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This Week on Broadway for January 12, 2025: Gypsy
01:25:51
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Gypsy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum @ Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA, Eureka Day, Julie Halston @ Birdland, 54 Sings Broadway’s Greatest Hits! @ 54 Below,
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- [01:16]
James Marino
Hello and welcome to Broadway Radios this week on Broadway for Sunday, January 12, 2025. My name is James Marino and in the broadcast today we have Peter, Felicia and Michael Portentier. Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new day by day wall calendar, A show tune for today, 366 songs to brighten your year has been released. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and many other places. Hello, Peter.
- [01:45]
Peter Felicia
Hi.
- [01:46]
James Marino
366. But this year is not a leap year. So we get like a bonus. It's like a bonus.
- [01:54]
Peter Felicia
I suppose it is. You know, people kept on saying to me, what are you going to do? February twenty nint. My God. Yeah, but I mean, the Pirates of Pension. Yeah, it wasn't a problem at all.
- [02:06]
James Marino
Oh, and timely because of the pirates, right?
- [02:11]
Peter Felicia
Indeed.
- [02:12]
James Marino
The pirates that's coming up Revisal sort of thing that's going to happen here soon. That's very exciting. And are you a pirate or a pilot or a pirate? Does this happen often? Often.
- [02:29]
Peter Felicia
I was just going to make a joke on that myself. Yeah.
- [02:35]
James Marino
Also with this. Yeah. Also with this is Michael Portendier. Michael's a theater reviewer in SAS TC, founder and editor of castalbumreviews.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 photograph follow spotphoto.com hello, Michael.
- [02:56]
Michael Portantier
Hello, Michael.
- [02:58]
James Marino
I. I meant to ask you, in these cold winter months, do you slow down on your fostering of dogs?
- [03:07]
Michael Portantier
Well, I've got one right now, and guess what her name is.
- [03:10]
James Marino
Oh, it's got to be something west side Story related.
- [03:13]
Michael Portantier
No, but you're close. Keep going. Peter.
- [03:17]
Peter Felicia
Louise. June. Herbie. One more Zappa. Tessitura.
- [03:24]
Michael Portantier
Well. Well, yes, Tulsa.
- [03:27]
James Marino
Tulsa.
- [03:28]
Michael Portantier
But this is a girl. This is a girl, Tulsa. So you. You know, I don't blame you for being thrown off, Peter.
- [03:34]
Peter Felicia
No, but also it ends with an A and many female names do end with A. So. So it's not so far afield.
- [03:41]
Michael Portantier
I introduced her to my neighbor the other night who has a dog. And. And, and he said, what's her name? He said, well, before he knew she was a girl, he said, what's. What's the name? And I said, tulsa. And he said, oh, is he going to run off with Gypsy? And I said, well, this.
- [04:00]
Peter Felicia
What?
- [04:00]
Michael Portantier
This Tulsa is a girl, but could still happen.
- [04:04]
Peter Felicia
Did he say spoiler? June? Yeah. Did he say Gypsy or did he say June?
- [04:08]
Michael Portantier
Oh, no, no.
- [04:11]
Peter Felicia
What did he because that's, after all, who Tulsa runs off with, right?
- [04:17]
Michael Portantier
I. I don't.
- [04:19]
Peter Felicia
Okay. All right.
- [04:20]
James Marino
I think your version, Peter. Yeah.
- [04:23]
Peter Felicia
Okay. And speaking of Gypsy. Huh?
- [04:28]
James Marino
Yeah. Speaking of Gypsy, Michael and I finally got around to seeing Gypsy. Well, we finally got around to seeing this play called Audra. Gypsy. That's what the Marquis says. Marquis says? I don't know. There was no character name Audra in the thing. I don't know. It was weird. So, Michael, what did you think about this newest revival of Gypsy?
- [04:57]
Michael Portantier
I would say I have very mixed feelings, but that said, it's still Gypsy, so I really love being there, and there's certainly enough about it that's great that I think makes it absolutely worth the trip, bearing in mind that it's not going to be, quote, unquote, definitive. And, you know, of course, there would be tremendous disagreement, I'm sure, among many people as to which, if any, of the previous productions were definitive. Those who saw the first one would probably all agree that that was. But I did not. So I can't say I've seen every Broadway product of Gypsy since the first one, but regrettably, not. Just was a little too young for that. And on that note, I want to start actually by quoting a little bit of Jesse Green's review in the New York times. He said, MacDonald, as will be no surprise if you've seen her in full dramatic mode, makes a meal of Rose's ambition and, with a slight Southern drawl, a dessert of her guile on the mama scale, at which one end is appealingly crafty, like Merman, and the other is terrifyingly crazy, like Lansbury, she's. Well, both. Well, I'm sorry, I have to. I have to disagree with that.
