicago and she would later play it on Broadway. i remember that during the intermission cast members were moving through the audience collecting donations for BC/EFA. I asked Belle if they were going to make a cast recording of the show. She told me they had hope they would as the new songs (the previously mentioned He's Mine and Tune's I Took a Giant. (He really did) Of corse they never record the show. which is a shame.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 12:51 PM PST

You're not padding, Robert. I mean, you used more than one word, right??

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 12:51 PM PST

Michael -- obviously, I would love to get a copy of that. Belle is a good friend, too. We ended up seeing Chicago twice within a week -- to see Karen Ziemba on her last weekend and to see Belle open on the following Tuesday. It can be expensive having Broadway performers as friends!

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 12:58 PM PST

Unseemly.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 01:00 PM PST

Now that was an unseemly one-word post!

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 01:02 PM PST

Freedunit: Ha!!

Robert: I saw Belle in CHICAGO here in the city. She was great. I also saw her in the tour of CRAZY FOR YOU. Again...she was faboo. I know a couple of people in that show, too. R. Bean (Mary Sunshine) and Donna Marie Asbury.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:02 PM PST

Sorry, that was unclear. I know a couple of people in CHICAGO, I meant...not CRAZY FOR YOU.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:04 PM PST

Carol Channing was totally wonderful her last Hello, Dolly! performance on Broadway. I first saw her Dolly on tour in Chicago almost twenty years ago. At the time, I did not love it; I thought it was too cute, too broad, too far away from The Matchmaker. However, the last New York performance was a rare and magical occurrence of a real, big, old-time Broadway star giving a full-out, assured, exciting performance.

Marilyn Cooper created the role of Rosalia, the girl Anita wishes “would shut up and get gone,” in West Side Story.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 01:09 PM PST

Stuart: My Bar Mitzvah was fine, by 13 I was sort of referring to the whole preadolescent-middle-school-aged-mess that some people call puberty. Even passing my old middle school I start to get the shakes.
Showstoppers: I was at a concert performance last night of Falsettos, and Trina's "I'm Breaking Down" and Whzzer's "You Gotta Die Sometime" both stopped the show. "I'm Breaking Down" wasn't on the Off-Broadway cast album, so it was new to me and quite a thrill. I was also amazed by how many lyric changes there are from the cast recording. (i.e. Trina is in "Four Jews...") Does anyone know why there are so many?
I'm sure that I'll remember more soon, so I'll post again, in a quite unseemly way.

Posted by Hapgood @ 07/30/2002 01:11 PM PST

Changes were made when the two shows (March of the Falsettos and Falsetoland) were combined. Breaking Down was added at that time, as I recall.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 01:15 PM PST

By the way: The Matchmaker is an entertaining, poignant, funny and very well written ensemble piece. It's a shame that it isn't produced more often. Hello Dolly! is pure mid '60's Broadway entertainment. It is not as well put together, and is a pure star vehicle. They are both valid works of art, it's just that The Matchmaker is much better.

Posted by Hapgood @ 07/30/2002 01:16 PM PST

Oy! I feel so left out...I'm not Jewish so I didn't get a Bar Mitzvah. Is it unseemly to call myself a goy? Cause it's my understanding that that's what I am... I'm not trying to be offensive, by the way (BTW)...I'm just genuinely curious.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:18 PM PST

BK - read Ben's post and checked out Playbill.com . According to the site, Varese Sarabande is now defunct. Is that true? I thought they just folded their bdwy/vocals division.

Posted by Phil @ 07/30/2002 01:18 PM PST

Jason, Jason, Jason, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy… You can be whatever you want to be.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 01:21 PM PST

My good, people seem to start riffing (or ffir-ing, backwards) on certain things I bring up. DREAMGIRLS the other day and Marilyn Cooper today. Never understood why she never went in to KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN as the mother. I think her voice would have been glorious wrapped around some of her music.

Anyway, dare I add two more show stoppers?: Loudon, but not in ANNIE 2. This time in BALLROOM. Both times I saw it, her response after "Fifty Percent" was sustained.

The other is more recent. Debra Monk after "Everybody's Girl" in STEEL PIER at the invited dress performance. She just woke up the whole first act, which I personally did not think needed all that much waking up. But her ovation was truly show-stopping. I saw the show three more times, and once the press hit, it was never the same. What a shame.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 01:23 PM PST

Jason: In vulgar Yiddish parlance, yes. But we don't like to use that word.

