Broadway Banter

FR sounds great, and this thread is too!
This is going to become my "To Do" list for spring. Thanks!

Thanks for the review CPG. There's some great music in the show (When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich, When I'm not near the girl I love, Old Devil Moon, That Great Come and Get It Day, If this isn't love, How are Things in Glocca Morra, ...) I've never seen the show despite knowing most of the music. There is a discount on broadwaybox.

As I posted, I saw a preview of "Memphis" and loved it. The critics didn't all agree with me, but word of mouth has been good. Most people I know who've seen it either liked it or loved it. Dancing, costumes and set in Memphis is terrific and I also loved the music. I thought the 2 leads could have been stronger but it doesn't negate the enjoyment of the show.

I just saw Lion King on Broadway on Sunday night. OMG - it was brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your review! We have tickets for the Saturday matinee and are really looking forward to it.

Thanks so much for the review. This thread is an excellent idea. I want to see Finian's Rainbow too..sounds like just the thing.

mclaurie - I am very impressed that you knew all those songs! Before going the only thing I knew was 'Glocca Morra,' but I did recognize some while during the performance. I really enjoyed all the music.

btw, because of 'Glocca Morra,' I always assumed the play was set in Ireland. I was surprised that it takes place in the south.

dtph - the Lion KIng is so incredibly creative. I loved it too.

I saw In The Heights last visit. My favorite musical so far. August Osage County was on the previous trip, and it topped my list. Amazing show. I could watch it again. All 3 hours! My 19 year old was with me and its her favorite as well. Funny, smart, heartbreaking. Great diaglogue. Great acting.

Austin - I want to see 'Superior Donuts' by Tracy Letts. I don't think it will be as a good as 'August Osage Country,' but it's supposed to be very good with a strong cast.

"But permanent sunshine can confidently be predicted for the vicinity of the St. James Theater where the joyous revival of "Finian's Rainbow" opened on Thursday night. Here is where you should head this fall to warm your soul amid the diversions of that ever-great and ever-endangered American art form, musical comedy."

Here it is, hot off the press:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/theater/reviews/30finian.html?scp=2&sq=finian&st=cse

I bought tix yesterday to see it again, this time with dh.

I read that NYT rave (including the fact that the sets were pretty minimal) and thought you could have written it. Off to see about tickets! (PS friends I sent to Memphis saw it last night and LOVED it).

A couple of months ago I attended a presentation at Barnes and Noble re Finian's and discussion of the upcoming opening of the show. Presenting were a few relatives of Burton Lane (composer) and Yip Harburg (lyricist and book) - Lane's wife and Harburg's son among them. They told about the creation of the original - and we had some of the songs performed by a couple of very good singers. Whetted my appetite to see the show (and did buy tickets as soon as they became available - and they were at a bargain discount). Harburg was a very interesting individual. Very progressive and left politically and racial relations were a big theme for him. Remember this was still the mid 40's - so he was way out in front on this issue. He did get in lots of trouble later due to his political beliefs - blacklist stuff. Interesting to me was this Jewish guy - brought up on the lower east side in the early days of the 20th century (he and Irving Berlin) - and he writes a fable story about the Irish.

That is very interesting. He was an early civil rights supporter. But it's really about the immigrant experience that those lower east siders knew so well. And prior to the Jews on the LES were the Irish. Most of the synagogues (before Eldridge St was built) were formerly churches. One immigrant group moves on and another moves in - same today.

And if Berlin could write 'White Christmas,' anything is possible.

Will keep monitoring this site. Broadway has to be my favorite thing on the planet. Only regret is that I can't go often enough. Living vicariously on the thread.

rncheryl me too! It always MY biggest treat, besides London's West End shows. I love theater too. First time we saw the Secret Garden in NYC, my DD and I cried.

Enjoyed "Hair" in August. Also, "Altar Boyz" (off-Broadway) was worth seeing.

Excellent thread, Centralparkgirl. My wife and I are going to be in NY this coming weekend, and were looking at going out for music rather than a show. But now you got me thinkin!