- [06:28]
Peter Felicia
I.
- [06:28]
Michael Portantier
You know, I think that Merman's Gypsy was probably Merman's Rose, excuse me, was far more than just appealingly crafty, and that Lansbury's Rose, which I did see in total, was far more than terrifyingly crazy. I mean, any successful performance of Rose has to get across her charm, her humor, her smarts, her love for her daughters, as well as the moments when, Agreed, she is sometimes pretty terrifyingly crazy, and certainly many moments when she's appealingly crafty. So I was surprised that he would make a generalization like that. People do often make generalizations when they're trying to make points, and I. I personally try to avoid it because I think they're almost always going to be incorrect, like, 99 of the time. So that's one thing. Oh, and another odd little phrase In Jesse Green's review is Louise's first ballad. Little Lamb, though wistful, is bleak. And then he writes, it's her birthday and she doesn't know how old she is. Now, for the record, I think she knows how old she is. When she sings I Wonder how old I Am. She is commenting on the fact that she's still treated like a child and that they all have to still act like children, you know, because they still have this act that in which there were supposed to be children. So I hope that's not a misunderstanding on Jesse Green's part. And he thinks that. That she literally doesn't know what her name is anyway. And bringing that up, I might as well start, because I just brought up that song. I might as well start with Joy woods as Louise, who I thought did a beautiful version of Little Lamb. And she is the first person I have seen to sing that song and not get a laugh on the line in question. Every time I've seen any production of Gypsy, when she sings I Wonder how old I am, the audience laughs, sort of like a little nervous laughter kind of a thing. But I'm not sure if that laugh was intended. And somehow Joy woods avoided getting it. And I give her real props for that. Also, interestingly, further evidence that to each their own. After the performance was over, I turned to my friend with whom I attended, and I said I thought that Joy woods was really wonderful before her transformation into Gypsy, but not so much after. And he said, really? I felt exactly the opposite. He said, I felt she was quite flat before the transition. So when you go, you can make your own judgment and maybe write me and let me know what you thought. Where can I start? I'll try to be short because there's so much to say about Gypsy and about this production. Audra's acting is phenomenal, which is absolutely not a surprise. I personally cannot quite adjust to hearing any of those songs sung with what you would call, I guess, a legit soprano sound. I just don't think they were intended to be sung that way by Julie Stein and Stephen Sondheim. And of course, I can't read their minds. But further evidence that they weren't intended to be sung that way is that every previous Broadway Gypsy that I've seen, and in fact, every previous non Broadway Gypsy, has sung the songs in basically what you would call a Broadway alto belt type of voice. So to suddenly say that it can be done with large sexes of it sung in a legit soprano, just because that's where Audra's voice lies. I, you know, I personally don't get that. And, and every time she did switch into her head voice or soprano register, whatever you want to call it, it, it took me out of the show a little bit. And so that's how I judge that as being not a good thing. Many people, I have spoken to many people about this and there seem to be much disagreement with, with many people on either side of that argument. Some people say it sounds fine, doesn't bother them at all. Others say, agree with me that it does sort of take them out of the show and feels a little inappropriate for the score. I think that overall I was not that pleased with the direction of George Wolf. 1. One reason I say that is I felt that a lot of the performances were on different levels in terms of how broad they were or weren't some very broad acting from some of the supporting players and didn't necessarily mesh with the more, the more subtle playing of people like Joy woods and Danny Burstein as Herbie. As far as the changes in the show, you know, how do you judge the changes? It's always great to do something in a new way. And I'm going to just focus on one thing. As an example. In the original Gypsy, there is a famous moment where at the end of the, the Baby June and her newsboys number, there is a strobe effect and the young performers start dancing and facing sideways and doing a. I don't know what the word for that step would be, like a, like a running type of a step. And the strobe comes in and the, you know, we hear an audience applaud. And then brilliantly, during the strobe effect, those young performers are switched with the somewhat older performers who are going to play the older versions of those characters when they're like teenagers or young, young teenagers in the, for the Dainty June and her Farm Boys number. And, and those songs and sequences. So that has always been a, a famous, famous moment in Gypsy created by Jerome Robbins. Here it. There is no strobe. Here. What happens is as that dance begins, Rose comes on stage and we see when it's then supposed to be a transition where 1. She replaces the young black male