Topic: THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET (Read 33799 times)

bk · « **Reply #30 on:** August 28, 2005, 01:33:37 AM »

And one for Mahler.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #31 on:** August 28, 2005, 01:45:04 AM »

The "inspiration" for my purchase of the OCR for The Light in the Piazza was seeing The Light in the Piazza earlier tonight. It was sort of a post-birthday present to myself. I had remembered that this was Matthew Morrison's last weekend - he leaves after tomorrow's show(s), and I really wanted to see the original cast while and since I could. So, I checked at the Box Office, and was able to get a pretty decent seat, Row M, 202. Center orchestra. In fact, just a few rows in front of me sat Ms. Barbara Cook and her companion, and in front of her was Richard Thomas and his wife. -I had always thought "John Boy" was taller. I recognized a few other faces in the house tonight too (Jeff Calhoun and Rob Berman), as well a few other faces who's names I could not remember. Well.. As for the show...

"Beautiful" truly is an appropriate adjective for this show. I enjoyed it immensely. For some reason, I wasn't expecting such a "large" scenic element, but the depiction of the streets of Firenze was at once simple and grand. The performances were top notch across the board, and it was fun watching some of the background players carry out their own stories... well, in the background.

Across the board, the leads were amazing! Mark Harelick, Sarah Uriarte Berry, Michael Berresse, Patti Cohenour, Matthew Morrison, and, of course, Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark.

The orchestra wowed me too. -That's one helluva piano part! I may try to arrange to sit in the pit one night. It would be wonderful to be down there surrounded by all that sound - all those strings! And that harp too!

-Actually, my only quibble with tonight's performance was that sometimes I heard the orchestra a little too well. There were a couple of places where the vocals were drowned out and/or just not brought up to the proper level in the sound system. There are a lot of words, lyrics - even with all those "aaahhs" - and I missed a couple of them.

I went ahead and waited at the stage door afterwards, and got my program signed by most of the principals. And I also went ahead and reintroduced myself briefly to Ted Sperling since I happen to have worked over the past year with a bunch of his assistants and pit personnel. He'll be leaving in about two weeks to start rehearsals for the Michael John La Chiusa piece at the Public, See What You Want To See (or something like that). He'll be directing the project, just like he did when the show was known as R Shomon up at Williamstown last summer.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #32 on:** August 28, 2005, 02:04:40 AM »

...And while waiting at the Stage Door, I got a few giggles listening to the two gentlemen who were standing next to me. Apparently, they had seen the show "countless" number of times, and, from what I overheard, they also read and post on a many an internet theatre chat site. *And if you two happen to be lurking and reading this now, well, you should have said HI! -I do look like my avatar, I think.

In any case...

Each time someone would come out of the stage door, and they would approach them for an autograph, they would ask, "So, what's next for you?" Of course, since they keep up with everything on Playbill.com, TalkinBroadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com., etc., they already knew the answers to the questions they were asking. In fact, they knew some of answers that the actors did not know.

And then they started commenting on how they noticed that "Victoria" was crying a lot tonight. More than usual, speculating that it was due to the fact that it was Matthew Morrison's final performances. They asked Kelli O'Hara if that was the case. -Of course, one of them had read the recent interview with her on Playbill.com, so they already knew what the gist of her response would be. They asked Matthew Morrison if he noticed. And they even asked Victoria Clark is she was bit more emotional tonight.

I can be an uber-fan of some shows and people at times too, but there was a smugness to their "knowledge" that was a bit off-putting. They even seemed genuinely bemused by the fact that Kelli O'Hara, one of the stars of the show, was getting home by bicycle - she was carrying her seat and helmet in her hands. -And, btw, Matthew Morrison, rides a motorized scooter.

Thankfully, on the other side of me, was a young lady and her friend. She genuinely loved the show, and she actually understood that signing autographs is not an obligation for the people in the show. She did want to impose on their time, especially when Victoria Clark came out talking on her cell phone, and then stated she was running late for another function. Thankfully, she got most everyone to sign her program - using my Sharpie - and she even managed to get a few pictures with them too. I even helped her decipher one of the autographs, Sarah Berry. She didn't recognize her at the stage door, but since everyone else was asking her to sign their programs... She was thrown by the fact that she uses her full married name in the program, but only signed at Sarah B---.

And then when Barbara Cook walked by, they - the two gentlemen - were wondering why Barbara Cook would happen to be walking around the garage of Lincoln Center. Well, I told them that she was at the show tonight, but they didn't seem to hear me.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #33 on:** August 28, 2005, 02:08:37 AM »

And Michael Berresse told an amusing anecdote... He was met at the stage door by an Italian couple, from Florence. They immediately started talking to him in Italian, in the Florentine dialect. They had picked up the patois in the course of the show (bonus points to Craig Lucas), and since he speaks no English in the show - and since his Italian is actually very good - they thought he was a native speaker. After a brief exchange, he was able to converse with them... In English.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #34 on:** August 28, 2005, 02:11:59 AM »

And as I mentioned "yesterday", the meeting with the producer of this possible project fell-through. For some reason, Sprint is doing that "thing" again, where the voicemail notification does not "go" until a few hours after the message was left. She got my message late, I got her return message late, and so on and so forth. We'll be checking in with each other tomorrow/today, and we'll try to set up something then. I'm still leaning towards not taking it due to the financial situation, but I still want to meet with some other people on the team before I finalize my decision.

