Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 09:10 AM PST

First and second posts!

Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 09:11 AM PST

The opening night of My Fair Lady to see if the audience really did gasp when she got "The Rain in Spain" right.

Oh, but then let me go back to London in 1912 and see the opening night of Pygmalion to hear them burst out in nervous laughter when Mrs. Pat said, "Not bloody likely!"

BTW (by the way in Internet Lingo) and SOW (speaking of which in Internet Lingo) does anyone else remember seeing the play The First Night of Pygmalion on television some many years ago?

Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/13/2003 09:17 AM PST

Oh yes, Follies definitely, and Gypsy indubitably, and Anyone Can Whistle, just so I could be in the unique club of those who saw it.

I've just once had the chance to be almost a part of the opening night thrill. That was when I saw Nine in previews, and after the show almost the entire audience, instead of going about their merry ways, stood around on the sidewalk on both sides of the street buzz buzz buzzing about the show. They smelled the sweet smell of (oh, a Craig Carnelia reference) a hit, a palpable hit (oh, a Shakespeare reference by way of a Sondheim reference).

And then my friend Debby and I went to talk to Karen Akers and while we did a tall man with very long legs came over to tell her about the next day's rehearsal and she introduced us but I didn't catch his name at the time.

Say, who was that tall man, anyway? Oh, a Lone Ranger reference.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/13/2003 09:25 AM PST

Play - A CHORUS LINE simply becase it is the best musical ever. I saw it off-Broadway at the Public and would have loved to have been at the Broadway opening (I was at the Tonys the year it won).

Movie - The 1954 A STAR IS BORN. In the live broadcast of the opening Greer Garson described it as "Hollywood at it's most Hollywood".

Is there a problem with the www.brucekimmel.com site? I tried to log on today and it said "Coming Soon". Since I have logged on several times with the same url I wonder if it is temporarily down while it is being updated or if there is some other problem.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 09:28 AM PST

It does seem to be down - I'll check with Michael and see whassup.

In a late post yesterday, Joe C. asked how the color was in the From the Terrace DVD and if the sound was 2.0 or 4.0 stereo. The color looks faboo, just perfect, and it's a terrific and sharp transfer, unlike the faded laserdisc of years ago. Not quite sure if the sound is 2.0 or 4.0 although I suspect 2.0 - it's very rich and full-bodied and sounds great.

Posted by bk @ 05/13/2003 09:34 AM PST

Hi!
Just discovered the porblem at brucekimmel.com. The problem seems to be with the provider and my credit card company. I am hoping the problem will be solved by the end of the day.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 05/13/2003 09:43 AM PST

William Orr - I was at the opening night of "Anyone Can Whistle". Let me tell you something, you didn't miss anything.

I would have liked to have been at the opening of "A Chorus Line" when it opened at the Public Theatre.

I would have also liked to have been at the opening of "Gone With the Wind" at its world premiere in Atlanta.

Posted by steveg @ 05/13/2003 09:44 AM PST

As for opening nights I had the good fortune of being at Sunday in the Park with George courtesy
of tickets from the composer. I also attended the world premiere of Kramer vs Kramer in all places Montreal! None of the actors showed up though.

But I would like to been to as for a film Gone With the Wind and as a Broadway show either My Fair Lady or Follies

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 05/13/2003 09:51 AM PST

I need to clarify something. There is nothing wrong with my internet provider. They are wonderful and couldn't be more helpful. The problem seems to be with the people who registered the domain and my credit card company.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 05/13/2003 09:57 AM PST

Broadway Opening Nights - So many that have already been mentioned:

I'll start off with my Sondheim choices:
Follies
Company
Anyone Can Whistle
Pacific Overtures
Sweeney Todd
-Mainly to "feel" the buzz over how "revolutionary" people thought these musicals were at the time they came out - and also to gauge the reactions of those who just didn't get it, and didn't like them.

*I was at the opening night of Passion - well, both of them.