performers who were playing the newsboys with the older white male performers who are going to play the farm boys. And that. That could have also been done with the strobe effect, but I guess maybe it wouldn't have been as obvious that she was switching the, the black performers with the white ones. And so I guess that's why George Wolf changed it. Or maybe perhaps Camille Brown, the choreographer, also had a hand in that. But ultimately it's. It's not as effective a moment. So I guess something is lost in, you know, if you're going to look at it in a net situation. That's what I felt about that. Let's see. So many notes here. There was. I. I did not like a lot of the reorchestrations and rearrangements of the score. I wasn't sure how much of that there was going to be. The overture is exactly as we know it, although minus that fabulous trumpet wailing in the strip music. For whatever reason, they felt they wanted to cut that out of this production. So that's another loss that everyone is looking forward to. But some of the. Some of the numbers are very, very extensively rearranged and. Or reorchestrated. And I did not like all of them. I also didn't like that a lot of the cast was doing back phrasing of the lyrics in several songs. I don't think that these songs were written for that kind of back phrasing. And I. And I'm gonna. I'm gonna make a generalization here that I'm comfortable with. I think I've always felt that in general, with some exceptions, Broadway songs do not. Are. Are not suited for back phrasing because of the way that they. That they function in. In a show. And as far as storytelling. And some of the more recent songs maybe might be. Be. But I would say the vast majority are not. So that always annoys me when that happens. Little changes. Very little changes in the text or I guess you would call it. There's no Clarence and his clarinet anymore in the first scene. It's a fellow. I forget what they changed his name to. Cletus or something like that. And he has. Instead of a clarinet, he has a kazoo. And I think that was just because it's a lot easier to find a young boy to play kazoo than to play clarinet. And I don't think that hurt the show at all. So that. That was not a problem. What other things that I missed? Louise's yearning for Tulsa in the song All I Need Is, the girl is very, very much played down. And I thought that was a huge, huge mistake. She does indeed sort of dance with him at the end, but he never takes her hand as he does in the original staging. And when he does that bit where he's fantasizing lifting his partner. And originally it was written for Louise to sort of Fantasize her dancing with him at that point. That's not in it either. And the original ends with them dancing together, holding hands. And then Tulsa sort of turns her out, and then she turns in and ends up sitting on his knee. But there's none of that physical contact here, and I really miss that a lot. That said, I thought that Kevin Sulkas, I think that's how you pronounce his name as Tulsa, did a really terrific job. So I just wish that they had given him and Joy woods that moment at the end. Danny Burstein is wonderful throughout the show as Herbie. Somebody wrote. When they heard of his casting, somebody wrote online somewhere. As soon as I read that he was cast as Herbie, I could see in my mind exactly the performance he would give. And I know what they meant by that, because I guess Danny does generally play a sort of. Generally a similar type of character in most of the things he does. And we're all familiar with his body language and his voice and whatever mannerisms he has at this point. I don't think he has many mannerisms, but. But he also is a great actor, and he has the wonderful ability to make the lines sound like he is thinking of them at. Just at the moment before he says them. And for a text as familiar as Gypsy and songs familiar as Gypsy, I think that's an especially great talent. So bravo to him. He's everything I would have hoped for. The baby June is absolutely fabulous. And the one I saw. There are two alternating. And the one I saw. Her name is Marley Gomez. G O M E S. Remember that name. Just wonderful. Just a spark on stage. Really, really, really great. Whereas I thought Dainty June started out well in her song, but then I thought she really, really overacted the scenes, especially the scene in Mr. Gratzger's office. Let's see. I already commented on George Wolf's direction. Louise's strip is a moment, is a scene, a sequence that has, I think, been constantly changed in Gypsy ever since the first production. Some have been more effective than others. I think the most effective one I can remember was the one in the Angela Lansbury version, which added the Garden of Eden section, or at least augmented the Garden of Eden section to include a lot of dialogue, very little dialogue in what has been done here in this revision. And aside from everything else, I don't think that's true to Gypsy Rose Lee, who became famous because of her attitude and her humor, primarily. That's what really set her apart and made her a star. The way she could Sort of laugh at herself while stripping. And there's even a line in this script to that effect. So here. No, here it just a really pretty great, but not very appropriate dance number, sexy dance number for Joy woods and the. And the ensemble. So that, I would say, is another mistake. Let