JoseSPiano · « **Reply #35 on:** August 28, 2005, 02:13:26 AM »

And speaking of tomorrow... It's already very much today, so...

Goodnight.

Jane · « **Reply #36 on:** August 28, 2005, 03:18:38 AM »

Quote from: George on August 28, 2005, 12:38:10 AM

Later today (Sunday), my niece and I are going to see "Red Eye." I don't really know anything about it except that it's a scary movie set on a plane. Ebert and Roeper gave it Two Thumbs Up®, but I didn't really pay attention to the overview of the story. I'll find out in the early afternoon.

We saw it last week and found it to be very entertaining.

Tomovoz · « **Reply #37 on:** August 28, 2005, 03:28:39 AM »

DR Jane at 3.18am???

Jane · « **Reply #38 on:** August 28, 2005, 03:35:41 AM »

Cillaliz good luck with Match.com.

Jane · « **Reply #39 on:** August 28, 2005, 03:36:16 AM »

Hi Tomovoz.

Oh my I have now been away since before 2:00. I’m going to try and go back to sleep. If I’m lucky I’ll sleep in- until 7:00.

Jane · « **Reply #40 on:** August 28, 2005, 03:39:44 AM »

If I still can’t sleep I would like to read in bed, however with the windows open little flying bugs have come in through the screens. I don’t notice them until I turn on my flashlight and they come swarming to it-very annoying and they make it too uncomfortable to read.

Hisaka · « **Reply #41 on:** August 28, 2005, 04:57:22 AM »

Quote from: George on August 28, 2005, 12:40:23 AM

Well, I must go to bed. I also have to take my contact lenses out. I've been wearing them for quite a while, today and my eyes are tired...and a little dry. So, goodnight, all!

Do you know eyedrops that you can use with your contact lenses in your eyes, especially for your dried-eyes(don't know how to say in English)? Every my friends, not me, who wear contact lenses use it and they really like it.

Hisaka · « **Reply #42 on:** August 28, 2005, 05:01:37 AM »

Hope DR JANE is sleeping soundly now.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #43 on:** August 28, 2005, 05:04:08 AM »

Good morning, all. In another hour I will be off to Bard College for tHE GOLDEN APLE in concert, so I will be E&T the entire day. I've got an hour and a half train ride each way and taxis to and from the school, and I figure I'll be back around 10:00 tonight.

Yesterday I started work on the Chicago Humanities Festival project, did a bit of work for the cruise singer (final number!), and I talked to Faith Prince about some work for her this month as well. I am looking forward to the Ohio vacation at the end of the month.

I saw the original MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG twice: fourth preview and final performance, and I still look on it with horror. No one wants to pay (at the time) $50 to watch a bad high school production: the cast was too young, the production was god-awful ugly, the backward premise doesn't work, and I think a third of the score isn't as good as it could be. There were major improvements both in staging and in the material by closing night, but watching beginning young actors portray jaded 40 year-olds in the first scenes was pathetic. There must have been much angst and bloodshed backstage and I know of some grudges that continue to this day.

My show would be (what else?) the 1903 BABES IN TOYLAND for several reasons:
1. the form "extravaganza" is quite bizarre from the photos, and I want to see what it looked like in performance.
2. Julian Mitchell, the greatest musical director/choreographer of the day, dealing with Victor Herbert about interpolations, changes, music he didn't like, etc.
3. Ambitious young actresses "negotiating" for new material, getting jewelry from their after-show assignations. fighting for billing.
4. Touring a huge company of 104 performers through four preview cities before Broadway.
5. Cast deaths, replacements, general disputes between artists, writers, and production.
6. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Hisaka · « **Reply #44 on:** August 28, 2005, 05:12:26 AM »

I got a new video player today, since my old one had been making a hum from the motor and the sound was getting louder. I didn’t know that the price of video players is greatly down (shocking prices!) lately and it made me happy. And now, MY BOOM video, dear BK's own What If?, is in my brandnew video player.

DearReaderLaura · « **Reply #45 on:** August 28, 2005, 05:58:37 AM »

Good morning, fellow Dear Readers. Today it is supposed to be 112F. I'm glad I don't have to work outside today.

FJL · « **Reply #46 on:** August 28, 2005, 06:36:43 AM »

At any Broadway show from start to finish? Are we allowed to tell them we're back via a time machine and have seen the future lives of their shows? If so, I'd like to go back and be there for either RAGS or THE BAKER'S WIFE - and be able to tell the creators what things they did on subsequent rewrites that made the shows pretty much work in their later incarnations that just weren't working in their original productions. The idea would not be to inject my own point of view, but to let them know what changes they would later make on their own.