Saw South Pacific and Waiting for Godot this summer, both were excellent. We really loved the theater at Lincoln Center.

azzure, we've wanted to see Altar Boyz for some time, glad to here you liked it.

Hope you enjoy it...a family friend (Travis Nesbitt) is in it. The whole cast is great.

Yesterday dh and I went to the matinee of 'God of Carnage' and it was wonderful. I had missed seeing it earlier and when the run was extended, immediately bought tickets. And I'm so glad I did. I had seen another play by Yasmina Reza, 'Art,' and even though Alan Alda was in it, I didn't love it. This is beautifully written and the cast - together - is amazing. They're only in it for another two weeks and then a new cast is taking over with Jimmy Smits, Christine Lahti, Annie Potts and Ken Stott on 11/17. Whether that ensemble will have the same magic, time will tell.

I saw "Billy Elliot" 2 weeks ago. I nearly walked out during intermission. I was so bored! I am no prude but I cannot believe how many times the "F bomb" was said!

I loved "In the Heights" but my husband hated it.

I absolutely loved "Wicked" but I know so many people who did not like it.

Everyone

Saw "Hamlet" last night. Very good production. Jude Law excellent. But..it is Shakespeare uncut. Over at 11:15pm. Some people there not expecting the real thing and were unhappy with the length of the play. Go to see it for the play not just for Jude.

This has been a busy theater week for me. I saw 'Nightingale,' the one woman play with Lynn Redgrave which I enjoyed very much. She is an amazing actress and I think this was the first time I've seen her on stage. She also wrote the script and she is talented as a writer as well.

I enjoyed 'Royal Family,' but think it may not be for everyone. It's an old fashioned revival complete with three acts - quite long. The cast was very good and it was a treat to see Rosemary Harris.

Tonight we saw 'A Steady Rain' with Hugh Jackman (gorgeous) and Daniel Craig. I also enjoyed this very much although it's not the most memorable piece of drama. After the play was another interesting 'performance.' The actors did the usual bit about Broadway Cares (AIDS charity.) Then they opened their shirts and revealed white t-shirts which they promised to sign for the highest bidder. We witnessed the 'auction' and it was amazing. The final bid was for $11,000 and in the end, two bidders agreed to pay $11,000 each for one t-shirt signed by both. They were also invited backstage. The rest of us poor folk went home!

Oh CPG, were you with your husband? I assume yes, and if he weren't there, I suppose you would have been the highest bidder? Wow, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig... When are you seeing Jude Law?! You're making us folks who live in the rest of the country jealous... we never get stars like that here.

yk - yes, I was with my husband; otherwise I would have had my hand up probably bidding 12K! I'm seeing Jude Law on Tuesday. Big movie stars don't always translate to good stage actors - Julia Roberts is a good example - a dud in 'Three Days of Rain.' Are you still visiting in Feb?

yes, I was with my husband; otherwise I would have had my hand up probably bidding 12K!

I KNEW it! Enjoy Hamlet on Tuesday.

great thread! bookmarking.

You are all inspiring me to plan a trip to NYC for my husband's birthday in April.

Top of the list......drum roll....

The Addams Family! With Bebe Neuwirth & Nathan Lane.

LOVE Nathan Lane...saw him in The Producers, The Odd Couple and Butley. You will not be disappointed, I'm sure! My mom wants a trip and show for Christmas/birthday and I'd love to try for that! Thanks for the hint!

amyb - I love Nathan Lane too, but it has to be the right vehicle for him. We saw him in 'The Frogs' and it wasn't very good - felt the same way about 'The Odd Couple,' but in the late 80's, we saw him in 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.' It's was a Kids Night on B'way event and he was out of control - hysterical - ad libbing (sp?) to the kids in the audience (although most of it went over their heads) and of course 'The Producers' was brilliant. Bebe Neuwirth is a great performer too.