Shaygets, the male version of shiksa, might be more tolerable, but even that has its implications.

Enough Yiddish. Genug.

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 01:27 PM PST

Implications? I'm intrigued now.

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:28 PM PST

Jason, if you really want to impress your Jewish friends, don't call yourself a goy; call yourself a "shaygits" (that's the male equivalent of "shiksa"). Or better yet, just tell them you're a non-M.O.T.

Posted by Pam @ 07/30/2002 01:32 PM PST

As Doris Day once sang, "A goy is a goy is a goy." (That's funny, I didn't know she was from Brooklyn.)

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 01:33 PM PST

OK...Pam just opened up another question from me. Non-M.O.T.? What's that mean?

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:33 PM PST

Member of the tribe, right Pam?

Seems like we were thinking alike anyway....

Posted by Stuart @ 07/30/2002 01:35 PM PST

Goy is generally said derisively. Probably "gentile" is the least offensive way to say that you aren't jewish, but then people will think that you're claiming to be a kind and soft-spoken person. (Get it? Bad pun on gentle?)
Which is not to say that you aren't kind, but I don't think that you could pull off soft-spoken.

Posted by Hapgood @ 07/30/2002 01:40 PM PST

That reminds me -- I always thought it was funny that M.O.S. means "without sound" in filmmaking. Originally, it was pronouced "mit-out sound" by Eastern European directors and cinematographers. Totally, unrelated, but good padding...

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 01:42 PM PST

I would have used "gentile," but one of my Jewish friends told me she was as put off by "gentile" as she was by "goy." So I was a bit confused. Now I know what to call myself. :-) (She now calls me Schlomo....sometimes Schmuelly.) Oh, well. As Doris Day also used to sing, "Que sera, sera...a gentile I'll always be."

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 01:46 PM PST

Ben wrote:

"BK - read Ben's post and checked out Playbill.com . According to the site, Varese Sarabande is now defunct. Is that true? I thought they just folded their bdwy/vocals division"

Where was that at Playbill, Ben? There are so many places to look.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/30/2002 02:38 PM PST

I think I can clear up Varese Saranbande story. A story filed for Playbill on line by Andrew Gans stated that Brent Barrett will be recording an album for FA. But we all know that it has been already recorded and on a shelf somwhere.

He also says that Barrett's first recording was on the now defunct VS label. That is not correct. Just musical division is gone

click on this link to read this badly written press release.

http://www.playbill.com/cgi-bin/plb/news?cmd=show&code=111741

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 03:07 PM PST

The Varèse Sarabande web site seems to be up and running still.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 03:13 PM PST

And to post again, while we are on the subject of Yiddish, what is the correct spelling of altercocker [phonetic]?

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 03:16 PM PST

Jason:
I don't know about the DREAMGIRLS bootleg, but I was in the audience for an early preview...and the end of Act I was truly amazing. You may recall that in his review, Mr. Rich wrote something like (bad paraphrase coming up:) "it's a good thing director Michael Bennett chooses to bring the curtain down immediately after that number or the audience would have gone on cheering all night."
As for showstoppers that didn't bring down the first act curtain:
Epiphany with Brian Stokes Mitchell
Rose's Turn with Lansbury and Daly
Bosom Buddies, during previews of the botched "Mame" revival in the early 80's, with Lansbury and Anne Francine.
The opening "audition" sequence in early previews of 42nd Street.
All very memorable, spine-tingling moments.

Posted by Tim H. @ 07/30/2002 03:18 PM PST

I am having such a busy day that I only have time to just stop in and say:

Carol Channing, Hello Dolly
Bebe Neuwirth, I Can't Do It Alone
Bernadette Peters & Tom Wopat, An Old Fashioned Wedding
And I can't think of anything else, but I'm sure there were a few more...

Posted by Dolores Haze @ 07/30/2002 03:25 PM PST

Well, perhaps they're recording ANOTHER Brent sings Lerner album - certainly, as you already state, everyone knows that I produced one last year, right about this time as I recall. I'm fairly certain that's the one that will be coming out, since it was entirely finished by me last October. The only thing left undone was mastering and figuring out the order. The tracks themselves (I have no idea what order they will end up in) are marvelous - Brent has never sounded better, and his voice is like honey on these beautiful songs. We are both very proud of our work, and may I once again commend Vinnie on a job well done - as well as Chris Denny, Brent's musical director. I'm certain it will be available at fine stores everywhere, so do buy it when it comes out.

Posted by bk @ 07/30/2002 03:30 PM PST

Heard on my CD player recently. Two marvelously produced instrumental albums by BK. Sax and Violence: Music From the Dark Side of the Screen. The album begins with excellent interpration of Bernard Hermann's Theme From Taxi and celebrates such masters as Victor Young, Miklos Rosza and David Raskin to contemporary masters as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith,John Barry,Elmer Bernstein and Maurice Jarre. It also features memorable theme music from the French film Diva. (One of the few instrumental soundtracks I can listen to over and over again)

Lanny Meyers is at the top of his game with the musical direction, arrangements and orchestrations. He has put together a wonderful group of musicians. I highly recommend this album. It is soooo different from any Mr. Kimmel has done in the past.

Cool and Classic: Great Film Themes From the '70's. (a companion cd to similar title cd but Themes from the 6o's)

Film composer celebrates his own music as well as those of Michel Legrand, Johnny Mandel (also heard of Sax and Violence)Dave Grusin,David Shire,Quincy Jones.and Lalo Schrifin among others. Karlin's trumpet and fugelhorn are spotlight in his arrangements of fimilar and not so familar movie themes. Roger Kellaway who is the featured pianist on this recorded as his theme The Dark as one of the cuts. Enjoyable listen experience on these two.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 07/30/2002 04:06 PM PST

Thanks, Michael. Sax and Violence was a really happy experience, one where everything just came together perfectly. It's a great massage album and lasts almost exactly one hour.

The Karlin albums are nice, too, although I prefer the 60s volume by a tiny margin.

Posted by bk @ 07/30/2002 04:24 PM PST

Have been listening to the Broadway Radio Show with Mssrs. Feltham and Mr. Brockman.

Good Stuff!

(the 75th post "might" be mine)

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/30/2002 04:28 PM PST

My, my...we've made 75 posts and only one of them was a one-worder. I'll drink to that!

And one for Mahler!

Posted by Jason @ 07/30/2002 05:15 PM PST

As I sit in front of my computer, I just wanted to mention another BK listen. As I've been surfing and paying bills and playing on the computer I'm listening to Liz Callaway sings Frank Loesser (all the way back to 1993). What a sweet and wonderful album. I've always enjoyed Ms. Ann and Ms. Liz. Saw them once live at 92nd Street Y and it was great. Thanks for a nice little album Mr. BK.

Posted by Ben @ 07/30/2002 06:52 PM PST

wow! Look at all these posts! Quite impressive. Will we hit 100 today?

Thanks Ron, I hope you enjoy your radio show next week....the sound is a bit different on yours. Since this recording gadget is very new to me, I played around a bit with fixing the sound in Sound Forge....not sure if it's worse or better, but having the whole thing recorded from the phone will never be quite perfect.

Posted by Donald @ 07/30/2002 07:09 PM PST

I don't believe that anyone has mentioned two of my favorite literal show-stoppers:
Lilliane Montevecchio (I'm sure she'll forgive me butchering the spelling of her magnificnet name) doing "Folies Bergeres" in NINE. When I saw it in previews, she sang it twice, because the audience just wouldn't let the show go on, we were wild with shouts of "encore!"
Anita Morris' "A Call to the Vatican" same preview performance, same audience reaction; so we got two calls to the Vatican.
A few weeks later, these gals continued to stop the show, but the encores were gone.

I saw Jennifer's "And I am Telling You" quite early in the run; yes, she brought the house onto its feet.

Dolores Gray in Pittsburgh, in GYPSY, I guess I don't have to say which song...

Speaking of Grays...I just this past Sunday saw JEKYLL & HYDE for the first time, a production brilliantly directed by the original Dr. J. himself, whereing Mr. Kevin Grey stopped the show with "This is the Moment," a song which normally I cannot tolerate, but Kevin's delivery was quick, staccato and breathtaking in its pacing. Later in the second act, the leading ladies, Kate Suber and Michelle Dawson stopped the show with "In His Eyes," ably assisted by Mr. Cuccioli's marvelous direction.

I once saw Pearl Bailey stop the show, literally, in the middle of "Before the Parade Passes By," when someone snapped a photo, needless to say, Miss Bailey read him the riot act!

Saw Don Stewart stop a "Most Happy Fella" when he sang "Joey, Joey, Joey."

Posted by td @ 07/30/2002 07:36 PM PST

With which song did Dolores Gray stop a Pittsburgh production of Gypsy?

Which one-word post?