Gypsy - Just to see Merman live on stage.
Oklahoma - Well, maybe not on it's opening night, but on one of those nights that spawned many of those most likely apocryphal stories:
-The usher notices a woman sitting by herself in the front row:
"Ma'am, I notice that you have an empty seat next to you."
-"Oh, yes. My husband had bought the tickets for our anniversary months ago. Unfortunately, he died recently."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. But isn't there a friend or family member who you could have found to go with you.
-"Well, yes, but they're all at his funeral."
ba-doom chick!

Movie opening nights:
The Jazz Singer - And I'm not talking about the Neil Diamond movie. "Wow, they talk!"
Cleopatra
The Godfather
The Wizard of Oz

Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 05/13/2003 09:57 AM PST

Jose - I've heard that story about every smash hit musical over the last fifty or more years... still it's funny. You could easily have been at the OKLAHOMA! opening (if you were around then) because it was not even sold out. It wasn't until after the reviews that it became a sellout.

By the way, last night's Broadway by the Year - 1953 was one of the best yet. Usually there is an ensemble cast who do a lot of interacting with each other. This time there was a "guest star" - Debbie Gravitte -- and while she was wonderful she only did 3 solos and 1 duet. However the rest of the cast was every bit as good as Debbie Diva: Davis Gaines, Julia Murney, Scott Coulter, Andrea Burns and Edward Staudenmayer. There were only 8 musicals that opened in 1953, and two or more songs were heard from each of them. Besides the hits (KISMET, WONDERFUL TOWN and CAN CAN) there was the flop which set a record that still stands: a performing Tony (Dolores Gray) with the least amount of performances (6): CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS (with the standard hit "Here's That Rainy Day" and several other great songs I had never heard before). There was JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON'S ALMANAC with songs by Adler & Ross and Cy Coleman before anyone had heard of them; Jule Styne's HAZEL FLAGG (later turned into the movie "Living It Up" with Jerry Lewis in the role Helen Gallagher played on Broadway); Rodgers & Hammersteins under-appreciated ME & JULIET; and a flop called MAGGIE with a score by William Roy, best known today as Julie Wilson's piano player. And if that wasn't enough, they announced that the next Broadway By The Year (1960) will star Brent Barrett.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 10:23 AM PST

Hmmmm...great topic, but it requires thought that I can't spare it right now.

I *would* like to know, though, if anyone can verify the rumor that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is taking up the Walk of Fame in order to re-position all of the sections in alphabetical order??? This is the nuttiest thing I've heard in awhile. What are they going to do the next time they add someone to it...tear the whole thing up again?

Posted by Lulu @ 05/13/2003 10:27 AM PST

If we stick with just one Broadway, I would choose Pacific Overtures because it's my favorite Sondheim show. If we expand and use the Wayback machine many times I would go to:

Gypsy
Pal Joey
Forum
Showboat
Oklahoma
Company
Follies
Night Music
Guys and Dolls
Damn Yankees
Sweeney Todd

Movies, I gues the one would be A Star is Born (Mrs. Luft's version). If I had multiples they would be:

West Side Story
Jazz Singer (yes, Jose, to be there at such a moment would be exciting)
Sound of Music
Gone with the Wind
All About Eve
The African Queen
The First Nudie Musical ;-)
Wizard of Oz

Posted by Ben @ 05/13/2003 10:46 AM PST

Lulu - where did you hear that about the Hollywood Walk of Fame? That would cost them money and everyone knows that stars only get stars if they (or their studio, agents, fans, etc.) buy them. Quality means nothing... only the ability to pay for them does.

Why don't we take up a collection to get BK his very own star? He certainly deserves it more than many of the recent additions. As the most popular site on the Internet we could get lots of contributors.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 11:02 AM PST

WEL - Great idea!! What does a star on Hollywood Blvd cost?

Posted by JB aka JK @ 05/13/2003 11:17 AM PST

Oh yes, I really would have to jump into my Time Machine and go to the première of Plan Nine From Outer Space. And I would take Tim Burton and Johnny Depp with me.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/13/2003 11:18 AM PST

Well, even without a time machine I would take Johnny Depp with me. 8-)>

Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/13/2003 11:19 AM PST

A star on Hollywood Boulevard costs about five bucks. Well, that's how much the gold sticky letters cost. Right, DR Jason?