What a piece of work is Jude (couldn't resist the pun!). I saw 'Hamlet' last night and it was one of the best Shakespearean performances that I've ever seen (Christopher Plummer as King Lear was fantastic several years back). Forget Jude Law the celebrity. His Hamlet was so meaningful, so real and absolutely seething! You could really feel the anguish. Even the many famous lines that have almost become cliches were delivered beautifully. The time flew (I do like Shakespeare), but I'm glad our performance started at 7pm. We were out at 10:15. For Shakespeare lovers, this is a must.

The Addams Family is now a musical coming to Broadway?

I have to this this!

So glad you liked it Centralparkgirl! I think he's much better in Hamlet than any movie I've seen him in (and <coughcough> I've seen them all!) It did fly by, didn't it?

amyb - yes it did. And I loved 'The Talented Mr. Ripley.'

Leiv Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson are going to be in Arthur Miller's 'A View from the Bridge.' - sounds promising.

I saw that about View From the Bridge, but for some reason on Telecharge the other day, it was not available for online sale and groups only on the phone? I wasn't sure what the story was on that.

I want to see God of Carnage with the new cast (Jimmy Smits...sigh!) and my Mom wants to see A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury so maybe I can try and work all three into a long weekend....

It seems that if you use an American Express card, tickets for View from the Bridge are available through Playbill.com.

I believe you need a gold Amex card and it's through telecharge, but there is a link from playbill.com

The telecharge.com page notes

"Tickets are on sale to American Express Cardmembers only."

I have not tried to go through the entire process to purchase tickets but, at least on the initial page, it does not mention gold...

kmbp - you're correct. I have a gold card and sometimes I get offers for presales for gold cards only. I looked, but didn't really 'read!'

Tomorrow, I'm seeing 'Bye Bye Birdie.' I am so sorry that I bought these tickets. I've heard nothing but bad stuff about it.

'Bye Bye Birdie' was as expected - wonderful music, terrible production - save your money and definitely avoid!

Saw "Memphis" last night. It is a must see. Great everything! Loved it!!! Put on your NYC visit lists.

I've heard that many people enjoyed 'Memphis.' I'm not sure why it doesn't call to me. Can someone tell me what they really enjoyed about the production? Thanks.

Wonderful songs, fab, amazing dancing, the lead female singer was outstanding, the lead male was quite a character, but believable, also well portrayed the racial barriers during the 50"s. The NYT gave not good review, but I, we (lots of friends) think NYT missed the boat. Cannot see how this could have got anything but very good review. Only possible problem is that this era has gotten someother theatrical exploration in recent years. We enjoyed this more than anyother show in several years. Some of the people who loved it are opera fans and seldom like popular music shows. Now we want to get tickets for our kids.

If someone tells mw they want to see only one show and asks which one it should be, my immediate answer is Billy Elliot! It's one of the best to come along in a long, long timke!

I saw Anna Devere Smith in "Let Me Down Easy" last month when I was in New York. For those of you who don't know her, she's a one-woman show doing over 20 different characters, all powerful and believeable. This play is about health, aging, and dying. Very strong and compelling and not in the least depressing. I also enjoyed the Irish Repertory Theater in Chelsea.

Wishful drinking with Carrie Fischer was amazing.she was so real.I did not expect to like this but I thought it was great.
Loved Wicked,Lion King,August Osage County(closed),Jersey Boys,In the Height's(Iliked my husband loved it.),Spring Awakening.Recently saw Bye Bye Birdie and it was terrible,Cast and crew were not great and it was not worth seeing)John Stamos a nd Gina Girschon should not be in those rolls.Funny if The Adams family gets good reviews I would like to see that.

I also enjoyed 'Wishful Drinking' tonight. Carrie Fischer is funny and a talented writer. It certainly isn't a traditional play, but more like stand-up comedy that's clever and poignant.

Just back from my NYC trip. Loved Finian's Rainbow. it was an old fashioned mucical with an extremely talented cast. Saw "Hair"...thought it was ok. I felt that the voices were not that great, and the second half just meandered around, and was disjointed. I LOVED the 39 Steps! What complete hoot! It was similar to the The Unabridged works of Shakespeare in London. We were going to see Race(with Rchard Thomas and James Spader) which opened Monday (16) night, but I was feeling a bit peaked, so we did not do it. I could have gone twice a day, everyday,because DH likes theater, but does not LOVE ii, like I do!

BTW, centralparkgirl, the lead who played Woody on FR, was just about the most gorgeous hunk of man with a the most wonderful voice....made me shiver.

Judyrem - so glad you liked FR shivers and all! My seats were so cheap that I saw it again on Sunday, but this time with dh. Cheyenne Jackson is the hunk. He does have a beautiful voice and a real leading man presence. I think we will see more and more of him on B'way in the future. I can't wait to buy the CD when it comes out which is something I rarely do. I hummed 'Old Devil Moon' on the way home!

Me too! I don't understand why it(Old devils moon) was not more of a hit! I love it, and Cheyenne too!

Judy, I may be dating myself, but you can rest assured that Old Devil Moon was a big hit when the show first opened.

LOL, thanks Howard! I am so glad it was, it is a great song, it is timeless!

Hey HowardR, glad to see you here. I have read so many of your reviews, along w/patrick and mcclaurie and others in the last 5-6 yrs before Ive headed to NYC. Always on spot for me.

BTW, I did a review on this forum of Memphis when I saw it during previews in late Sept. If you search for "Memphis" it will come up I think. Not perfect (what is?), but very enjoyable with very good music and production.

I am taking my husband and daughter (17 yrs old, and her best friend) to NYC for long weekend Dec 11-14. Hubby and I will see "God of Carnage" w/the new cast on Fri. night, while the girls see "Hair." Sat. night the girls see Altar Boyz. I have debated seeing Finian's Rainbow w/hubby on Sat. night since it has gotten good reviews on here and elsewhere (and I got an email for 33% off tickets), but i think we will just do a dinner alone and some alone birthday time while the girls are out...unless you all tell me I am crazy to miss FR at that discount...

Will be going back to NYC in April for the Tribeca TOAST Art Walk- our favorite spring activity. Will be checking back here for theater to see then.

Fabulous thread !

I was about a block off Broadway last night hearing Mahler's 7th totally by fortuitous accident.

I called a friend to see if he wanted to run down to the Winter Garden (in the World Financial Center) to see one of my favorite seasonal exhibits (which is closing on Sunday) CANstruction - the architecture firms make fabulous structures with canned food - admission is a can of food and all the food goes to foodbanks at the end of the exhibit. Anyway, he asked me where I was and told me to meet him at Carnegie Hall because he had an extra ticket.

BACK to this thread. As you read through, and any time you attend a performance of any kind in the 5 boroughs, realize how many people are doing the same thing at the same time in performance spaces (Broadway, Off Broadway, Off off Broadway, music, dance, lecture, poetry, other, etc) in this amazing city of ours.

So true, SueNYC. It's like eye candy! Ironically, I just started a new position and where is my office located? Times Square! It does make going to the theater easy during the week.

i would LOVe to be able to say that Centralparkgirl...

Sue, we heard the Mahler 7 last night, too! We're longtime Philadelphia Orchestra subscribers--I'm not ashamed to say I've subscribed continuously for 47 years, first in Philly and, for the last 23 years, at Carnegie Hall.

Exciting performance by the Philly (my "hometown band"), though I'm still not very impressed with Eschenbach.

What was even stranger was I had been to the Philharmonic on Tuesday (the only thing my union has done for me is make me eligible for TDF tickets).

Xian Zhang was conducting. While I understand why Alan Gilbert was made principal conductor in theory (I've never seen him conduct). The one time I saw Zhang before I thought she was amazing even if she looks like she's twelve so I wanted to see her again before she disappeared from NYC for bigger and better things.

Concert was great but Garrick Ohlsson's piano blocked my view of her conducting. She's about half his size!

AND, before I met a friend, I went to the Performing Arts library exhibit of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of building Lincoln Center. You MUST see this. Stop in next time you are there.

How long is the 50th anniv exhibit going to stay around for? I won't be in NYC until mid-Jan, and I'd love to see it!

This is killing me as I want to get to NewYork SOOOOO much!

But I have to chuckle at the idea of the people who think Hamlet is too long. I suppose when people go to see a star (and to be able to tell their friends not "we saw Hamlet" but "we saw Jude Law", they are disappointed when one of the greatest plays ever written takes up too much of their valuable time.

I'm fascinated about the revival of Finian's Rainbow which has rarely been done even by amateur groups in the past few decades because it is often considered so "politically incorrect" about the racism. I'm curious how the show has been rewritten or adapted to remove that issue. I honestly can't say what the issue has been, but so often I've heard the play just comes off as being racist itself these days. I haven't seen it in something like 40 years, so I really have very little memory of the issues -- but vividly remember the score which as McLaurie says is just brimming with great songs.

Sorry YK only til Jan 6th

http://www.nypl.org/research/calendar/exhib/lpa/celistlpa.cfm

Re: Hamlet - I saw a really short version during the Public Theater's 1st season downtown (same time Hair opened) - Hamlet did the To Be or Not To Be speech dressed as a Puerto Rican Street cleaner. I had remembered it as being played by a young Raul Julia but I discovered I was wrong. It was a young Jed Bartlett aka Ramon Estevez aka Martin Sheen.

How much time is needed to see the Lincoln Center exhibit?

I have no idea if Finian's Rainbow's script was rewritten, but the racism issue is dealt with head on and at times from a black point of view. Initially, I was taken aback and wondered where they were going with it. By play's end, I thought it was handled beautifully and for a play set in the early 40's and written by a Jewish immigrant, it was way ahead of its time. For instance, one minor black character is a college student - down south - which is not a typical character that you'd expect. He is treated in a racist way - sort of tongue in cheek - and then he reacts in a way that makes the audience laugh in support of him. There's quite a bit of the unexpected - at least for me it was unexpected. I enjoyed everything about it (except that ugly set).

As much time as you can give it. I only had about 20 minutes this time. It deserves more - especially with all the videos.

I may be off base, but I think the issue about "politically incorrect" was that the racist senator is "punished" by being turned into a black person. The issue was that "being black is a punishment". Is that what I'm remembering?

Yes. Being black was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him. Interestingly, the sharecroppers who live and work together harmoniously were black and white. To me, there were a lot of things handled differently than you would expect in a play of this vintage.

And all the evil people are white - the sheriff, tax collector, senator, etc. They're bad to blacks and whites.

Whoa....I've not see the revival and am not an expert on the show, but I believe the intent of turning the senator into a black person was not meant to be a racist act (i.e., anti-black), but the opposite, i.e., to show him what it was like to be black at that time in order to reform him.

Howard, I know that was the "intent", but I've heard more than once from theatre people in a couple of theatres -- including directors explaining why the show just "doesn't work today", that the way it was written, audience members often didn't take it that way. And I do recall incidents of community theatres getting a lot of bad press for doing that show. I also recall years ago in Ohio, our group cancelling the show from our schedule when all the black actors we had refused to audition for it saying it was highly insulting to them. I think it was even the use of "black face" which was considered forbidden just like in minstrel shows that caused the problem.
Don't forget the same thing happened with Flower Drum Song which was considered very insulting to Asians until it was re-written and re-styled a few years ago for a new revival. Of course it wasn't meant to be racist, but most audience members were seeing the old version as being racist or certainly very politically incorrect. And remember Annie Get Your Gun taking out the "I'm an Indian Too" number which was never meant to be racist but over the years came to be considered very offensive.

Ah. I just paused to google and look what I found. This explains it much better than I just have:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/theater/18heal.htm

Good article, Neo. I was not all uncomfortable with the race issue. It was a very good production IMO. CPG said she did not care for the set. I think it was no worse than the set from Hair. It may have been a bit sparse.

Patrick, thanks for posting that interesting article.

So I guess the "new" version uses a black actor to replace the white one rather than putting the white one in blackface. That's a major change. And the "servant shuffle" scene is changed to make it clear the servant is NOT a low class guy, but a college educated one. Apparently a few other changes in the shortening of the script have softened some of the other politically incorrect issues.

But I'm somewhat stunned that the set by John Lee Beatty would be anything but brilliant!!!

As a side note, as of today, looks like I'm heading to New York for a month -- mid January to mid February, so look out as I catch up on what's happening theatre wise in NYC!!!

GREAT NEO! We must have another GTG while you are here!!!

You staying at the same apartment complex?

Yes. Worldwide Plaza -- Jan. 17 to Feb. 17. The owner had a cancellation and I got the apartment for half price. Too good to pass up. But I don't see us sitting in the plaza with balloons in FEBRUARY!!!

Well Thalia would certainly work for you!!! Wouldn't
even have to wear a coat.

emd, while you're trying to decide whether to see Finian's Rainbow, you should double check whether that discount is even good for a Sat. night performance. Very often they're not.

I saw Broadway Unplugged at Town Hall this past week. One of the performers was Terri White from Finian's Rainbow. She brought down the house. Amazing story about her here
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/11/16/2009-11-16_broadway_star_once_slept_in_washington_square_park__until_cop_gave_her_a_break.html

mclaurie - my first post in this thread has a link to a similar article in the Times from Oct about Terri White - quite a story. Did she do "Necessity" at Town Hall? It really is poignant when you know her background. What a turnaround! Truly amazing.

I saw "Wishful Drinking" today-Carrie Fisher's one-woman show. LOVED IT!!!! She's hilarious and it was both funny and poignant.

How embarrassing that I forgot that you'd already posted that (another senior moment). She didn't do "Necessity" and I can't remember at this moment what she did do. I'll get back to you.

mclaurie, the playbill discount is good for Sat. night. $85 each ticket, Right orchestra row N, 10 seats in from aisle.

The story about Terri White is very inspiring. CentralParkGirl and Judyrem enjoyed it.

What say you, should we go? Is it really good, and most importantly (since we are ssing a drama God of Carnage on Fri. night already) is the music really good?

emd3 - since everyone's taste is different and I don't know you and you're visiting for a short time, I hate to push. But, as you can read above, I really enjoyed it and loved the music. As I said earlier, I plan to buy the cd. And the whole cast is good. When the ensemble sings, they sing! 'God Of Carnage,' btw, has some funny moments; it's not straight, heavy drama and it's so well-crafted. Have a great time!

emd, I haven't seen Finian's Rainbow yet but as I said up top, I love the music (but it's not everyone's cup of tea). I'm just amazed at how many people (theater goers I know) aren't interested in this show despite the rave reviews--perhaps an explanation of why the discount is good for a Sat. night. In all fairness, some of them saw it in the Encores series last year and feel they've already seen it but many just think "eh." I think whether to go has more to do with what your husband thinks and what nice dinner or quiet time you might be giving up together if you don't go.

CPG, Terri White was a surprise guest that night (not listed on the program) and sang a song dedicated to her Mother (I think she said taken from a poem). Anyway, I bawled my eyes out through the whole thing having recently lost my Mother and just blocked it last night. It was heart wrenching.

Just fyi, the name of the song she sang was Mama A Rainbow from the failed show "Minnie's Boys." Read lyrics at your own risk. http://www.carlinamerica.com/titles/titles.cgi?MODULE=LYRICS&ID=579&terms=1970

mclaurie - all I can say is, for anyone celebrating Thanksgiving without their mothers (or anyone else beloved, for that matter), warm, happy memories are everything!

Has anyone seen God of Carnage with the new cast? I can't find reviews online, although they've been with the new cast for a week or so now.