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Author Topic: TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS  (Read 22349 times)

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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #60 on: March 11, 2004, 02:29:17 PM »

Where in tarnation IS everyone?
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S. Woody White

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #61 on: March 11, 2004, 02:32:40 PM »

How about feeling Rod Taylor just a bit?
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Maya

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #62 on: March 11, 2004, 02:45:27 PM »

Hey everyone!

I'm in NYC, typing this from an internet cafe on 42nd St.  I just saw "The Triplets of Belleville."  Really, it's one of the strangest things I've ever seen, but I really enjoyed it; it was wondrously eccentric with a style of animation that made me think of Max Fleischer collaborating with Botero.  Tonight is "Sweeney Todd" at NYCO.  The reviews came out today; both the "New York Times" and "New York Post" were mixed.  So I'm not expecting to be blown away, but there should be some elements of the production that I will enjoy--and I'm thrilled about seeing Judy Blazer sing the Beggar Woman!  Yay Judy! (Not a huge Elaine Paige fan, but it should be interesting to see if she makes her own choices or does just fall back on Patti impersonations).

I spent about 15 minutes perusing the archives from the last few days.  Jenny, I hope you don't mind if I share some thoughts.  (Everyone has already expressed so movingly and eloquently what it is like to be young, intelligent and an outsider).

You already know, sweetie, that we come from similar backgrounds, and so our stories are similar as well.  Granted, my high school years weren't that bad (I made a small but wonderful group of friends), but early adolescence for me was pretty damn rotten.  I was bookish (though hardly shy), the possessor of a dry, offbeat sense of humor and obsessed with musicals, literature and film--you can imagine that none of these traits exactly endeared me to my peers, most of whom I found vapid, shallow and just mean.  I was ostracized and scorned.  I didn't even feel that I lived on the same planet as these people; I wanted to live in the twenties, thirties or forties, or in another world altogether, where young people did not partake of this "flavored condom" mentality.  I'm not denying the importance of sexuality, of course--but I do agree that kids are becoming sexually preoccupied/active way too early.  It's scary.  (But I'm going on a tangent now)

Everyone on this board, within a short time, has seen what I already know--that you are bright, brilliant, witty and everything a 15 year old girl SHOULD be.  I know it's hard right now at school; but these kids ARE jealous and resentful of you, that's what it comes down to.  Please don't let them get you down too much--I don't want to say you are better than them (that would make me sound just a tad elitist) but we both know what I am trying to say here.  Your light is too strong to be dimmed by a bunch of ignorant teenyboppers.  

It DOES get better, please believe me.  I've found that the smart, outsider minority, when he/she moves into more congenial waters, begins to view the dumb, jeering majority as neglible, pitiful and not worthy of a second thought.

And on that note, tomorrow is going to rock (to use vulgar Gen-Y parlance)  ;) , and I'm sure we will share some of our hijinks with you lovely people at HHW!

BK--Great review from Penny and looking forward to reading Kritzertime!
« Last Edit: March 11, 2004, 02:48:13 PM by Maya »
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elmore3003

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #63 on: March 11, 2004, 02:46:17 PM »

Feeling like him or FEELING him?
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elmore3003

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #64 on: March 11, 2004, 03:04:05 PM »

DR Maya, I hope you enjoy the SWEENEY TODD tonight.  I enjoyed it much more than DR Jenny, and I've been thinking a bit about her reaction to the production this week.

This is a New York City Opera production in rep, most likely given a total of two-three weeks' rehearsal, and opera rehearsals are a strange event to people used to intense theatre rehearsals.  The chorus is rehearsing other pieces at the same time, I'm sure all the actors wish there were more rehearsal, and we can be grateful this isn't a production like AIDA at the Met where the soprano is doing her blocking from Covent Garden and the tenor's doing what he did at La Scala because they had two hours of rehearsal with the conductor before going onstage before an audience!

I believe the persons who came off the best were the people with theatre background, and Walter Charles had the additional advantage of rehearsing the show show with the original cast and director; Arthur Masella was in charge of reproducing the Harold Prince production here, and I have no idea how much time - if any - Prince put in on this edition.  Jenny saw it the first or second performance, I saw the third, and there were shakey moments.  I hope to see it again before it leaves the rep to see how much more it's settled in.

Was the production as good as the original, which I saw six times with Carious and Lansbury?  No.  Did I think it worked at City Opera?  Very much.  I'm amazed they haven't made it  more a part of their rep over the past 17 years or so.  If they had, this production might have been a little more solid.  I look forward to your thoughts.
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elmore3003

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #65 on: March 11, 2004, 03:14:20 PM »

I forgot to add another peculiarity of opera:  double casting - two Sweeneys, 2 Anthonys, 2 Johannas - which cuts back their rehearsal time by half.