Posted by Laura @ 05/13/2003 11:53 AM PST

The last I knew was about $2,000 but that was almost 20 years ago so I would imagine they are much more now.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 11:54 AM PST

Movies:
ET
Willy Wonka
Gone with the Wind
Citizen Kane
Li'l Abner
Singin in the Rain
and of course, TFNM

Musicals:
Li'l Abner
Gypsy
West Side Story
Sweeney Todd
Merrily We Roll Along

and wouldn't it be grand to have this time machine and sit in on the first creative meetings of some of this seasons flops. Imagine being able to warn Chase Mishkin not to take her show to Broadway... or Michael Crawford that perhaps DOTV is not hit ticket back to Broadway....

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 11:55 AM PST

WEL - the initial costs aren't that expensive I think.. it's the maintenance. I think you have to pay into the society that keeps the "stars" clean.. and that is costly...

At least that's what I recall I heard on one of those entertainment programs..

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 11:57 AM PST

I think they have an "Adopt-A-Star" program where fans pledge to keep certain stars clean.

I know in addition to the cost of the star the celebrity has to agree to show up for the "unveiling", but I'm sure that would not be a problem for BK.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 12:02 PM PST

Yes, I feel I should have my very own Hollywood Star and then many people can step on me every day, and also look at the star and say, "What is it, fish?"

I've actually been to a couple of the listed film premieres - I went to The First Nudie Musical all-star premiere in Westwood, and I attended the premiere of ET at the Dome.

Posted by bk @ 05/13/2003 12:02 PM PST

The cost for the Hollywood Walk of Fame star and ceremony is currently $15,000.

Mr. Mark Bakalor

Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 05/13/2003 12:02 PM PST

Mark-

What.. you were dong research to get your own star? So glad you posted today. Some of us thought you were dead because you've been so errant and truant here..

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 12:04 PM PST

We could come up with $15,000 can't we? I know that I could donate at least $25.00 :) - so let's get the ball rolling!

Posted by JB aka JK @ 05/13/2003 12:09 PM PST

WEL: The story about the Walk of Fame razing was posted on a celebrity gossip newsgroup as a fact. Naturally, I took it with a grain of salt, but the idea is just nutty enough to have the ring of possible truth to it. I could actually see them tearing it all up, rearranging everything in alphabetical order, then the next time someone applies for a star, everybody simultaneously goes, "Uh-oh!"

Posted by Lulu @ 05/13/2003 12:10 PM PST

I just opened a Snapple and under the cap says: Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza each day. Just thought I'd share that with everyone.

Posted by JB aka JK @ 05/13/2003 12:11 PM PST

JB/JK: A mere pittance like $15K should be easy for you to come up with...just win a few dozen hands of internet blackjack! ;)

Posted by Lulu @ 05/13/2003 12:11 PM PST

JB/JK: I believe it...I myself ate several square yards of pizza only last weekend.

Posted by Lulu @ 05/13/2003 12:12 PM PST

Yes Lulu - maybe a trip to Vegas is in order to get the ball rolling. Mmmmmm - Vegas! Yeah yeah - 1800-BETS-OFF - I know! :)

Posted by JB aka JK @ 05/13/2003 12:14 PM PST

Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza each day.

Well I for one don't eat that much! ;)

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 12:14 PM PST

Another excellent question with so many excellent answers already.

Hmmmmmmmmm.....

I think I would like to have been at the Hollywood premiere of GIANT - to see all the stars and see James Dean on the big screen in his last role.

As for Broadway - I would like to have been in the opening night audience for THE MUSIC MAN and see a classic show and a classic performance - Robert Preston.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 05/13/2003 12:33 PM PST

Movie premiers I would have most liked to have gone to...likely a premier of one of the 50s Universal picks like ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS so as to see people like Rock Hudson, Agnes Moorehead,Virginia Grey, Gloria Talbott, William Reynolds, Leigh Snowden, Merry Anders and others in the cast, not to mention some of the Universal stable of stars..Allison Hayes perhaps!!

As for Broadway plays, I think I would have enjoyed seeing FLOWER DRUM SONG, as that is one of my favorite musicals...but I would have also enjoyed seeing WILDCAT with Lucille Ball and Keith Andes...I have yet to hear Keith Andes singing voice, although I soon will...and I understand he is marvelous!