I am not sure that Liliane Montevecchi has ever forgiven anyone.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 08:49 PM PST

My compliments to Craig Brockman for an excellent selection of show music favorites on this week's radio show.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/30/2002 08:54 PM PST

freedunit: YOU posted the one-worder! (how soon they forget!)

Dolores Gray stopped the show with - ta-da: ROSE'S TURN.

Liliane can console herself knowing that I also mispelled "magnificent."

Posted by td @ 07/30/2002 09:34 PM PST

td: I posted one of two one-word posts, and I caught misspelled.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/30/2002 10:09 PM PST

I had fun yesterday (and today) and had fun that everyone else had fun. I always have fun here--no matter how many or how few posts we have.

On the other hand, one of my professors once told me, "You're such a goddamn Pollyanna!" I, of course, took it as a compliment.

Posted by Kerry @ 07/30/2002 10:29 PM PST

Oh, hell! It's my frelling bedtime.

BK: Had my first listen to the Cinderella album tonight -- simply phenomenal!!! There is, perhaps, a tad too much Prokofiev, but I was hoping for "He/She Danced With Me" instead of an instrumental.

But I'm over it and I'm delighted.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/30/2002 10:37 PM PST

Exeunt!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/30/2002 10:37 PM PST

The best show-stopper I can think of is when 90-year old great-uncle Arthur plays hymns on his harmonica at the family reunion talent show.

Posted by Sandra @ 07/30/2002 10:51 PM PST

No! I have not just finished a shower with Mr Spacey! I am late. Still recovering from a visit to the Dentist. Actually I was in high school with my dentist. (No he was not a dentist then. He married my Barber's daughter - sure you needed to know all that).
"River In The Rain" from big River had the audience on their feet at the Melbourne production. I was also fortunate enough to see Ms Lansbury's "Rose's Turn" in London. It was the first Sondheim show I had seen. Anthony Warlow has the same effect on Australian audiences - but that is his star quality and the expectation (delivered) of brilliance.

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 07/30/2002 11:03 PM PST

Hey, folks. Another link here.

In the New York Times this morning there is a nice aricle about William Ivey Long, the costume designer for Hairspray.

Here's the link to the Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/

Scroll down to Arts, click on that, then scroll down to Theatre (near the bottom), click on that and it's the third column (it's called He Dresses the Goddesses of Broadway). Warning, if you've never been to the New York Times site before you have to do a free registration to read the article, then you have access to the site.

Hairspray has become the talk of New York. I hear they are stopping the show every night. The next Producers as they keep saying. Well, we'll see about that. I'm seeing it on August 9th. Harvey Fierstein on a Necco Wafer colored set! The mind reels.

Posted by Ben @ 07/31/2002 04:34 AM PST

Also forgot to mention,

The wonderful and talented Ms. Chita Rivera will be honored at the Kennedy Center later this year! Go, Chita!

Posted by Ben @ 07/31/2002 04:54 AM PST

Yay, Ms. Chita Rivera! Well, as I sit here enjoying my sausage/egg/biscuit breakfast from McDonalds, I just realized...I'm seeing HAIRSPRAY on Friday night! Necco Wafers et al. I'll be sure to give the full scoop on all showstoppers. And, yes, rumour has it that this is the next PRODUCERS. Who knew? I have a friend who's a talent agent, and she has at least two clients in the show, and she still can't get tickets! Oh, well...poor her. :-D

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 05:54 AM PST

Chita Rivera is awesome. The first time I was lucky enough to see her was in The Rink. Of course, she was terrific. Rivera was the best thing about The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Visit. If only she were to be given a show truly worthy of her talents! She should make for a wonderful Liliane LaFleur in Nine. I cannot think of a more deserving recipient of a Kennedy Center honor.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/31/2002 06:09 AM PST

OK...is it just me or is Chad Kimball (Milky White in just adorable? Just thought I'd share...

http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=19109&CT=38

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 06:17 AM PST

Um...I swear I typed in Milky White in Into the Woods but it didn't show up. I dunno what happened. Mea Culpa! (God, deliver me! Release me!)

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 06:19 AM PST

My Chita-going, amazingly enough, dates all the way back to 1963 with Zenda, the Vernon Duke - Martin Charnin show that never made it out of California.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/31/2002 06:56 AM PST

Liliane Montevecchi stopped the show with "Follies Bergere"?? Are you sure that people weren't just getting up to leave? Or go to the bathroom? When I hear her on the cast recording, it certainly stops the show for me, as I skip ahead to the next track.

Seriously, why is this show so poorly sung on the OBC? I saw a workshop production at University of Michigan last year, and was surprised to find that every single performer sang their role better than their counterparts on the OBC.

Bruce, are you listening? Time to do a decent recording of NINE. (Have I mentioned this before?)

In fairness, I have yet to hear either the London version with Elaine Paige and Jonathan Pryce, or the Australian version, but I have friends who tell me they are not much better. Anyone want to offer their thoughts?

Posted by Dave @ 07/31/2002 06:58 AM PST

Robert: Was it a musical based on Prisoner of Zenda? Just assuming from the title.

Posted by Ben @ 07/31/2002 06:59 AM PST

The original Broadway cast recording of Nine is a wonderful record of a once-in-a-lifetime cast, all terrific in their roles. Liliane Montevecchi was excellent as Liliane LaFleur.

Chad Kimball, as Milky White in the uneven revival of Into the Woods, handily steals the show. He is adorable and so much more.

Posted by freedunit @ 07/31/2002 08:01 AM PST

Chad Kimball is very cute. (Thanks, Jason, for the link.) Are any of you going to see him do the cabaret act on Aug 5? I'd love to do that (if I weren't on the other side of the country).

Posted by Kerry @ 07/31/2002 08:09 AM PST

Once again, freedunit says it, therefore it must be so. Let there be no disagreement in the future. If anyone needs to know whether to enjoy a recording, or appreciate a performer, one needn't bother relying upon taste or judgment. Simply ask freedunit. He knows all.

If you like Patti LuPone, then good for you. If you think Ms. Montevecchi can sing, enjoy. But let the rest of us decide for ourselves what we should and shouldn't like.

As for a dream cast, the upcoming revival of NINE seems to be shaping up as a wonderful cast, if only they would hire a Guido who can sing - anybody but Antonio (I scowled my way through the EVITA movie, so put me on Broadway) Banderas!

Posted by Dave @ 07/31/2002 08:15 AM PST

I think I'm going to try to go. What the hell...it's only $12, right?

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 08:15 AM PST

Scrum!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/31/2002 08:27 AM PST

Scrum? What the hell does that mean? Is that anything like scrumdillyumptious?

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 08:28 AM PST

"Scrum" is a rugby term -- it's the formation the tight ends of both teams get into when they lock arms, form a circle and start pushing each other for all their worth while trying to get an advantage on the ball which is tossed into the middle of the formation.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/31/2002 08:44 AM PST

Haha...as you can tell, I'm not the sportiest of fellows. Thanks for the explanation.

Posted by Jason @ 07/31/2002 08:45 AM PST

Ben,
Thanks for the link to the article about William Ivey Long.

Posted by Kerry @ 07/31/2002 08:48 AM PST

Ben -- yes, it was based on The Prisoner of Zenda (one of my favorite books). Duke and Charnin did a lot of rewrites but the show never made it to Broadway. All that's left is a very bad live recording. I did recycle two of the songs for my Vernon Duke musical, Madly In Love, however.

Dave - I like the way you think. :-)

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/31/2002 08:57 AM PST

If I may, without seem argumentative or disrespectful of others' feelings, state that I, too, love the OBC of "Nine." I never saw it on stage and have only the OBC to go by, but I feel totally in love with the recording and any re-do would have to be special, indeed. But it's only my opinion, and I do respect opposing ones.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 07/31/2002 09:00 AM PST

If someone said that the cow was the best thing in a production of GYPSY, you'd know there was something very wrong. Unfortunately, that's a fact with the current revival of INTO THE WOODS. Chad Kimball IS the best thing in the show.

Liliane Montevecchi was delightful to look at in NINE but I couldn't understand half of what she was saying or singing. I actually have no clear recollection of the number "Follies Bergere" at all, except from the album. The rest of the cast was wonderful, however.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/31/2002 09:08 AM PST

I've said it before and I'll say it again - opinions are like donuts - everyone has had one and theirs is always the tastiest. How is that for beating a metaphor to the ground and stomping the very life out of it. Look at Ron's post above - that is a very nice way to state a strong opinion, in my strong opinion.

Posted by bk @ 07/31/2002 09:13 AM PST

I couldn't have said it better (although I already have). ;-)

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/31/2002 09:28 AM PST

Gee, BK, you scared everyone off. No one wants to give their opinion of anything anymore.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 07/31/2002 11:00 AM PST

Jeux sans frontieres

Posted by . @ 04/05/2003 04:33 AM PST