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This Week on Broadway for April 13, 2025: BOOP!
01:16:12
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, BOOP! The Musical, The Last Five Years, NYTW’s production of Becoming Eve, and Marilyn Maye @ 54 Below “This Week on Broadway” has been coming to you every...
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- [00:00]
James Marino
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- [00:03]
Michael Portantier
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Michael Portantier
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James Marino
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- [00:26]
Peter Felicia
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- [01:29]
Unknown Speaker
G of G. Wait, you're saying who is she? Yes, my cool system goes now irreversibly looks now Cuz the last time I look now I'm where I want to be. Keep your hands in Miami Grammys time. I'm packing my candies I'm where I want to be I'm where I want to be I'm I wanna be I'm where I wanna be.
- [02:11]
Michael Portantier
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios. This week on Broadway for Sunday, April 13, 2025. My name is James Marino and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portantier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day Desk calendar A show tuned for today. 366 songs to bright new Year has been released. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and many other places. Hello Peter.
- [02:38]
Unknown Speaker
Hi.
- [02:39]
Michael Portantier
What is today's show tune for today?
- [02:42]
Unknown Speaker
Well, in 2011, Cameron McIntosh produced a musical that not many people know about. It was called Betty Blue Eyes and it was written by George Stiles and Anthony Drew, who did the terrific new songs for Mary Poppins. So this was actually, actually based on a 1992 film called A Private Function, both the severe rationing of meat that England endured after World War II ended. All right, so Gilbert and Joyce Chilbers, like all their fellow citizens, are trying to make the best of it. But much more is bothering Joyce. She's embarrassed to be married to a chiropodist because she longs to be part of the higher class. Her so called betters constantly reinforce that they don't want to know her. So we've all been in similarly similar situations. So when you are, it's a good time to remember Joyce's rebuttal in Nobody, that she is not a nobody. Terrific song, terrific score, by the way. I discovered it through Wayne Bryan who did a production at Music Theater Wichita some years back. And it really has such wonderful music and lyrics. Most of the songs are truly, truly memorable. But Nobody really is quite the showstopper.
- [03:54]
Michael Portantier
Okay. Also with us is Michael Portentier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the founder and editor ofcastalreviews.com. he is also a theatrical photographer whose photos have appeared in the New York Times and other major publications. You could see his photography work at Follow Spot Photo. Hello, Michael. Hi, Michael. You're going to be talking with your friend Sandy.
- [04:20]
James Marino
Yes, very exciting. Tuesday, May 13, 7pm in the Laurie Beachman Theater at the West Bank Cafe. I will be doing a live interview with Sandy Duncan. Really? One of the beloved Broadway stars and TV stars. Well, yes, at the Laurie Beechman, which is reopening on tomorrow, the 14th, redesigned by David Rockwell. So that's very, I mean, that's very exciting to begin with, that, that it's reopening and that he's redoing it. I haven't had a chance. I haven't had, haven't been invited to have a peek at it yet. But they, they've been in hell there. So, so that's not surprising. But as of tomorrow, they have a big gala opening with all these Broadway stars as a benefit for Broadway Cares, Equity Fights aids. So you can probably still go to that if you, if you have the money and, and the time. But if not, there's they, they really are going to have a great lineup of shows coming up and very happy that we're going to be one of them. Sandy. She won't be performing, but it will be a live interview, as I said, with multiple clips from some of her greatest shows. And then Q and A period with the audience, which I think will be fun. And the one thing Sandy said to me is. She said, the one thing I want to make clear is I don't want you to tell me in advance what the questions are going to be. I said, oh. I said, well, that's fine with me. I said, but what if I happen to ask something that you don't want to answer? She said, well, then I'll just tell you I don't want to answer. Answer it. So that's. Yeah, I mean, usually it's the opposite, but she, she's so delightful and she really loves to talk, and I think people are going to love that. Oh, and yet another exciting thing that's happening at the west bank is that they just like two days ago got delivered a whole bunch of beautiful Prince of Hirschfeld drawings of some of the greats who have frequented the west bank and the Laurie Beechman over the years. And they are now, as of now, installed in that little back room there, that little nook area that is going to be at least unofficially dubbed the Chita Rivera Room or the Cheetah Rivera Nook. And so that's another thing you can enjoy as of now, as of as we speak. So anyway, we put all the information in the show notes, the link to order tickets for the. The Sandy event. It's not expensive. And it's also partly sponsored by the Drama Desk because I've done talks for them before with Jonathan Groff and Celia Keenan Bolger and Santino Fontana. So I just thought it would be really fun to speak with Sandy.
- [07:36]
Michael Portantier
All right, so first up in our reviews this morning, Michael and Peter got over to the Friedman to see Stephen Sondheim's old friends. So, Peter, why don't you get us started on this?
- [07:49]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. What's surprising to me is in this evening of Stephen Sondheim, that there were a few selections from Gypsy and West side Story. I wouldn't think that that would be the case, that they would want to just stress songs by Stevens on time period. So that was a little bit of surprise. It's not a problem. But I was just a little bit surprised at that. It's a very well done review. I've heard so many people say, well, you know, it's really like a cruise ship review. Let's face it, friends, any review is going to look like a cruise ship review, because that's what cruise ships do. I mean, that's the only reason that people come default to that explanation for some of Us, this will be a tiny boring because indeed they're songs we've heard a million times. Other people, of course, will be thrilled to hear people who haven't done these songs do them and to hear people who have done these songs do them. For example, Bernadette Peters certainly sings a couple of songs that she's done on stage and some songs that she certainly hasn't. You would think maybe Bernadette would get I'm Still Here. Given that she is. Bonnie Langford gets it. And Bonnie Langford is somebody who is terrific way back when. Just by my telling you what role she played will confirm this. When she was June in the Angelo Ansbury Gypsy and was terrific in it. She's also the lady who played Bonnie, the young daughter of Scarlet and Rhett in the musical version of Gone with the Wind in London which Noah Laco attended on opening night when a horse defecated on stage. And he hated Barney language so much that he said if they stuck the kid up the horse's rear, he used a less lovely term than that, they would have solved both their problems. Anyway, she's certainly not a problem here. It's amazing how the obert should merrily roll along which begins the second act sounds like an enormous orchestra is playing it. It's not. There aren't as many people as you might think. But they really get a great sound out of it and everybody's quite fine. For me, it was a bit overexposure, just that I've heard these songs quite a bit in. So it'd be nice for Sondheim newbies. And maybe that's who was there, because, wow, the applause was deafening after song after song after song as opposed to day after day after day. So I do think that it's a very well produced evening and I certainly wish it well.
- [10:22]
Michael Portantier
Okay, Michael, what did you think?