Posted by MBarnum @ 05/13/2003 12:41 PM PST

On this date in 1907, Daphne du Maurier was born.

Perhaps Bruce will dream of Manderley....

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 12:47 PM PST

I used to get Keith Andes and Keith Brasille mixed up.

Keith Andes co-starred with Lucy in WILDCAT and stared in the First National Tour of MAN OF LA MANCHA.

Keith Brasille starred in "The Eddie Cantor Story" film and hosted a television variety show that was a summer replacement for Garry Moore and used "Comedy Tonight" as its theme. He came off like Liberace without the piano.

I haven't heard of (or thought of) either of them in years although Keith Partridge and Brian Kieth live on in reruns.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 05/13/2003 01:03 PM PST

Just to recap this TONY voting season, if we combined all of this years flops, we'd have Michael Crawford, riding a mechanical bull, singing a Burt Bacharach song in french.

Actually the ironic part is that none of the reviews used the phrase "The Look of Amour"

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 01:07 PM PST

The Kritzerland hardcover arrived today and looks splendidly splendid - I have placed the order for the books and they should be here within ten business days or sooner. Yummy.

Posted by bk @ 05/13/2003 01:10 PM PST

Craig, speaking of writers, on this day in 1937 Roger Zelazny was born. I just looked at my Futurama calendar and that's what's listed for today. Tomorrow, May 14, are birthdays for both George Lucas and Tim Roth. And Thursday, May 15 is L. Frank Baum's birthday. If he were still alive, he'd be 147 years old (on Thursday)!

Mr. Mark Bakalor (I'm assuming that this is for you), in the Unseemly Interview Archive, when one clicks on the link to the Max Preeo Unseemly Interview, one doesn't go to the Max Preeo Unseemly Interview. Instead, one is taken to the Buddy Bregman Unseemly Interview. Now don't get me wrong, it's a fine interview, but I wanted to read the Max Preeo Unseemly Interview. Can this be fixed? Is it still available? Thanks in advance.

Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 01:37 PM PST

Candide, Merrily We Roll Along, Anyone Can Whistle and The Grass Harp all had VERY short runs, but their scores live on. I thought Amour was the best new musical this season -- witty, intelligent and wonderfully performed. The only thing wrong with Amour was its ineffective ad campaign and a group of producers who pulled the plug too soon. Here's hoping that Amour finds renewed life once the cast album comes out.

Posted by OM Time @ 05/13/2003 01:46 PM PST

Actually, Craig handles the interviews. :)

Posted by Mr. Mark Bakalor @ 05/13/2003 01:48 PM PST

Craig is checking on the Interview archive problem and will have it fixed in a thrice or even a twice.

Posted by bk @ 05/13/2003 01:54 PM PST

Craig, please read my message above to Mr. Mark Bakalor. Thanks.

Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 01:55 PM PST

The interview archive "sich-ashun" is fixed

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 01:57 PM PST

Craig, um...sort of. The link is fixed but there is no interview, just the HHW background.

Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 02:06 PM PST

WEL-

Maybe you wouldn't have been confused if you knew that his name is spelled as follows

KEEFE BRASSELLE

Posted by Arnold M. Brockman @ 05/13/2003 02:08 PM PST

George... dunno why you are having issues now.. I just checked it myself and it woiks. Try clearing your cache and refreshing the page..

And if anyone else has an issue, let me know..

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 02:12 PM PST

Craig, it's that darned Netscape vs. Internet Explorer thing! I can see it without any trouble in IE but NOT in Netscape 4.8 and I don't know why. I have Netscape 4.8 and Netscape 7 at home and will check there tonight. Does anyone else have this problem with this interview? Anyway, I'll remember to use IE for that one interview. Otherwise, thanks for fixing the link!

Posted by George @ 05/13/2003 02:29 PM PST

Show premiere: SHOW BOAT. To hear those wonderful songs for the first time would have been mind-blowing.

