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[Jrand73]

She wishes she were the monkey's aunt!!!!  LOL....the only artist to share a singing label credit with The Beach Boys!

Hey TCB - you are now on NBC in living color!  Just like the Cartwright boys!

[Matt H.]

I agree about the FIDDLER revival. I can't think of a show that cries out less for a revival right now than FIDDLER. I do not think it will have a successful run.

[Charles Pogue]

MattH...Don't have the Nickolas Nickleby on DVD, but on video and it looks just fine to me.   But then I'm a guy who grew up watching movies on TV sometimes with so much static and snow on the screen, it was like watching it through a blizzard.

I've just never been one of these techno junkies that can detect subtleties.  It has to be really crappy before I notice.   When the guy with thousands of dollars worth of stereo equipment would crank it up and ask me to hear the difference between it and my little stereo with its two small speakers, all I could hear was that it was louder.

I buy stuff for the content.  These gradations in transfers and colour and sound I can rarely detect.  As long as the story's good and the acting great and the picture is visible, what do I care...

Can't remember who mentioned Alfred Molina as Tevye, but he might surprise you.  He has considerably range.  I first encountered Molina in '82 when he came into audition for the small role of a cabbie in my film of HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES.  A role he did not get, by the way.  But what I found amazing, however, was that at the time he was starring in the musical DESTRY in the West End.  I couldn't see why a West End star would come in for such a tiny part?  Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with Destry, both as a musical and a film.  I knew of the film, just had never seen it...one of my failings and gaps in my movie education.  So I didn't go to see the musical.  Having now become familiar with both film and musical and Mr. Molina's work...and loving them all...I now wish I had.  It probably would  have been better than Windy City, which was the only musical I saw on that sojourn to London.

[Jennifer]

Oh that is so sad about Uta Hagen. I saw her in Montreal a few years ago.  I am drawing a blank on the name of the show. It's a play where Uta played an older teacher. And there is a younger woman, her student.

Btw, DR Jason: I dunno, I could have sworn they had broken up.  And have you lost any more mail since making the complaint? (of have you been shipping your mail to other places?)

[Dan-in-Toronto]

Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with Destry, both as a musical and a film.  I knew of the film, just had never seen it...one of my failings and gaps in my movie education.  So I didn't go to see the musical.  Having now become familiar with both film and musical and Mr. Molina's work...and loving them all...I now wish I had.  It probably would  have been better than Windy City, which was the only musical I saw on that sojourn to London.

DR Charles,

I, on the other hand, regret having seen Destry Rides Again. On a Saturday matinee outing way back, my dad gave us a choice between Destry (Andy Griffith) and Gypsy (Ethel Merman). Guess which one I lobbied for?

And, as I type, someone else is probably telling you that Alfred Molina will, indeed, be playing Tevye at the Minskoff Theatre.

DRMattH, I don't know why the time isn't right for a revival. Fiddler is timeless.

[TCB]

Oh that is so sad about Uta Hagen. I saw her in Montreal a few years ago.  I am drawing a blank on the name of the show. It's a play where Uta played an older teacher. And there is a younger woman, her student.

Master Class?

[bk]

MattH - you must never take these transfer complaints seriously, because the people making the complaints have no point of reference - they have no idea what these shows looked like originally.  They think it should look like it was shot today.  If you like the show get the DVD, I'm sure you'll be pleased.

[Panni]

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF - THE HUNGARIAN CAST

Tevye - TONY CURTIS
Golde - ZSAZSA GABOR
Tzeitel/Hodel/Chava - My daughter, Rachel (she can be any of the daughters)
Yente - MITZI GAYNOR (Why not?)
The Fiddler - EUGENE FODOR
Lazar Woolf - PETER LOREE
Motel - BELA LUGOSI (but we only see his back)

MORE LATER, MAYBE...

[TCB]

And, as I type, someone else is probably telling you that Alfred Molina will, indeed, be playing Tevye at the Minskoff Theatre.

DRMattH, I don't know why the time isn't right for a revival. Fiddler is timeless.