- [10:25]
James Marino
I have seen a lot of shows lately that have struck me as being incredibly inconsistent in one way or another. And I would say that this was another one. There are certain certainly very many wonderful moments in it. It's always wonderful to have Bernadette on stage. And I had more than one slightly teary moment during this show. Especially when she was recreating songs and roles that she has played on Broadway. Especially there's a moment where she recreates her.in Sunday in the park with George. And even in costume, not full costume maybe, but enough to certainly give you the feeling that you're back seeing Bernadette Peters playing.in Sunday in the park with George and You know, how incredible is that? I do think it was a mistake to give her Send in the clowns in Act 1 and then losing my mind in Act 2. Only because both of them were very. She chose to do both of them in a very weepy way, which is, I guess, one of her trademarks. She has done that in the past with some famous songs, including those two. But it. It seemed a little similar in this case. And I think that maybe another. If one of those had been swapped out, that would have been a better choice. Peter, as to why she didn't do I'm Still Here. Yeah. I think it's because she. She seems. She seems very, very smart about knowing how to use what voice she has left and. And to avoid things that she can no longer do, which would be, for example, belting loud, loudly and holding a sustained note that's belted. She sounds great doing anything other than that. She still has her. Her head voice and she can sing softly up high and she can sing mezzo forte or even belt lower down. But that one thing, it seems like she's. She doesn't quite trust her voice to do that. And there's no other way to end I'm Still Here than with that incredibly belted. I know. Which. Not only a belted high note, but it's on a closed vowel. It's on a closed vowel that ends in a consonant here. So anyway, so I think it was wise to give that to Bonnie Langford. Many people have said that the revelation of this show is Lea Salonga. Even people who love Lea Salonga, or Leah, I guess she pronounced it, Lea Salonga, are saying it's a revelation because her versatility, including what sounded to me like a perfect Cockney accent and the worst pies in London from Sweeney Todd. I mean, who knew she could do that? But she did. And her comic ability and her acting of the songs while also singing them perfectly. She always had a lovely, beautiful voice, but I think now it has gained in power over the years. So she can also now belt with the best of them. And that certainly serves her well. And everything's coming up roses, you know, and there is the inevitable comparison with Audra McDonald's performance over in the full production of Gypsy at another theater, which is, for some people, is very controversial because she does sing parts of all of those songs in her head voice. And some of us think that that's just not right because that's not how they were written. You're not going to have that problem with Lea Salonga and she has highlight after highlight in this show, proving her tremendous versatility. Some other. Well, other wonderful people in the cast, including Beth Leavel. Some. It's a nice mix of Brits and Americans, including people I know and people I don't know. Kevin early, certainly we're familiar with, and Kyle Selig, both do wonderful jobs. And then another fellow, I thought maybe he might be a Brit because I wasn't familiar with his name and his name sounds like it might be British, Jacob Dicke. But reading his credits, it seems like he's an American, so whatever. He did a fantastic job as well. Gavin Lee, the wonderful Gavin Lee, who we know from Mary Poppins and Joanna, writing. Just really great talent on stage. But I thought, I thought the one huge problem I had was there was a lot of sprech schimme in this show. Yeah, A lot of people speaking instead of singing songs. And I cannot stand that in Sondheim especially, and not when it's done this much. And also, not only were they speak singing, but there was a lot of back phrasing, which also drives me crazy. I don't think it. I don't think back phrasing works hardly ever in Broadway music. It's just not written to be sung that way, and it makes it harder to understand the lyrics. And it's not jazz, it's Broadway. So there was so much of that that it really bothered me a lot. And I think that's one of the biggest flaws of this show. I also dare say. I'm going to dare to say I don't think Sondheim would have liked it. I just don't think that he would have appreciated that at all. What else? There was no apparent order to the songs whatsoever, and that was a little problematic for me. Also no consistency as to whether songs were being presented in context or out of context. By that, I mean, some sequences had sets and costumes, whereas other sequences, including most of the first act, were done more as. As a review you would see on a cruise ship with, you know, with a performance in evening wear or just looking like they were in a. Singing in a cabaret rather than in a show. So that was another issue for me. And I, yeah, I, I, I, I've never. I've always said before. The only Sondheim review prior to this that I really enjoyed was that one called A Bed and a Chair that was done briefly at City Center. And it wasn't almost. It wasn't. You couldn't really almost call it a review. It was a brilliantly creative piece that was put together using Sondheim songs and with a lot of dance in it. And I thought that worked absolutely brilliantly. But so many of the others, I feel they, they don't necessarily work that well because so many of Sondheim's songs just don't work well out of context. And then there's a question as to if you're going to try to just sing them as standalone or present them in context. One perfect example is Getting Married Today from Company, which I just, I just don't know if that song really belongs in a review. But there were many others as well. So that's my very qualified report on this show. Directed by Matthew Bourne, by the way, who is, you know, maybe that's part of the issue because he's not, he, you know, he's, he's most famous for having given us some wonderful dance pieces, of course, like Swan Lake, etc. But this kind of a show is maybe not his, his wheelhouse. So, yeah, that's, those are my thoughts.
- [19:15]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends are playing at the, at the Sammy J. Friedman Theater through June 15th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Next up, Michael and Peter got a chance to see Boop at the Broadhurst. So Michael, why don't you get us started on Boop?
- [19:37]
James Marino
Well, here again, so inconsistent in a nutshell. I would say that the book by Bob Martin is unfortunately an absolute mess, in my opinion. He tried to create an interesting story around this famous or once famous cartoon character, Betty Boop. And the story here is that she is somehow transported by some sort of a time and time travel device from another dimension into modern day New York where she shows up at Comic Con at the Javits Center. I guess that's where it's supposed to be and happens to run into, among other people, a young girl who is tremendously into Betty Boop to the point where she wears logos of her on her clothing, etc.
- [20:41]
Unknown Speaker
Etc.
- [20:42]
James Marino
So I, I don't know. I mean, do you, does anyone have the impression that this character is. Still has great adherence among young people?
- [20:56]
Michael Portantier
No.
- [20:57]
Unknown Speaker
It would surprise me.
- [20:59]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [20:59]
Unknown Speaker
Partly because it's black and white, isn't it? Yeah, obviously. Because. Well, you'll explain why very shortly. I know.