me end by saying that I thought Rose's turn was emblematic of both the greatness and the problems in Audra's performance. I thought the first half of it was absolutely great, but the second half, beginning with why did I do it? What did it get me? To me, was completely out of control. And therefore, I would have to say the worst performance of that part of the number that I've ever seen. I seem to recall Patti LuPone also losing control to a certain extent when I saw her do it. And if you've heard that infamous audio tape where she stops in the middle of Rose's turn and starts yelling at the photographer in the audience. I've always said to people, well, you know, when she starts screaming at that photographer, it's very chilling. But. But even before that, it sounded to me like she was really out of control. Rose is thought of, as some people call it, the Medea of musical theater. And I know what they mean. But it is still a musical and it is still arguably a musical comedy. There's so much comedy in it. I don't think that the style of acting really requires or wants us to see someone actually breaking down and really fully losing it on stage the way you might in a. In a play by, I don't know, Tennessee Williams or David Mamet or someone like that. So I think that was a huge mistake that was made here. Audra actually stops singing when she gets to why did I do it? What did it get me? And she talks almost all of the rest of the song until the end. And when she does start singing again, she's singing in her soprano register, which to me, again, is not really that appropriate for this. This kind of song. So I think she. I think one of the reasons that she starts shouting and screaming rather than singing is because she realizes that where the song lies in her voice, it just wouldn't have the power if she sang it. So I think that's why she made that decision. But to me, it didn't work. And let's see. I think that's about it. I've gone on for a bit now. I'd love to hear James's thoughts. We've already heard Peter's previously. So, James.
- [23:44]
James Marino
So, you know, I'm. I. I this wasn't my favorite show. I felt bored through a lot of it.
- [24:00]
Michael Portantier
Interesting.
- [24:01]
James Marino
And I felt Audra was one note. And by the end, I was done with the show and I have to. And I'm a big, huge fan of Audra. Huge, huge fan of Audra. And. And I kept on wondering what this. What these over the top reviews and the whole entire community freaking out about was. Was about.
- [24:34]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. And on that note, I really thought. I think I made the point. I really thought the last half of Rose's turn was almost a disaster, and yet there was a standing ovation.
- [24:49]
James Marino
Well, that was. The other thing was like, you know, it was like the entire audience, I was like, am I watching the same show as the entire audience here?
- [24:58]
Michael Portantier
Yeah.
- [24:59]
James Marino
So. So I started to think, you know, where am I? You know, what am I missing? Where am I at? And I was thinking, you know, we are eight weeks into this run, you know, and one of those weeks was a wipeout where they basically did one performance. And I'm not sure 100% if Roger was sick or if it was other people in the company that were sick or what was. What was happening there. But certainly, you know, in the. In the NFL or in the baseball playoffs, those teams that have those rest periods often come back very rusty. And so, Peter, you saw it before they went out, right? Right. Did Audra do the soprano thing or did she mix? I was wondering if she was not belting because she was not well or not in shape or having that week off or things like that or, you know.
- [26:04]
Peter Felicia
No, she used the soprano.
- [26:05]
James Marino
Yes, indeed, she used the soprano because that really graded on me as well, Michael.
- [26:12]
Michael Portantier
And there are even. Yeah, I never doubted that she sings it that way all the time. And there are even modulations within songs. Yeah. The one that seems to bother everyone, and I certainly agree, is the one in Everything's Coming Up Roses towards the end. Every accommodation has been made to, you know, have her sing it where it's right for her. But it's like, to me, it's like, you know, you know how much I love Julie Andrews, but what I would have wanted to see her play Rose. Yeah, you know, I don't think so.
- [26:51]
James Marino
I did a quick check. I think there's going to be a cast recording of this. Do you know if they've made an announcement?
- [26:58]
Michael Portantier
Yes, I read one somewhere.
- [27:00]
James Marino
So we'll get to see. I'm sure that Audra's not gonna allow a cash recording to go out. That is not what she intends it to be. So it's Interesting that the show.
- [27:15]
Michael Portantier
I heard just as recently as yesterday that it is on tdf, so it's not.
- [27:21]
James Marino
Well, it is January and it is brutally cold here in New York.
- [27:25]
Peter Felicia
Yes, it sure is.
- [27:27]
Michael Portantier
Yes, that is. Both of those things are true, so.
- [27:31]
James Marino
Well, we'll see. I. You know, again, you know, Wicked has had a $5 million week.
- [27:42]
Michael Portantier
Right. And it's still cold and it's still January.
- [27:46]
James Marino
Yeah. Gypsy is doing. Did 1.8 million last week. Well, basically sold out. