I saw the Long Beach production of Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. It was dreadful in just about every way, despite the talents of Miss Daly and Mr. Durning. The choreography and direction were tepid, at best, and one could, at least, see why Mr. Bennett went the route he went. He went too far, yes, but I understand why. I can't find my copy of Not Since Carrie (it's buried in a box in the garage or in storage) but I do remember that while the show was out of town the audience could not go with Who Gave You Permission as the opening of a musical. It works well for the TV movie, but he was right about the stage version - when Tyne came out and sang it, you don't know anything about her character and it just presents her as an angry, hurt woman and then you have the Job Application, which is another downer. THEN, the show picks up. Bennett, I believe, starts the show considerably after the death of her husband - you hear about it, but you don't get the two downer songs. But, I think it was a mistake to cut Suddenly It's You. Of course, Fifty Percent was written FOR the stage.