- [21:08]
James Marino
Right. So, I mean, all right, so I don't know if that's acceptable as willing suspension of disbelief. But I, but to me it was just a, a non starter, I'm sorry to say. And then this young girl has a man with her who Is it's never made clear as if he's her cousin or her brother or related to her in some way. But he also meets Betty and they obviously have an attraction to each other from the beginning. But this guy is supposed to be heavily into jazz. And I was reminded of the movie La La Land actually. And I know there are people, certainly people in modern day New York and elsewhere who are very into jazz. But not only is he presented that way, but it seems like every person she meets when she arrives in 2025 New York is into jazz and tap dancing. They. There's a scene on the red steps in Duffy, I guess Duffy Square, not Times Square. And there's a. I think maybe like about 30 seconds of what looks like hip to hip hop dancing or break danc and then everyone breaks into a tap number. And the score, which I absolutely loved overall in its pastiche style, music by David Foster, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, all of it seems pretty much, or almost all of it to be a 1930s pastiche kind of score. But how that relates to Manhattan in 2025 is. Is another question entirely. So I thought that was all very weird. There are lots of supporting characters in this show. I think some of them are completely superfluous and thankless roles, including the roles unfortunately played by Faith Prince and Eric Bergen. Stephen DeRosa as. As Betty's grandpa called Grampy, tries to give a, I would say like a vaudevillian type of over the top performance that I think sort of works. He a lot of times reminded me of the character of Doc Ock from Back to the Future. Is that. Wait, not that Doc Ock. What's his name? Duck, you know.
- [23:47]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, we know him.
- [23:48]
Michael Portantier
Yeah.
- [23:48]
Unknown Speaker
I can't think his last name.
- [23:49]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah.
- [23:50]
Unknown Speaker
Brown, I think. Isn't it Brown?
- [23:51]
James Marino
Yeah, maybe that's Doc Ock is Spider man, isn't it?
- [23:54]
Unknown Speaker
I see, yeah.
- [23:55]
James Marino
Sorry. But yeah, he reminded me of him a lot and he brought a lot of old time vaudeville know how to that. But it seemed like he was in a different show than a lot of the other people there. There are some, again, so inconsistent here. Some wonderful things including the score and I would say Jerry Mitchell's choreography. Once you accept the fact that you're going to be seeing stuff that is so anachronistic, there's a really great effect at the beginning and then elsewhere where they. Where the entire stage does almost seem to be in black and white and then it suddenly morphs into color. And I thought that was very, very the big news Here, as I'm sure our listeners have already heard, is the performance of Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty. She's phenomenally talented and charming. She manages to sustain that sort of. Sort of squeaky voice throughout the show without becoming annoying. And I think maybe she should get a Tony Award for that alone because that's an amazing achievement. But she sings like a dream also. She manages to somehow keep that sound while she's singing, but yet bring more warmth and depth to it. And she is like the find of the century, I would say. So I would advise attending this show, if only for her performance. But as I said, you will get some other wonderful stuff as well. I did love the score and despite my caveats, I would say this is so far, this is the new musical that I can see myself getting the cast album and actually listening to it over and over again. And that's about the best compliment I can give it. So I curious to hear other people's thoughts.
- [26:05]
Michael Portantier
Other people named Peter. What did you think?
- [26:10]
Unknown Speaker
I liked it more than that. But I do agree the score is quite toe tapping. And for all the talk about that we always hear about there's not a tune you can hum when you leave the theater. Certainly why look around the Corner was one for me. I must admit that since Love Life, I've been just hearing Love Life score go through my head. But this interrupted it and I was very glad that it did. There's a very clever visual thing too. There's a very clever visual thing that starts Act 2, which Michael sort of teased. Very, very clever. I dare say something you've never seen before. And isn't it wonderful when you can say that? I want to give a shout out to Philip Uber, who was the puppeteer. There's a dog, Pudgy, and I'm telling you, that dog is amazing. Well, Philip's amazing, but the dog itself is amazing too because I don't know if there are many puppets where a dog sticks out his tongue when he has enthusiasm. But anyway, this one does. What I loved is during one song, the. The dog's paw kept going up and down in time with the music. You know, he was, he was keeping time with music. I thought that was terrific. So, yes, I agree that Jasmine Amy Rogers is defined and I may be the millionth person to say that I might actually get a prize for being the millionth person to say that because that's all this been talking about this week is how magnificent she is. And boy, what a race for best actress in the musical. Good Lord, is That going to be a tight category and people are going to be disappointed. So when they don't get in, because somebody's gotta walk the plank. I mean, it just has to do it. She. She really is quite good. I was with it. I. I didn't have any. When Michael says that, you know, people into Betty Boop today, boy, that's a good point. Didn't occur to me. What can I say? It just didn't. But it's a good point. Yeah. And the jazz thing. Yeah, good point. Yeah. All this holds water for me as. As objections, but they never occurred to me while the show was going on because I had such a wonderful time. I did. Of the cast, including people that Michael mentioned. What really interested me. The first number is very old world choreography, and that's a compliment. And the audience went crazy. And I thought, you know, maybe they don't see this very much anymore. It's by contemporary standards, a large cast and everybody's on stage. Not as big as the original 42nd street cast, I'll grant you, but it's a big cast. And seeing people go through a very, very long choreographed number at the very beginning of the show, boy, did they respond. And I understand why. Yes. So we have to really appreciate what Jerry Mitchell has done, both as a director and a choreographer. It may not be innovative choreography, I'm not saying that, but it's plentiful and it's fun. So I think that's really important. The other thing, too, Susan Birkenhead, who has, she'll pardon the expression, been around for a long time. It's very nice to see quality work once again from her. I first discovered her as a. At a backers audition of a musical version of Love that's Luv, a big hit from the 60s. And I thought she was terrific then and she's still terrific now, which is really quite wonderful. So I wish this one. Well, I know that some of the reviews were not kind or at least enthusiastic, but I certainly am. And I will say that it's so easy to fix everybody else's show. And I have a solution for. Don't thank me. That's what I do. I have a solution to what happens at the end because they decide that Betty Boop has to go back into being a cartoon. And they do wind up with a happy ending, but the happy ending isn't as really as convincing as it might be. What I would like to have seen is early on that Betty, early on now, when she's about to take the time traveling Says, listen, what difference does it make? The guy who draws me is old. He's probably going to retire anyway. I might as well go. And at the end, by the time we forgot about that, I would like just when she's. They're telling us you have to go back. You're a symbol, you know, people need Betty Boop. That's it. We find out that he has retired. A new guy has taken over and he's going to draw the strip so she can stay there. So anyway, that's my solution, for what it's worth. And guys, there's still time to put it in. Anyway, I had a wonderful time. And to quote a lyric from a long ago song, with all your faults, I love you still. So good luck to Betty Boop and I hope it's around for a long, long, long time.
- [30:46]
James Marino
I didn't want to fail to mention Angelica hall and Ainsley Melham, who play Trisha and Dwayne. I think they both had tremendous amount of appeal and added a lot to the show. And you know what? I forgot to mention. This occurred to me. I wonder if initially, when they were writing this show, if they considered having her transported not to New York in 2025, but to New York in the 30s, would have, you know, solved my issue with. With everything being jazz and tap. So that's just a thought. I wonder maybe if I get to talk to David, if I get to talk to Susan Birkenhead or David Foster, maybe I'll ask them that question someday.
- [31:42]
Unknown Speaker
That's a valid suggestion. Yeah.
- [31:44]
Michael Portantier
All right. So Boop, the musical is at the Broadhurst. It is in an open run right now. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. The three of us have gotten over to the Hudson to see the last five years. Do you know if they're going to consider this a revival or is this going to be in the.
- [32:09]
James Marino
Excellent question.
- [32:13]
Michael Portantier
What was that, Peter?
- [32:14]
Unknown Speaker
I think it'll be a revival.
- [32:15]
Michael Portantier
I think so, too, given what we've seen in the past, even though it's never been on Broadway, but they've had major New York productions before, so.
- [32:24]
Unknown Speaker
And everywhere else in the world.
- [32:26]
Michael Portantier
And everywhere else in the world. So all three of us saw the last five years at the Hudson.
- [32:36]
James Marino
Why don't you start?
- [32:37]
Michael Portantier
I'm gonna start on.
- [32:38]
Unknown Speaker
You know, I was gonna make that same suggestion. Oh, how funny. Yeah, you're on, James.
- [32:45]
Michael Portantier
So I think my feelings can be summed up in the. The next 10 minutes scene. That. Which is the scene where they all. The only Scene where they're together in the timeline, Right. And this couple, you know, for those who have not seen the last five years, it's a five year relationship. The man starts at the beginning of the relationship and goes to the end. And the woman starts at the five year mark and goes backwards to the beginning. And the only time they ever meet is in this. This proposal sort of scene.
- [33:38]
James Marino
Which is supposed to take place in Central park on a boat on the lake.
- [33:43]
Michael Portantier
Well, it has in the past taken place in Central park on the boat, but it seems like they're in some sort of New Year's Eve hotel suite type of thing that overlooks Central Park. They're pointing it out, but he is proposing marriage to her. And he doesn't look at her, he doesn't sing to her. He drinks directly from a champagne bottle and never pours a glass for her. They walk all over the stage and never sing to each other, never look at each other. I was angry when I left the theater. I've seen a lot of productions of the last five years. One of my favorite shows. And this was just. I can't recommend it at all. So, Peter, what did you think of the last five years?
- [34:43]
Unknown Speaker
Very few have been able to recommend this production. There have been a lot of issues on it. But again, I will say the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick did it best when they. They projected on the back wall the dates when it happens. Because you cannot expect the public to understand that her story is going one way and his story is going the other. It is just too confusing. We have been conditioned from time immemorial to think that when a person is singing, another person starts singing. They're both singing at the same time. So why is she so upset when he's so happy? And why is he so happy when she's so upset? It really is a big problem for me. So that's always been my issue with the last five. And because it has phenomenal material. So wonderful. I mean, one little detail that always comes out to me, and that is the fact that Kathy is an aspiring actress. And as time goes on, she does much more perspiring than aspiring because she's really not getting anywhere. And it's driving her crazy. Especially because he's become an overnight sensation as a novelist. So while he's going to parties and being feeded with champagne, you know, she's calling her agent and saying, did you read my reviews? I'll send you another set. He doesn't want to know, but here's the lyric that I think is really great in a song called A Summer in Ohio, when she says, I play Anita at the matinees, and therefore you get the impression you have to. That indeed, the director does not even feel she's worthy of playing Anita eight times a week. And that tells us something about at least how people are perceiving her talents or how hard it is for her to get along. And of course, there's a flaw here, by the way, when she talks about being 40 miles west of Cincinnati, because then you're in Indiana. You are. I checked anyway, so. But Ohio is a much easier word to deal with in Indiana. Jason. Robert Brown is such a great lyricist with such great perceptions, and they certainly come across here. For me, well, Nick Jonas, that's a problem for me. What I thought was gonna happen because he's wearing glasses during the beginning when he's just starting out, and I thought he was gonna shed those glasses now and forever. He doesn't want to see him, but I thought I was gonna shed him as time goes on at the implication that he's flush enough to buy contacts and he has to project a different type of image. So he doesn't want to wear glasses. I thought that was a missed opportunity because I liked when he had glasses. But he's too smug and he. That. No, that's the word, smug. He really does project that he's the sun and the moon, even when he's not, when he deals with her, he really has this superior attitude and he thinks he's so clever and witty and that you want him take him down a peg. So. So it really is a very disappointing performance from him. He doesn't particularly seem Jewish and there's a lot about Jewish in this character. So that's a big problem as well. So somebody, a friend of mine pointed out, and I think it would have been very interesting if. Indeed. Well, no, no, you're not going to make this change. But anyway, a friend of me said it does seem from these two people on stage that she would be the successful one, he would be the unsuccessful one. And I think there's something to be said for that. So, anyway, yeah, not as good as it could be. And I think you're really better off getting either of them cast albums. Certainly the original with Leo Butts and Sherri Renane, Scott. But the second one, Betsy Wolf, really shines on that one. So by all means, whichever one you get, you'll. You'll have a very good time. I also, in conclusion, wonder this is a terrible thing to Say, but I'm going to say it. I wonder if this is a case of where Jason Robert Brown simply didn't trust his material. Here's what I mean. Did he feel if we told this story linearly, it would seem trite, so he had to use this. There's no other word for it. Gimmick. I just wonder about that. I can't imagine he conceived it this way. I have a feeling while he was writing and saying, oh, yeah, but it's just another story of a marriage gone wrong, you know, And I understand that. But if you're going to do it the way you're doing it, please make it clear by those projections. We're in an age of projections. Good law to we. An age of projections. Boop. Has plenty of terrific ones too, by the way. And so what does it take to put up 1992, 1989, whatever it might be. So that's my advice, for better or worse. It's always so easy to fix everybody else's show.
- [39:19]
Michael Portantier
Peter, the Anita at the matinee thing. I think that was because, you know, Lauren Kennedy and Sherry Renee Scott played it at first. Blonde blue eyes. They were blonde blue eyes. Women playing Anita.
- [39:35]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, that's fair.
- [39:38]
Michael Portantier
You know, and, and. And so I. I think that was the joke. I.
- [39:45]
Unknown Speaker
That's very good. Yep.
- [39:46]
Michael Portantier
And I also. And I. And. And I also think that the timeline thing was sort of an homage to Merrily. Could be.
- [39:57]
Unknown Speaker
But at that point in time. At that point in time, Merrily was quite the flop. So I don't know.
- [40:01]
Michael Portantier
No, no, absolutely. But it was. But Jason is a huge, you know, disciple of Sondheim.
- [40:06]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
- [40:08]
Michael Portantier
And this is also sort of a little bit autobiographical of Jason.
- [40:15]
Unknown Speaker
Oh, indeed, we do know that. Yeah. I didn't want to say that. That has been said, by the way, because of non traditional casting. Adrian Warren is a black woman. And we do have that song about. In which he sings that if he brings the girl home to his parents, they're gonna be very upset that she's not Jewish. They might be upset about something else entirely. But I guess we're supposed to ignore the fact that she's black back.
- [40:40]
James Marino
Yeah, that is a good point. And they changed a lot of lyrics in that song as it was.
- [40:45]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. And Cynthia Revo did. Did last five years.
- [40:51]
James Marino
Oh, that's right, she did.
- [40:52]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Back in 2016 at town hall.
- [40:58]
Unknown Speaker
Anybody who sees me at the theater, ask me about time I went to see the movie. It's a good story and it's too long to be told too here.
- [41:06]
James Marino
Oh, you had to leave because you had somewhere else to get told that story. Yeah.
- [41:11]
Unknown Speaker
Okay.
- [41:13]
Michael Portantier
So, Michael, what you think?
- [41:15]
James Marino
Peter, the lyric is 40 miles east of Cincinnati. Does that change your. Yeah.
- [41:21]
Unknown Speaker
Does it really?
- [41:22]
James Marino
So I don't know if you.
- [41:23]
Unknown Speaker
Sure, it does.
- [41:24]
James Marino
Yeah. Just to put. But I personally love the quote unquote gimmick, but I absolutely agree with you that it needs to be made clear. And yes, I did love the George street production for that reason. I don't remember if they also had the years projected in the second stage production that we were referring to, which was Betsy Wolf and Adam Kantor. Do you remember?
- [41:53]
Unknown Speaker
I don't think so. Yeah, but the memory plays tricks, but yes. Yeah.
- [41:57]
James Marino
Well, anyway, it does need to be clear. And I mean, once you know it. It doesn't need to be made clear to you through projections for, you know, when you see it again. But it. If people are experiencing it for the first time, it certainly does. Interestingly, this production in the playbill, there's an insert that of. On the front is the title page reprinted. I'm not sure if there are any changes on that from what's in the playbill itself, but on the back they have a sort of a very interestingly done timeline of the song list. So it Sundays the last five years, and then on. On the left it says year one, and then on the right it says year five. And then it lists the songs underneath those headings, either all the way to the left or all the way to the right or somewhere in between, as to when they're. When they're actually happening. And the only one that's right in the middle is the next 10 minutes, which is that sequence we've been referring to where they. Where they become engaged initially on a boat in Central Park Lake James, that's interesting that you. You thought it was. And you may be right, that it was supposed to be some place overlooking Central Park. I guess that would make sense because they're still referring to the. The Dakota and the San Remo.
- [43:26]
Michael Portantier
Yeah.
- [43:26]
James Marino
So they have to be someplace where they're seeing those buildings and. Yeah, so maybe that's. That's what that was supposed to be. I. Yeah, I do. I have always loved the gimmick, and I. And I think that it is very moving and powerful when it's made clear. So that's my feeling on that. I hope that people get it when they see this. I. This would be another show, yet another show that I would say is tremendously inconsistent but this one, in different ways, I am going to say that I don't think it was at all well directed by Whitney White. It is a very difficult show to direct in terms of that specific thing that Peter mentioned. How much, if at all, are the two supposed to interact with each other in the other songs, other than the one. The next ten minutes where they. They are supposed to actually be together, but in every other song there only one person is singing, so do you have the other one on stage and, you know, miming stuff and going through staging and. But not singing. The movie did that because they. They had no. They felt they had no other choice. And I actually, actually, for the most part, I thought it worked really well in the movie, but maybe a movie is different. I don't know. That is an essential decision one has to make in staging the show, whether they're going to interact or not. And I thought that Whitney White seemed like she half made the decision that they would sort of interact sometimes, but not really. And as James pointed out, the. The lack of interaction of eye contact, etc. In the. In that scene where they were supposed to be together was very, very strange. So I think that was a handicap to begin with. I. I think if. If Nick Jonas was going to be successful in this role, that he might have done so with a. A much better director. And I. And at this point, I should mention that I've said, as I've said before, I actually saw him in how to Suc, when he succeeded Daniel Radcliffe, and I thought he was wonderful in it. I thought he got actually more laughs than Daniel Radcliffe did. And I thought he sang it appropriately, and I thought he was. I really had nothing negative to say about his performance in that. I. I always have guessed that maybe Michael Urie, who went into the show as Bud Frump, worked with him behind the scenes because somebody obviously did, and I don't think it was Rob Ashford, but here he would not seem to have had the guidance that he needed. And that is too bad, because he's not primarily an actor, obviously. I do have an interesting opinion on this, which I'm not sure if other people will share. Although Adrienne Warren is vastly superior to Nick Jonas in terms of the quality of her voice, the quality of power. I did not think they came across as that unequal for this reason. I think they both sing lyrics more like pop singers than like Broadway singers. There's a lot of bending of notes. The. The consonants are not enunciated as. As well as they should be. And so even though I know this score like the back of my hand, there were many times when I felt like I couldn quite understand what they were saying, and I think that was true for both of them. And it was another huge, huge problem with this production, a problem I did not have with any of the previous stage productions I've seen or with the movie, which I don't think that would be a problem in the movie anyway. So all of that worked tremendously against my enjoyment of this production. And I. I'm gonna have to live with my memories of the other ones that I've seen, all of which were far better.
- [48:03]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I didn't even get. I didn't even get to the sound design because the direction was. Was so far off that, you know the sound design. But I. But again, I know this. The. I know the score like the back of my hand, too, and I know all the lyrics and things like that. And. And there were times that I couldn't understand Adrienne Warren, who is relatively, you know, very good at this, understanding her and other shows. But Nick Jonas, I could hardly understand anything that he was. He was saying.
- [48:47]
Unknown Speaker
But I agree about the sound. That orchestra plays awfully loud.
- [48:52]
James Marino
Yes, that, too. The sound. The EQ was off and. Yeah, that was another problem.
- [49:03]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so that is the last five years. It is scheduled through June 22nd at the Hudson. I did hear rumors that there was. That there was planning to recast them with other people and extend.
- [49:31]
James Marino
I think I heard that, too. Yeah.