I thought the tempi at times slower, but I'm used to the cast recording's and they actually might have been faster on record than onstage, but I thought the orchestra and Jonathan's amazing orchestrations sounded superb.  After the dreadful TEENY TODD, which I still believe ran only because people wanted to see this piece again and Frank Rich wanted to give Sondheim a rave, I'm glad City Opera's put it up.  A show with a cast this size would never happen in New York now with that marvelous orchestration; we'dbe lucky for a string quartet.
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #66 on: March 11, 2004, 03:17:29 PM »

Oh, go ahead, Maya, be elitest!  I wear my elitism as a badge of honour and I despise that Dan Quayle (and a bunch of other rich, elitest-in-their-own-strange-way Republicans) turned it into a dirty word.  Something to be ashamed of.  Don't forget this country was founded by a bunch of elitest, intellectual landowners and rather remarkable men with aristocratic leanings.

But elite is how I always identified my crowd in High School. Others may have been in the "IN" crowd, but it was my crowd that knew the real score.   Jenny IS better than them!

I think if you're elite, it merely means you have class...and not a part of the dross.  And all those idiot kids who think if they all dress the same way, like exactly the same music, the same flavoured condoms, the same jock boys or the same vacuous cheerleader girls are part of the dross...nothing unique about them, just adopting the uniform of youth...and becoming a part of the ephemeral passing parade of the momentary current and the fleeting fashionable.  Things of class last forever -- like a Cole Porter tune or a Shakespeare play.

By the by, while admittedly the tune is catchy and zippy, I've always sorta hated the message of that song, " I'm In With The In Crowd"...it seems to tout a rather shallow life-style choice.
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #67 on: March 11, 2004, 03:24:12 PM »

I coulda had class - I coulda been a contender.  I coulda been elite, not just a dirty bum, which is what I am - what am I, Marlon Brando all of a sudden?
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #68 on: March 11, 2004, 03:29:48 PM »

By the by, Maya, I'm not overwhelmed with Elaine Page myself.  I saw her in THE KING & I in London and felt she was laying back on her adored diva status and somewhat phoning it in.  I don't remember the reviews as being overly enthusiastic either.   She's playing Lovett?  I'm not sure she can get over her image enough to really let herself go in that part.

I'm trying to remember whether I also saw her in CATS years ago.  I'd have to go dig out the program.

Speaking of London Divas, I saw the wonderful Clive Rowe in an E-Bay commercial the other night.  I've seen him on stage a few times and he's always been wonderful...in COMPANY at the Donmar Warehouse, as Nicely Nicely in a revial of GUYS & DOLLS at the National where he literally stopped the show and must have done a half dozen encores of the chorus.  Brought people to their feet in the middle of the show, whooping and hollering.  And as Mr. Big in what the lovely wife and I thought was a wonderful and funny updating of BEGGAR'S OPERA into the contemporary London Underworld called VILLAIN'S OPERA at the National...I don't think it was a hit.
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #69 on: March 11, 2004, 03:33:31 PM »

Shouldn't that be "by the bya, Maya"?

Soon I'll be going to Mr. Grant Geissman's home environment, and we shall work all the livelong night to hopefully finish the KT CD.
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #70 on: March 11, 2004, 03:35:44 PM »

Well, MEOW, Maya and Pogue!

I love Elaine Page.  I've only seen her in specials when she outsang everyone else...and became, for me, the definitive "Norma Desmond" and "Evita."

It's not like there's not a bit of "diva" in folks on this here forum, either!  :)

But that's what makes us special and fun and the creme de la creme.
We are all Diva-lightful, Diva-licious and Diva-lovely.

And one or two of us are Diva-lectable, but I'm not naming names!
« Last Edit: March 11, 2004, 03:38:01 PM by RLP »
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elmore3003

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #71 on: March 11, 2004, 03:45:08 PM »

DR Charles Pogue,  Elaine Paige was marvelous as Mrs Lovett.  I had never seen her before in anything, and, while she was underrehearsed and went up on a couple of lyrics, it was a committed, energetic performance, not as good as Lansbury's original, but as good - if not better - than Patti Lupone in the concert broadcast, in which I found La Lupone quite wonderful.  Mrs Lovett has a real workout in the Act Two opening "More Hot Pies," and Paige was excellent, very Cockney and pragmatic as a business woman and her moment in "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" when she realizes she and Sweeney have to kill Tobias was subtle and moving.
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DERBRUCER

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #72 on: March 11, 2004, 03:46:24 PM »


  Things of class last forever --

Draco didn't :-[
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DERBRUCER

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #73 on: March 11, 2004, 03:48:07 PM »

Birdie in the tree top, Birdie in the tree top...

« Last Edit: March 11, 2004, 04:53:48 PM by DERBRUCER »
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DERBRUCER

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #74 on: March 11, 2004, 03:49:33 PM »

The romantic in me says: "Eaglets"

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DERBRUCER

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #75 on: March 11, 2004, 03:52:15 PM »

The realist in me says "Buzzards!"



der Brucer (waiting for them to peck at windows looking for "snackies"!)
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Matt H.

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #76 on: March 11, 2004, 03:57:15 PM »

The one thing I respect about Elaine Paige is that when she did CATS, she didn't just wander on and sing "Memory" a couple of times and stand in the background the rest of the time. She actually took part in the energetic dancing, something many other Grizabellas did not do.

This morning's VARIETY review said the tempos were slowed down on "The Worst Pies in London" so she could get the words out, but basically the reviewer (I'm assuming Charles Isherwood, but I didn't pay attention to the by-line) liked her. He had major reservations about Sweeney's lack of a British accent and less-than-lunatic depiction once Sweeney loses it.
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #77 on: March 11, 2004, 04:00:03 PM »

I've got nothing against Ms. Paige personally. She is much loved by her fans which are many and which was evident when I went to see her.  I just felt the show I saw her in, she was resting on her laurels a bit...both times I saw it (Don't ask why I had to go to this thing twice, which if given my druthers, I would not have gone to it once...it was cutting into my Real British Theatre time).  I've also read some things in the papers there about her. And I heard "things" from mutual acquaintances, but...who knows what that could be..

(If she was the Grizabella I saw in CATS, she was just fine!)

I hate Lloyd Webber's SUNSET BLVD.   Have never been able to get all the way through it, so I can't judge her...though my wife loves it and it prompted her to by a Paige album, which I don't think she found overwhelming, but I could be wrong.  It also prompted the lovely wife to go around singing one of those dreadful songs of Norma's around the house for weeks, which did not endear the show to me.  (The lovely wife's voice was not dreadful, on the contrary, it was in fine fettle; it was the song I found dreadful)
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Ron Pulliam

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #78 on: March 11, 2004, 04:05:27 PM »

Ah, diplomacy.

It's a fine line, isn't it...sometimes?
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #79 on: March 11, 2004, 04:06:54 PM »

Oh, but DerBrucer, Draco did last forever...he's shining in the heavens.  More importantly, The Olde Code lasts:

Inside the Table's circle,
Under the sacred sword,
A knight must vow to follow
The Code that is unending,
Unending as the Table,
A ring by honour-bound.

A knight is sword to valour.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked.

The right can never die,
If one man still recalls.
The words are not forgot,
If one voice speaks them clear.
The code forever shines,
If one heart holds it bright.
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #80 on: March 11, 2004, 04:08:10 PM »

I don't know how diplomatic it is.  I got nothing against her, but she's never really done it for me.
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #81 on: March 11, 2004, 04:12:10 PM »

I like Diplomatic Pudding, frankly.  I like reading ALL opinions.  I liked Miss Paige when she first started out, and have grown less fond of her over the years.  That's what makes Ye Olde Horseracing.
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #82 on: March 11, 2004, 04:19:50 PM »

Well, your opinion, I think, may be the consensus in the corners I hang out in...There seems to be the idea floating around that she's become too full of her diva aura these days.  That she can fart and people will fawn over her.   And people do fawn over her.  
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #83 on: March 11, 2004, 04:21:45 PM »

Are anyone else's allergies bothering them?
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Charles Pogue

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #84 on: March 11, 2004, 04:50:05 PM »

I shall shortly be off to break bread at Miss June Wilkinson's house and will be meeting Mr. William Wellman, Jr. whose father, the great director, William Wellman directed such memorable movies as Beau Geste, The Light That Failed, Public Enemy, Nothing Sacred, The Ox-Bow Incident, and many, many others.  Mr. Wellman, Jr., a longtime actor in the biz, produced a wonderful documentary about his father a few years back.  More anon.
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #85 on: March 11, 2004, 05:02:13 PM »

Yes, we must hear all about it - and please give my best to Miss June.
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Robin

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #86 on: March 11, 2004, 05:03:02 PM »

Well, HELLO!

First off, it's good to be back.  I was back for a while, then backslid.  Hopefully, the ol' noggin and the Good Lord willing, I'll be back for the duration.  

After going to work last week, I started to feel dizzy and woozy and all discombobulated due to the head injury I sustained moving a neighbor's couch.  After another darned night in the hospital, I returned home to recuperate again.  

I think I'm finally, totally recovered.  

But please feel free to send me "strength" vibes.  I could use 'em.  

End of rant.
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Robin

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #87 on: March 11, 2004, 05:08:43 PM »

Beginning of new rant:

I've always loved W.C. Fields, and think The Bank Dick is just about the funniest movie ever made.  Fields and Franklin Pangborn on-screen at the same time is comedy heaven.

But my favorite comic actor/comedian of all time is DANNY KAYE, especially in The Court Jester and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  And, darn it, I find him to be outrageously sexy,  too.  
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bk

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #88 on: March 11, 2004, 05:14:29 PM »

I've been burning CDs of some of my favorite "cover" versions of shows.  Am just doing Flower Drum Song by Andre Kostelanetz, one of the best.  Coupling it with Melachrino Strings version of Bells Are Ringing.  Already done Orch. '70's The Happy Time and Living Strings' Carnival.  Now, since I know many of you dear readers love these albums, before putting them on eBay or taking them to Amoeba for trade, I will offer them here first.  Let me know which of the above your interested in via e-mail.
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Panni

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Re:TIME - THE BITCH GODDESS
« Reply #89 on: March 11, 2004, 05:15:56 PM »

STRENGTH VIBES TO DR ROBIN A!
« Last Edit: March 11, 2004, 05:17:53 PM by Panni »
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