If I'm not allowed to tell them I'm there via a time machine and not allowed to "interfere" as it were, I'd like to be a fly on the wall for GRIND. I've heard so many stories about that show from some folks involved, and it would have been fascinating to be there, and to know those people in those days.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #47 on:** August 28, 2005, 06:42:48 AM »

Quote from: JoseSPiano on August 28, 2005, 12:57:14 AM

...A chorus of expletives from everyone on the platform as they headed back out to the exits...

I can imagine this quite well...The worker makes the announcement, and there is a moment of silence. Then, someone fishes a pitch-pipe from his/her pocket, plays a note, which everyone hums. One group after another sings a string of expletives, and then the four groups sing their strings together, in perfect counterpoint and harmony. They continue to sing their various parts while trudging to the exits. Moments after the last voice fades into the distance, a train comes roaring up and deposits one passenger, who looks around quite anxiously, sheet music in hand. Curtain.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #48 on:** August 28, 2005, 06:47:04 AM »

Quote from: JoseSPiano on August 28, 2005, 01:04:51 AM

... -I figured I might as well get to know the score now since I now the contractor for the pit.

Since I know the contractor...
Since I'm now the contractor...

Oh, wait, there's that smiley. Know, definately know.

td · « **Reply #49 on:** August 28, 2005, 06:49:33 AM »

Quote

Then we watched WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, which has among its outtakes a very brief reference to Frances Farmer, in case JRand and JMK did not know that already.

I ADORE WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER! I bought it at a liquidation sale last week, and promptly watched it. As I posted on another forum, one which BK and Jrand frequent:
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (2001) contains another fine characterization from OZ' (and LAW AND ORDER's) Christopher Meloni. Quite a post-modern comedy from the guys responsible for tv's THE STATE. Picked this up for a few pittance at a liquidation sale, and couldn't resist popping it into the player despite my intolerance for Janeane Garafolo, who actually nails the character in this one.
Paul Rudd is as handsome and hot as ever, still, the film's best moments belong to Meloni, David Hyde-Pierce and Garafolo.
The Deleted Scenes and Special Features feature more skin from Meloni and Rudd.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #50 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:03:59 AM »

TOD:

For a show that works/succeeded, West Side Story.

For a show that failed, Carrie.

Matt H. · « **Reply #51 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:24:50 AM »

Yes, it took some wandering around to find the Broadway show section at the Virgin Megastore earlier this month, but I LOVED that it was on to street level floor. Had a lot of activity in the section when I was there, too. One of my friends whom I went with to NYC went there on Sunday to buy three of the show CDs that we had seen since they were all on sale. I already had them.

Matt H. · « **Reply #52 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:31:16 AM »

DR td said exactly what I was going to say about WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. Wonderfully absurd comedy, and Meloni is as memorable as ever. He said on a talk show after he made it that he thought he may have even gone too far with a character this time, but the character is so lovable, there was nothing to worry about.

Matt H. · « **Reply #53 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:34:49 AM »

DR Rodzinski and I have a "horse race" going with our opinions about THE OFFICE. For me, it was the best new comedy introduced on TV last season, and I thought Steve Carrell made the character (based on Ricky Gervais' original David Brent) his own.

No, the show hasn't yet hit the heights of hilarity of the original, probably never will since it's operating in the shadow of the original's brilliance, but on its own terms, I find it wonderfully funny, and I'm looking forward to its new season.

Matt H. · « **Reply #54 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:37:15 AM »

I really love the score to Bob Merrill's TAKE ME ALONG. Not as much as CARNIVAL, of course, but it's filled with wonderful songs.

I think the same thing happened to TAKE ME ALONG focusing on Uncle Sid as what happened to A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN focusing on Aunt Cissy: threw the shows off balance and took time away from the real story going on.

Matt H. · « **Reply #55 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:39:08 AM »

My first automatic response to the topic of the day would have been FOLLIES, but since Ted Chapin gave us such a fantastic book on the subject, perhaps I'd want to do a show that has been less fully discussed: I'm thinking REDHEAD.

Matt H. · « **Reply #56 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:41:53 AM »

Really enjoyed your LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA story, DR Jose (though you were REALLY up late, young man!)

And a reminder that the Arthur Freed-produced movie version comes on this week on TCM - Thursday 12:30 p.m.

I WILL remember to record it this time!

Matt H. · « **Reply #57 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:45:56 AM »

A reminder about the series premiere of ROME tonight on HBO. Reviewers have been pretty enthusiastic in their praise of this new series, and I'm looking forward to it.

However, tonight's first episode is HEAVY on exposition and supposedly is a little slow going. Subsequent episodes (most reviewers were sent the first six) are livelier and more "fun."

Matt H. · « **Reply #58 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:48:37 AM »

And, summer is back with a slowing advancing humidity and warmer temperatures. Maybe rain tomorrow will cool things off again, but today promises to be fairly miserable.

td · « **Reply #59 on:** August 28, 2005, 07:48:39 AM »

Quote from: bk on August 28, 2005, 01:33:37 AM

And one for Mahler.

And the magic word: Julie Andrews!

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Author Topic: THROWING DOWN THE GAUNTLET (Read 33799 times)

FJL