Movie premiere: everyone has named some really great films. Any of them would have been wonderful. For me, I think I'd pick IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

Posted by Matt H. @ 05/13/2003 02:47 PM PST

Back to my childhood favourites: The opening nights of "Carousel", "Pajama Game" and "Kismet".
At the movies: Not such a big deal (to me)but "Fantasia" or more recently, either or both of the LOTR films. I did go to the Australian opening of "Tommy" and we had to wait for an hour before Elton John arrived. Was the movie worth it -no way!

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 05/13/2003 03:10 PM PST

Weak week for dvds?!?!? Well, there are not a lot of titles being released today, but, I am on my way out the door to buy:
THE MISSION
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
and, hopefully,
THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER.

That'll keep the ole dvd player up and running tonight.

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 03:32 PM PST

I'm in agreement with Matt H., because I too would like to be there on opening night for Show Boat. But I'd like to spend a week or so before that opening night, to watch the other musicals that were then running on Broadway, just to put Show Boat in it's proper context. There's so much about that show we take for granted now, and I'd like to be reminded of why we shouldn't take anything for granted.

I'm afraid, when it comes to movie premieres, that I would want to cheat. That's right, I want to cheat! I want to see Frank Capra's Lost Horizon, with Ronald Coleman, Jane Wyatt, and Sam Jaffe, but I don't want to see the glitzy first night. I want to see it on the night they snuck the film into Santa Barbara (or was it Santa Monica?) before the premiere, and the audience very firmly disliked the film. This is one case where the film's sneek helped save the film, because it was then and there that Capra and company decided to junk the first reels of the film, depicting the turmoil and rioting that Coleman and the other plane passengers were fleeing from, and jump directly to the plane itself. I'd particularly want to be in range, so that I could watch Mr. Capra realize a boo-boo had been made, and watch him try to think out how to fix it. THAT would be movie history being made!

(Other than that, I suppose being in Atlanta for the opening night of Gone With the Wind would be interesting, but I'm not too happy when I'm surrounded by a huge crowd, so maybe not.)

Posted by S. Woody White @ 05/13/2003 04:07 PM PST

First ones that come to mind
would be A CHORUS LINE for
stage, and WIZARD OF OZ for
screen.

Posted by Jed @ 05/13/2003 04:35 PM PST

Two out of three ain't bad. (Oh, a Jim Steinman reference)!

I'm off to watch THE MISSION, which I bought in addition to 20,000 LEAGUES and. . .THE X FILES SEASON 7 arrived in my mailbox today.

Give me the opening night of PORGY AND BESS!

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 05:35 PM PST

BK, your comment about the Walk of Fame brings to mind the closing lines of John Bucchino's "Sweet Dreams:"

"There is a sidewalk in California,
Where they put the stars right at your feet,
And people delight in stepping on them. . ."

Strange ending to a beautiful song, but having sung this in the last cabaret, it's still fresh in my mind.

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 05:38 PM PST

I can't think of any particular premier I would like to have seen. Around 1966 & 67, I worked just about every premier at the Bruin and Village Theaters in Westwood. I don't recall getting too jazzed about meeting the stars. The most memorable premier was One Million Years BC when Raquel Welch was reduced to tears from the boos.

Posted by Jane @ 05/13/2003 06:24 PM PST

Got back from dinner with our very own Macchus999 tonight at the Cheesecake Factory. I will be going to see his play this weekend. What a great guy. Most enjoyable time. Everyone should have the chance to meet him.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 05/13/2003 06:37 PM PST

1. Michael Shayne.. thanks for the invite

2. Mark.. thanks for the invite

Just wanted to wish everyone well. I am going to be truant over the next few days and not be able to read or post because I am relocating. I shall return here to HHW just as soon as I can. Wish me a safe journey...

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 08:00 PM PST

Craig I thought you were in NYC!

Posted by Michael @ 05/13/2003 08:02 PM PST

Michael - not yet ;)

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 08:05 PM PST

OK... this is a great what if and it was posted on ATC..

It's a what if they rewrote the lyrics to "If Momma Got Married" reflecting Bernies illness..

click on my name for the post

Posted by Craig @ 05/13/2003 08:14 PM PST

Craig: Safe Journey! I hope that
nothing is broken and that no major
fights are had! Arrive with joy in the
city that never sleeps, and then take
a nap.
There are many shows I would have
loved to seen at all, but here are
some I would have needed to see
opening night:
Company (When people said: Wow!
This is Sondheim!)
Gypsy
Long Day's Journey Into Night
The Threepenny Opera (both the
original German, with the ability to
understand the language, and the
Blitzstein revival.)
Oklahoma
Caousel
Candide
Guys and Dolls
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Angels in America
and many, many more.

By the way, to whoever asked, I
know that "L. A. Boheem" was in the
Forbidden "Rent" I don't know if it
was anywhere else, but it isn't on
any other CD that I have.

And I'm still waiting for someone to
challenge my reasons why "La
Boheme" and "Movin' Out" are
musicals. I'm sort of disappointed
that you all agree with me. Maybe I
should start saying totally
outrageous things and see if anyone
notices.

Posted by Hapgood @ 05/13/2003 08:17 PM PST

DR Hapgood -- OK, I'll say something totally outrageous for you...

I just read today that there is going to be a production in New York of " The Miracle Worker " , and the role of Annie Sullivan (think depth, maturity, intense emotion, and a combination of strength and compassion) is apparently going to be played by.....

are you ready.....Hillary Swank !!!! !!?/??!!!??!!

*##*@*@@**##* I can't begin to think how this makes me want to cut off my head and throw my brain away!! Stupid Hollywood name casting. Even if her husband is cute!

Posted by MusicGuy @ 05/13/2003 08:58 PM PST

MusicGuy! Where did you read that? That production was nipped in the bud in North Carolina quite a while ago by the Weisslers. . .

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 09:05 PM PST

A public "thank you" to Ray & Bill. Email will of course follow.
We are not really ignoring your opinion Hapgood - just that we've moved on. I've always had difficulties with Tony categories and where they draw the boundaries. As other have said - it is the presentation telecast that we remember anyway.
I've never really liked the fact the star had to "originate" the role. I thought Vanessa Williams was wonderful in Spiderwoman but the show needed to close for a while so it could be a revival if she were to be nominated. Her costars (McGillan and "Stokes")were wonderful too.
td: Hope the mission went well.A score that should have won an oscar.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 05/13/2003 09:12 PM PST

Yes, Tom, the mission went swimmingly. oh, well, there's always room for a bad choice of words on HHW with no groaning.
Morricone's score indeed, IMHO, should have taken home the little golden man that year; but, at least Chris Menges' sumptuous cinematography won the Oscar.
As I watched the movie, I kept repeating to myself: "this is a lost gem. . . i never hear people talk about THE MISSION." With the impeccable transfer, the 5.1 surround, and a full documentary on the second disc, maybe the dvd will get people talking about a non-Tom Cruise- MISSION once again.

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 09:16 PM PST

I would looooove to have been at the premiere (that is a horrifically hard word to spell, incidentally -- I just tried three times, and I'm still not sure if it's right...of course I could check in the above posts, but too much work) of The Wizard of Oz, for a movie, since it was the first full length popular movie featuring technicolor (yes? feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken) and I would've thoroughly enjoyed being among an audience who got excited about color. And it's just a darn good movie.

As for musicals, I suppose I would've liked to be at opening night of Show Boat, because I think that (and not Oklahoma) was actually the really pivotal show in musical theater history and I would kill to hear Old Man River sung for the first time -- it's now become such an anthem, it would be wonderful to see it when it was just a wonderful song reaching an audience.

And I know this isn't an opening, but I would also really love to have been at that famed workshop (or was it preview?) performance of Sunday in the Park With George when Mandy Patinkin sang Finishing the Hat for the first time, music in hand. It's perhaps my favorite song, and I've heard that he never did it better than that first time.

Posted by Anna @ 05/13/2003 09:16 PM PST

DR td: I never did get that article about HEDWIG...perhaps I deleted something from a screen-name I didn't recognize? I do do that in haste sometimes. If I did, I apologize; can you send it again? Or is it by snail mail?

Broadway Openings:
Chicago
The Rink
A Chorus Line
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Hair
West Side Story
Grease
42nd Street
Follies
Gypsy
Frankie & Johnny In The Clair De Lune
Hedwig And The Angry Inch (OOB)
Guys And Dolls
Showboat

Film:
The Godfather I, II, and III
A Star Is Born (Garland, of course)
Hedwig And The Angry Inch
GWTW
Wizard Of Oz

Posted by KT @ 05/13/2003 09:24 PM PST

KT: I'm sending it again, right now as - - my addy is hilton1@nauticom.net

Posted by td @ 05/13/2003 09:45 PM PST

DR Jason. I think the term "Hillbilly" is generational - whatever that may mean. To my parents and in my childhood, country music, be it from Nasville or West Coast performers such as Gene Autry and Red Ingle, was hillbilly. The Beverly Hillbillys and Deliverance changed all that in the seventies. It is certainly a derogatory term here now. (usual connotations of inbreeding and extreme poverty).
In the fifties there was really not much of a gap between pop music and country music. I think it was country music with a lot of fiddles we probably referred to it as hillbilly to distinguish it from country pop like Marty Robbins etc. The term rock-a-billy was something different again. (Tex-Mex was yet another category).
Mainland Australians tend to think of Tasmanians as "hicks" and "hillbillies". I guess it is synonymous with a lack of sophistication. The 1950's film "Tammy & The Bachelor" comes to mind as a view of the sweet naivity of what city folk thought was "hillbilly", These days they just make films with Sandra Bullock for the same effect and audience.
I have no idea what point I am trying to make. Maybe it is that I am sure we appreciate your sensitivities. (I won't get into a Sondheim reference with that one!)We "oldies" do tend to slip back into our old politically incorrect terminolgy at times.

Posted by Tom from Oz @ 05/13/2003 10:07 PM PST

Dear DR Anna: I'm afraid you're not correct re Wizard of Oz being the first full-length feature featuring Technicolor. I'm not sure which film really was the FIRST, but I do know that The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and the stunning Miss Olivia de Havilland, opened on February 11th, 1938, a full eightteen months before The Wizard of Oz (August 15th, 1939). Still, the two films are among the most gorgeous ever filmed, and would make for a great double feature.

And if I get my dibs on Lost Horizon's sneek preview, you certainly get Mandy workshopping SITPWG! That would make a special moment, indeed!

Posted by S. Woody White @ 05/13/2003 10:22 PM PST

DR TD -- Well, a big WHEW, if indeed the incredibly stupid idea for casting The Miracle Worker was somehow given a mercy killing. I guess it shows how far behind the times some of the internet "current show info" sites can be.

All I could think of would be, "what next? Li'l Kim doing Cabin In The Sky??"

My choices for time-machine premiere nights:

Movie: I can only narrow this to 2 choices -- either The Wizard Of Oz, or the Garland A Star Is Born. God, I'm not too much of a cliche, am I ?

Theatre: No question, it would be A Chorus Line. DR Kerry and I were very lucky to have as a dear friend and adopted family member, one of the original cast members (retired back to Phoenix) who also participated in the original taped workshop sessions that formed the story. He was funny, considerate, creative, and caring, and we miss him terribly. To have been at that opening would have been a thrill.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 05/13/2003 10:32 PM PST

Dear esteemed, fetching, and flexible BK,

Mundane trivialities can indeed be everyday and worthless.... Yesterday I had to change a battery in one of my cars.....I guess it was a little leftover shred of my truck driver persona from last week. But tonight, I cooked yummy foodstuffs for DR Laura and DR Kerry. I guess that makes me a cross between Ernest Borgnine and Julia Child.

What a mental picture.

Posted by MusicGuy @ 05/13/2003 10:37 PM PST

MusicGuy - Wizard of Oz and
A Chorus Line... we are of a
like mind, good sir!

Posted by Jed @ 05/13/2003 10:43 PM PST

Yay for all nighters in the library! My hand is cramped from two solid hours of writing notes, so I'm taking a break at the computer.
Movies - Snow White, just to see the reactions to the first full length color animated film. (bracing myself for a correction from someone..) but I'm pretty sure it was.
Theatre - ACL defintely ranks up there. But actually the first one to come to mind was Candide...I know it was phenomenal flop when it opened, and they tried all sorts of gimmicks at the show to make people come...one involving a circus theme with bags of peanuts served comes to mind. I have a soft spot for the show, and I'd have loved to have seen it in it's orignial, albeit flawed form.