Fiddler was kind of like the male Hello, Dolly!  Just about every Jewish actor worth his salt (and a few who weren't) took over that role.  There were also a whole stack of Fiddler cast albums that came out in addition to the OBC (I think we had every one of them at the radio station where I used to work).

Maybe Ben Stiller can take over for Mollina when he leaves the show.

[Panni]

Can't remember who mentioned Alfred Molina as Tevye, but he might surprise you.  He has considerably range.  

I agree. I saw him on Braodway in ART and he was astonishing. He had a monologue which was one of those rare theatrical moments when, as you're watching, you forget to breathe.

[Jason]

Given the history of the Minskoff, FIDDLER will most likely be a short run. Probably not as short as VAMPIRES, of course, or it's predicessor, THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, but I'm thinking it might run one season...perhaps two.  The Minskoff is such a huge space that unless it's a terribly good production, I don't know how they'd expect to fill it every night. There again, WICKED is managing it at the Gershwin, which is equally as large...

[Jason]

Isn't it funny that we now consider a full season, or even a two-year run, to be a short one?? Just to clarify, I wish this production of FIDDLER all the luck in the world...I know the guy who's playing Fyedko or whatever his name is... But the Minskoff is known to be cursed....

[bk]

The Curse of Minskoff - wasn't that a Hammer film?

[William E. Lurie]

As I was reading the paper this morning I said out loud "Oh - Uta Hagen died".  My three co-workers, almost in unison, said "who's she?".  All three have lived in NYC all their lives.

[Dan-in-Toronto]

Wagers? Even with the Minskoff liability, I'm putting my moola on Fiddler.

[S. Woody White]

Hey, Annette Funicello is singing Monkey's Uncle on internet radio station Luxuriamusic.com! She loves the monkey's uncle..ya, ya!

I remember that film.  "And I'm gonna be the Monkey's Aunt!"

Yipes, did I really need that memory brought back?  

[George]

I attended the free concert in Central Park with Bell and Chenoweth.  I remember being disappointed that her Glitter and Be Gay wasn't funnier.  As if she was well known for comedy and wanted to show off her soprano.  Couldn't have picked a more wrong song for keeping her humor under wraps, though.

I have several different recordings of Candide, and over the last couple of weeks have listened to most of them.  What I noticed is that the newer the recording, the more "serious" the show became.  The original Barbara Cook recording and the 1974 Broadway cast seemed to have the most humor and really played it up.  The opera house version and the "final revised" version conducted by Lenny himself, seemed to have no humor in them whatsoever.  They were very good, but the performers seemed to be more interested in their "pretty voices" and not actually acting the humor of the piece (of which there is much).  I haven't listened to the new Broadway cast in quite a while and I don't remember how that was.

[TCB]

BK -- I also used to love the Uta Hagen / Arthur Hill recording of Virginia Woolf.  I can still remember sitting in an office in the Drama Department at Central Washington State University (just down the hall from Jed's grandfather's office) and listening to the entire recording.  When it was finished, I just sat there stunned.  I walked out of the building that day knowing, without a doubt, all of the reasons I wanted to be an actor.  I, also, made a promise to myself that someday I would play the role of George.  It still hasn't happened, yet, but I have faith that it will.  The show is just not done that often around here.  So, BK, if you ever decide to do a new recording of the show for a CD hint, hint, I hope you will, at least, let me read for the role of George for you.

[bk]

TCB: That recording and my reaction to it is a major section in Kritzer Time - I think you'll get a real kick out of it.

[TCB]

I can't wait to read it.

[Dan-in-Toronto]

But the Minskoff is known to be cursed....

Imagine the odds if Irra Petina were in something at the Minskoff.

[Jrand73]

But Irrina is easily Ass - imilated, right?

[Charles Pogue]

Panni, I also saw Molina do ART...out here at the Dolittle/Huntington Hartford that Bruce and I were lamenting...it may have been one of the last legitimate shows done there (Alan Alda was also in it, I believe, and I can't remember the third actor and I'm too lazy to dig the programme out) and, yes, that speech he has was a tour de force.  Of course, Molina's range has been astonishing in film for years.  I remember him in PRICK UP YOUR EARS as Joe Orton's lover (the wonderful and weird Gary Oldman played Orton).

Of course, that speech in ART is almost a can't miss for any actor of substance.  Mark Williams (known to most as the stuttering actor in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE and Ron Wheezley's father in Harry Potter) also killed doing it when I first saw the show in London.

[MBarnum]

Does nobody want any as yet un-released Disney movies on DVD?     I can't believe it! And yet I must because it seems to be true (oh, a sort of BK reference!)

[Jrand73]

Has anyone at HHW read Peter Biskind's book about Redford, Sundance, and Miramax?

Anyone...anyone....Buehler?  

Include me in as a fan of the "Virginia Woolf" recording with Hagen.  The emotion was palpable on an LP and I cannot imagine it in a theatre.    

And I think it was in Mercedes McCambridge's autobiography that she wrote that when she was playing Martha, she had to wear an "adult diaper" because the force of the lines and effort to do the part played havoc with her bladder.....no drinks before the show for her!!  

[Jrand73]

For DR MBARNUM:  "The Monkey's Uncle", "The Shaggy Dog", and "Bon Voyage."

DRSWW - just click your heels together three times and say "Tommy Kirk is Merlin Jones...."

[Jennifer]

Quote from: Jennifer on Today at 09:39:48am

Oh that is so sad about Uta Hagen. I saw her in Montreal a few years ago.  I am drawing a blank on the name of the show. It's a play where Uta played an older teacher. And there is a younger woman, her student.
 

 

Master Class?

Actually I thought about it, and I'm pretty sure it was Collected Stories. She was totally brilliant and I'm so glad I got to see her live.

[Panni]

I have several different recordings of Candide,

I saw a wonderful production of CANDIDE two seasons ago at the Central City Opera, a beautifully restored Victorian theater in a mining town in the hills west of Denver. Here are a couple of stories about that opera house you might enjoy, DRs.

WALTER HUSTON
In 1934, Robert Edmund Jones – the first director of the Central City Festival and a very important personage on Broadway – proposed to invite his brother-in-law Walter Huston and Huston’s wife, Nan Sunderland to perform Shakespeare’s OTHELLO in Central City that summer. At the time, Huston and Sunderland were grossing $30,000 a week on Broadway. Jones sent a telegram to Huston: "Dear Walter," it said, "I would like to invite you and Nan to come out to Central City, a little mining town in the mountains west of Denver, to do a production of Shakespeare’s OTHELLO for several weeks. I can offer you $1,000 for the season."
Walter Huston’s reply was, "Dear Bobby, your terms are entirely unsatisfactory. I accept."

MAE WEST
For the 1949 play season, the Central City Opera House Association had chosen DIAMOND LIL starring Mae West. Miss West was an aging sex goddess whose charm and hourglass figure belonged more to the Gay Nineties that the mid-twentieth century. Nevertheless, she still exuded the magnetism that had attracted men . . .
During her stay in Central City, Miss West boasted to the press, "I brought sex out of the back room. I gave it a shove with personality. I can order a cup of coffee on the stage, and the censors will be on my neck!"
Miss West made sure her arrival in Central City was noticed. She demanded that two white Cadillac limousines be placed at her disposal courtesy of the Association. She gave a birthday party for herself and invited only men, including Colorado’s governor. (He attended.) [Reportedly,] Mae put mirrors on the ceiling of Penrose #3 where she was staying during the festival.
from "Opera in the Rockies: A History of the Central City Opera House Association" by Charles A. Johnson

[William E. Lurie]

MBarnum---
If you are refering to movies that Walt actually had something to do with I'd say release them all.  However if you are referring to movies made after Walt passed away that capitalized on his name, who needs them.

[Panni]

P (Alan Alda was also in it, I believe, and I can't remember the third actor and I'm too lazy to dig the programme out)

Sounds like the same production I saw in NY. The third actor was Victor Garber.