- [49:33]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. So we'll see what happens. But I mean, I mean, you know. Yeah.
- [49:40]
James Marino
Anyway, wouldn't it be great if Jeremy Jordan got to do it after Floyd Collins?
- [49:48]
Michael Portantier
As far as I understand, Floyd Collins might be extended. You know, word out of Lincoln center is very, very good for Floyd Collins. Haven't seen it yet. We will, I'm sure, talk about it in the next couple of weeks. My wife, who doesn't know the last five years at all, was like, shouldn't Nick Jonas do and Juliet? This wasn't the right show for him. Maybe he'd be really good in and Juliet. I think that's right up his alley.
- [50:15]
James Marino
That would be good casting.
- [50:17]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Peter, you saw Becoming Eve, which is a New York Theater Workshop production, but it's at the Abrams Arts Center. So can you tell us what you thought of this?
- [50:30]
Unknown Speaker
It's not an easy place to get to, but, boy, is it worth getting to. Sometimes you're in an audience and you really, really feel that you can tell the audience is hanging on every word. And this Happened at Becoming Eve, a play that was written by Emile Weinstein, based on the memoir by Abby Carver Stein. Abby Kaba Stein was not born Abby Carver. She was born a man and a boy. Obviously a baby, but you get my point. Maybe male and transitioned. Okay, fine, that's a difficult thing for anybody, but it's got to be more difficult when your father is a hard nosed Orthodox rabbi who keeps on referring to my son. So to be fair, at this meeting, he hasn't seen his quote unquote son for a while. And certainly Kava, which does mean Eve, by the way, that's the reason for the title. Kava is dressing down in male clothes and hoping that he doesn't really notice the breasts that have been blooming in recent times. So this is hot stuff. Now they're at a synagogue and Brandon Uranowitz shows up here as a rabbi who is certainly far more open to new ideas. And he's going to be the referee here. And he does the best he can, though he has problems of his own. So. Whoa. You know, really telling your parents that you're transitioning, but in this circumstance, whoa. Gripping beyond belief. About an hour and a half, no intermission. I never heard a cough. I'm telling you, I could feel the pressure in the room. Partly because Tommy Dorfman, who has transitioned from male to female, is magnificent as Kaba. Certainly Richard Schiff, who's probably most famous from a Seinfeld episode, plays the rabbi brilliantly. And certainly we have to again applaud Brendan Uranowitz playing the more open minded rabbi. There were puppets in this one too. Yes, indeed. And puppets represent the child as he was growing up as, as a boy and the issues he had not wanting to be a boy early on, making it very clear that he didn't relate to this. Now here's the interesting part of the show, though, and I, I wonder if this is what really started Wheels in Motion for the play. But as it turned out, our, our Kava found a passage in the Bible that suggests the transitioning is perfectly fine. Now that's very interesting. I would be surprised if this person was reading the Bible and saw that and said, ah, I'm on safe ground with my father. How can you rebut this? It's in the Bible. You know, the Bible. That's what he quotes time and time and time and time and time again. Well, here we go. What do you say? This dad. So that's his big club that he uses to beat down his daddy. And can a story like this have A happy ending. I'm going to tell you. I think you should get down to grand street where you really will see a grand play and a grand production.
- [54:10]
Michael Portantier
Richard Schiff, probably best known for the West Wing television show that was on for eight years.
- [54:17]
Unknown Speaker
No, I know that, but I'm telling you, it certainly was that Seinfeld episode, so that that catapulted into the nation's consciousness.
- [54:24]
James Marino
Which one was it?
- [54:26]
Unknown Speaker
Oh, I don't know. But I know that that was a big deal.
- [54:29]
James Marino
Oh, okay. Okay.
- [54:33]
Michael Portantier
So now, Peter, you have ruined an already fragile schedule. I have to go see this.
- [54:42]
Unknown Speaker
Yep.
- [54:43]
Michael Portantier
Oh, my goodness gracious.
- [54:45]
James Marino
It is.
- [54:47]
Unknown Speaker
That's all there is to it.
- [54:48]
Michael Portantier
How large is the space?
- [54:51]
Unknown Speaker
200 seats, maybe.
- [54:53]
Michael Portantier
200? It's gonna be hard to get tickets.
- [54:55]
Unknown Speaker
Yes, it will.
- [54:56]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, it's gonna be hard to get. Okay, so New York Theater Workshop's production of Becoming Eve at the Abrams arts Center through April 27th. So two weeks left. I gotta order tickets before we release this episode. Okay, so we'll have link to that in the show notes. Peter, you also headed to the Brotherly Love where they climb flag. They climb street lamp poles. Except for their greased. Probably not in this production of Dreamgirls that you saw. But you saw Dream Girls? Yeah, I did. Okay, so tell us about this.
- [55:38]
Unknown Speaker
A terrific production. Now, of course, every Dream Girls really relies on its Effie and Aveena sort. Sawyer is one of the best I've ever seen. Now, to be fair, remember, I come from Boston, and when Dreamgirls was trying out there in 1981, everybody saying to me, oh, oh, Jennifer Holiday, you've never seen anything like this. This is magnificent. And I went and I thought she was putrid. Now, bear with me. If you read about Dream Girls in any of the Michael Bennett biographies, you will find that they had a terrible fight and she walked through it for a few performances. I was at one of those performances, so I can' that she was ranked up there very high for me. But Avina Sawyer certainly does really quite good. This is a very spare production. You're not going to see much scenery. I don't think you really were overwhelmed by scenery with the original Dreamgirls, but there were two towers that did a lot of tricks that were great fun, but very spare. You have to deal with that. I do think that as much as I admired Gabrielle Beckford as Dina and Khalifa White as Laurel, I have to say that they look too much alike to me. At times, I felt that there was confusion as to who was who. And I Have to say that Linda felt the same way. She brought it up before I did an intermission, but I was just about to. E. Clayton Cornelius, tremendous as James Thunder early. Really quite wonderful. And if indeed every production is judged by and Effie, it also has to be judged by its Curtis Taylor Jr. Both characters were wonderfully portrayed in the original, I'm told, as time went on. But Tony winners both and Jaron Muse. J A R R A N. Muse is a very good last name for him because he certainly has been blessed with the Muse in the way that he portrays this character. Character. It's such an interesting character, though, you know, because here's a guy who just will not take no for an answer. And even though a previous manager says to him, it can't be done, it can't be done, it can't be done. Curtis does it. So he seems to be a hero for a while there, but only for a while. So a wonderful production. If you care to see Dream Girls on stage, I will say that Linda, who's a big fan of the movie, told me that this is basically the screenplay on stage, much more than the original show, really. So she says, I don't know. I don't. I only saw the movie once. I'm gonna watch it again. But whatever the case may be, the Henry Krieger music, magnificent. And even though I, of course, have a problem with the rhymes that John Ian gave the songs, this is one where certainly so many of those songs flow beautifully when people are supposedly speaking. It's really quite wonderful. And I. I was very glad to see it again. Yeah. I'll tell you what. What? I. I don't know the show well enough to know if that screenplay was on stage, but I do remember that in the original, they were very smart, very smart to have the Supremes mentioned in the dialogue because people say, this is the story of the Supremes. And I don't know if the line was something like, you could be as big as the Supremes. Whatever it was, they mentioned the Supremes. And that was so smart because there's any lawsuit. What do you mean, they can't be the Supremes? We mentioned there was a group called the Supremes that's not in the show. And I do think it's a very smart line. So I have a feeling Linda is very right about the scre screenplay being much done. And that, of course, is so, so much the case. Now try to find a production to sound a music where you don't hear. I have confidence in me and. And Something good. So. And every performance of Greece and Bye Bye Birdie have the title songs now that were written for the movie. So. So this is a. An extension of that. Whatever the case may be, it certainly is a very, very effective production and movie quite, quite well, which is really something that Dreamgirls has to do. So Jerry McIntyre, who we know is an actor from Monstrous Island. Yeah. Directed and choreographed, and it is all to his credit. What a wonderful job he has done.
- [60:02]
James Marino
But I'm guessing they didn't add the song from the movie. That song. Listen, that, that the. That Dina sings.
- [60:13]
Unknown Speaker
So that was added for the movie. I'm looking just to make sure. No, there's no listen.
- [60:20]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah. That would be surprising, but interesting.
- [60:24]
Michael Portantier
Oh, Forest McClendon's in this. Wow.
- [60:27]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know him?
- [60:29]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I know Forest.
- [60:30]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. Nice guy.
- [60:33]
Michael Portantier
So let me ask the two of you. I, I. In. I can't think of anything. Has anything ever transferred from Walnut to Broadway?
- [60:44]
Unknown Speaker
I don't think so.
- [60:46]
Michael Portantier
I don't think so either.
- [60:48]
Unknown Speaker
It's really something.
- [60:49]
Michael Portantier
By the way, you know, we keep on hearing over and over that Dreamgirls is coming, dream is coming.
- [60:54]
Unknown Speaker
We do. We do, don't we?
- [60:55]
Michael Portantier
And it never seems to happen.
- [60:57]
Unknown Speaker
No, it doesn't. By the way, if you're in Philadelphia, it's not a bad thing to go up to the mezzanine level during intermission because they have all these window cards from shows of yore that when they were trying out there, because it used to be a tryout house before they decided to make it essentially a regional theater. So going up and seeing, there's a window card of Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending, except it has a different title printed over it is new title, Orpheus Descending. So even for that, it's really worth getting up there. But window cards for such flops as Love in E Flat, you're pardoned if you've never heard of it. And Rich Little Rich Girl, which was written by Hugh Wheeler, who would have great success much later on working with a Mr. Stephen Sontag time. So go up there and take a look.
- [61:49]
Michael Portantier
Okay, so Dream Girls at the walnut playing through May 4th. And we'll have a link to that in the show notes. Finally this morning in the review section, Michael, you got to see Marilyn. Marilyn May, the other.
- [62:06]
James Marino
Mm, yes.
- [62:07]
Michael Portantier
At 54 below, who is 79 years years old.
- [62:13]
James Marino
Well, that's her joke. She says during the show that she's dyslexic, so she can say she's 79, but she's actually, 97. She turned 97 just a few days ago on April 10, and she had a birthday show that night. But she's performing several shows at 54 this weekend. Next. And this one is framed as a tribute to Johnny Carson for his centennial year. He would have turned 100 this December, I believe, but 2025 is his centennial year, and she always gives him full credit for basically making her career. She appeared on his show 76 times, which was a record for a singer. She said that. I think Bob Hope was on it like, a hundred times, but he. You know, he's not a singer, so. And the show. The one. One of the most wonderful things about the show is it opens with a clip of Marilyn singing Cabaret, the title song of Cabaret on Johnny Carson's show. She doesn't give the actual date, but I'm guessing probably 67, which is. She recorded this song before it was before even the cast album.
- [63:36]
Unknown Speaker
Oh, even before the show opened in Boston, Right.
- [63:39]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it might even be earlier than that. So at any rate, the. The show opens with a clip of that with Johnny introducing her singing Cabaret, and then it ends with Marilyn singing Cabaret live. So that's a. You know, that is a. A span of about 60 years. And it just. I. I love it when people do things like that. And it's the first time I know of that I can. Marilyn use an actual video clip of her performing in a show at 54 or at Burlander or anywhere else that she's performed. So I don't know if it was her idea or someone else's, but it was a great idea. And then some of the other highlights in the show, Marilyn is famous for great little combinations of songs, which apparently most or all of them are her idea. For example, she does a little mini medley of I Will Survive into those Were the Days. And these were aimed at a former lover of hers with whom she apparently had a very bad breakup. So she gets a lot of comic mileage out of that. But then she sings. Oh, she does a beautiful rendition of here's that Rainy Day, which she sings. It was Johnny Carson's favorite song. And. Yeah. And she talks about how, you know, many comedians have, you know, certainly a very sad or dark side to them, and sometimes you might not expect a sad song like that to be his favorite, but it absolutely wasn't. He always asked her to sing it. And there's another example of a song that, as we've mentioned many times recently, a song that has become far more famous than the show, the Broadway show from which it came, namely a Carnival in Flanders. I don't think you're going to see any revivals of that. But here's that. Rainy Day is an all time classic and I just love it when songs transcend their shows like that. Then there was another fabulous little mini medley and I asked Ted Firth, Marilyn's music director, if it was his idea or hers, and he said it was all her idea. She started with the song I'll Go My Way by Myself into Being Alive from Company and just, just beautiful. Then she did It's Going to Take Some Time, that song that I know because it was made famous by the Carpenters. And she sang maybe this time I'm gonna. I've tried to get John Cander to see one of Marilyn shows lately because I know he, you know, he's still with us and he's still going out to see things, and I just think he would love this show in particular. So I might make another attempt to see if I can try to get him there. But it really was a wonderful, wonderful evening as always, and so amazing her energy level and talent at the age of 97.
- [66:54]
Michael Portantier
All right, so Marilyn May, Michael, are you going to do your end of summer trip to P Town?
- [67:02]
James Marino
Yes, I'm already booked. Yeah.
- [67:04]
Michael Portantier
August, Maryland? Is Maryland going to be up there?
- [67:07]
James Marino
Oh, yeah, I booked it around Aug. 24 at the town hall in Provincetown.
- [67:15]
Michael Portantier
All right, so we're looking forward to talking about that again. All right, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser and our musical moments, I'd like to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com, there's a subscribe link. That way each and every time we have new episode of this week on Broadway be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcast for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us on Apple Podcasts as many ways to get us. One of the ways is Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio is one way that you can support all of the Broadway radio shows and get us a little bit earlier and get bonus shows that you won't get anywhere else. Contact information for Peter from Michael and me can be found in the show notes@broadrayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about about today. So, Peter, do we have an answer to last week's brain teaser?
- [68:10]
Unknown Speaker
We Do. It happens near the end of every December. A Tony winning musical mentioned it when citing one European country known as the Land of Fields and another as Lexagon. Well, considering that autumn officially ends during the last days of December and that the Land of Fields is the nickname of Poland and Lexagon is the nickname of France, it means winter for Poland and France. Which of course was a line in the Tony winning the Producers. Sean Logan was the first to get it, followed by Juliet Green, Arthur Robinson, Paul Witty, Tony, Janicki, Josh Israel, Ingrid Gammerman and Brigadude. Okay, this week's question. A Tony winning play opened on a European holiday and closed on an international holiday. What is it?
- [68:58]
Michael Portantier
Okay, if you have an answer for that, email us at traffic trivia@broadrailradio.com, we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, tell us about this week's musical moments.
- [69:09]
James Marino
Well, our opener is the audio from the sizzle reel, I guess you'd call it for Boop. Which will give you a hint of the incredible talent of Jasmine, Amy Rogers, also of the excellent choreography by Jerry Mitchell. And our closer is we wanted to pay tribute to William Finn. So before I announce that, maybe you guys might have a few words to say about him.
- [69:38]
Unknown Speaker
Peter, ironically, something that came up earlier reminded me of this, but I'll tell that story second. The first story I had heard back in 1980 was it that In Trousers was very good at Playwrights Horizons. So I spent the $3 to get in and heard a score that still ranks as one of my all time great. And if there were a desert dial, a disc I have to choose, In Trousers would definitely be it. For those of you who have seen In Trousers subsequently, you may not feel this way because he rewrote it, he changed it, and frankly, he ruined it. But the original production and three of the four people have gone on to be stars. Chip Zine, Mary Tester, and Alison Fraser. That's pretty good. Three out of four. So anyway, I went home and I called each human being I knew who cared about musicals. And when I was through, I called everybody on the west coast because time had passed, they were still up. So to this day, people are still saying, I think of that phone call every time I hear William Phant. I went to interview him once and when I went in, there was an enormous 2 liter bottle of soda on the table. And he said, do you want some? And I said, sure. He said, do you want a glass? I thought, my God, are we going to sweep from the bottle. Yeah. I said, I'd like a glass. Yeah. So he went to the refrigerator, took out a can, and then got the glass. He must have thought I was obviously a feat, that I wouldn't drink from a can, but. But you never know with William Finn. A very strange genius. That's what he was. And certainly we all have our favorite songs from. From him. I will also endorse one, if you don't know, called All Fall down, which came from Romance and Hard Times. America kicks up its heels. There were two different versions, but try to find All Fall down, especially by Alex Corey. A magnificent number number.
- [71:31]
James Marino
Isn't that in a. There was a review of his.
- [71:35]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. Called Make Me A Song.
- [71:37]
James Marino
Is that right?
- [71:38]
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, it's in there. Okay.
- [71:39]
James Marino
I think so, huh? Yeah.
- [71:41]
Unknown Speaker
Try to get Alex Corey's recording. That one's really galvanic. And nothing against the woman who does it in Make Me A Song. I don't even know who it was, but you always fall in love the first time with the one you hear. And Alex Corey really does it. Phenomenal. That's a l. I ex Corey. Right.
- [72:00]
Michael Portantier
So I was lucky enough to play Whizzer in a. In a bunch of productions of Falsettos and. And Bill came to a few of them and he really was. He was really something. First time. First time I did it, he just looked at me, said, too young.
- [72:28]
Unknown Speaker
Which.
- [72:28]
Michael Portantier
Right now is a compliment, I guess.
- [72:30]
Unknown Speaker
Let your youth be a consolation.
- [72:32]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Just such a wonderful, giving, talented man that just.
- [72:43]
James Marino
He.
- [72:44]
Michael Portantier
He brought he. Out of his mind and his fingers and every pore of his being. He produced things that I just loved. I just loved. So, Michael, how about you?
- [72:58]
James Marino
Yeah, I actually, to be honest, was not the biggest fan. But it's interesting. The thing that I would, I guess, criticize about him is apparently something that to him was a badge of honor. And he even said, apparently when he would teach, because he taught and then nyu and he would say something to the effect of sloppy is good. He really seemed to believe that. I guess he felt that if you wrote something and it maybe sounded like it was a first draft and you didn't spend time pouring over it to perfect it in terms of rhymes and also. So where the. Where the beats fall, you know, on the syllables of the. Of the words, that.
- [73:50]
Unknown Speaker
That.
- [73:51]
James Marino
That was better. So I. I guess, you know, it's okay to disagree with that, but that is what he felt that all of that said. Certainly there were some. Many, many wonderful things that he created. And I think we can all agree that Falsettos in one incarnation or another was his masterpiece. So our closer is a video from a video of the Broadway production of Falsettos, which had the incredible cast of Michael Rupert, Stephen Bagardis, Heather McCrae and Carolee Carmelo. And here is a little sample of them singing that beautiful, beautiful song Unlikely Lovers, which I will never forget that moment certainly as long as I live.
- [74:47]
Michael Portantier
So let me throw in here really quickly before we go out. Is that a friend of our, all three of ours, Seth Christianfeld wrote he had Bill Finn as a teacher, I think at nyu. I'm not sure if it was maybe at a BMI or ASCAP workshop or something like that. And he wrote some really clever, he put on Facebook some really clever notes that he took during the class. I'm going to link to them in the show.
- [75:16]
James Marino
Notes, Yes, I read those. Those are great.
- [75:19]
Michael Portantier
All right. So on behalf of Michael Portentier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye bye.
- [75:29]
Unknown Speaker
Bye bye.
- [75:30]
James Marino
Look at us for all the friends.
- [75:33]
Unknown Speaker
For unlike the others we don't know what time we'll bring my life to the friends there we need something sweet to love and we bow and we will.
- [76:47]
There.
- [76:51]
Jesus was that before would.
- [77:20]
And.
- [77:38]
F
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