Posted by Ann @ 05/13/2003 10:44 PM PST

Hey DR Jed, get on AIM, I'm sans MSN in the library :-)

Posted by Ann @ 05/13/2003 10:48 PM PST

Why are the post times still showing as early? It's messing with my mind...that's not fair to someone who's been cramming philosophy into her brain for almost five hours...

Posted by Ann @ 05/13/2003 10:50 PM PST

There were quite a few Technicolor films prior to Wizard AND Robin Hood. The Janet Gaynor A Star is Born, one of the Shirley Temple movies (The Little Princess, I think), and even way back in the end of the silent era they were doing two strip Technicolor (Phantom of the Opera had a few sequences in color, most notably the masked ball).

Posted by bk @ 05/13/2003 10:58 PM PST

Playbill.com has posted the cover for the closing performance of LES MIZ. Click on my name to see it...its kind of sad.

Posted by Jason @ 05/14/2003 12:50 AM PST

I'm sorry for being so errant and truant. I've been working on a paper for my history class. It needs to be at least eight pages long. I only have seven and I have nothing more to say. Argh!!

Posted by Sandra @ 05/14/2003 01:33 AM PST

Sandra, have you tried fiddling with the font and the margins? ;)

Forget I said that!

Posted by Lulu @ 05/14/2003 02:46 AM PST

Craig, oh, Craig, even though you're errant and truant (as I soon will be), the Mamma rewrite was great! I laughed, I cried, I loved it. I passed it on to friends who saw Gypsy.

At this time tomorrow I'll be on a plane to Key West. Hooray!

Posted by Ben @ 05/14/2003 03:51 AM PST

I did get to go to a few opening nights.
Was at the opening night of Applause. You could feel the excitemnet inthe audience from the opening of the Overture. You could smell a hit.
Also got to go to the premiere of two movies.
the best was opening night of Cleopatra at the Rivoli in New York. Tickets courtesy of my grandma who knew I had been rabidly following the filming for over two years.
It was a dream when Cleo got a fantasitic restoration for dVD AND a two hour documentary for the DVD AND a complete soundtrack two cd set!!

Posted by Joe Caporiccio @ 05/14/2003 04:03 AM PST

Well, thank you for correcting me, Mr. S. Woody White -- I was relatively sure someone would, and you have such a spiffy name that I'm glad it was you -- but even if Wizard of Oz was not THE first technicolor movie (even by a long shot) I do think it was the first that many people saw -- I know that it attracted a huge audience, and it was many people's first experience with non-animated color. So I would have enjoyed it for their sake, even if they were sadly out of the color loop, missing Robin Hood and whatnot.

And it's also just such a wonderful movie...yes? Yes.

Posted by Anna @ 05/14/2003 05:07 AM PST

WEL & AMB: Oh yes, I remember "The Keefe Brasselle Show", and also the gossip of the time. It seems he got that show due to a nasty incident involving an uncle, Erskin Caldwell, Las Vegas, someone's girlfriend, and nasty bits involving S&M. Well, far be it from me to repeat gossip...

I remember that Ann B. Davis was on the show as a regular... imdb lists Rocky Marciano (!), but not Fred Gwynn. Yes, indeed the cast sang an a adaptation of "I'm in Love with a Girl (Guy) Named Fred" to him--from Once Upon a Mattress, before it became Once Upon a Dial-a-Mattress.

A few years later, Brasselle published a Tell-All potboiler novel about television called The CanniBalS. Hint, hint.

Brasselle died in 1981 of cirrhosis of the liver.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 05/14/2003 07:27 AM PST

I had the lovliest evening last night with Dear Readers Kerry and MusicGuy. I'll post more when the new notes come up, since we know very few people read the notes this late.

Posted by Laura @ 05/14/2003 08:25 AM PST

I wasn't invited.

Posted by Jrand52 @ 05/14/2003 08:43 AM PST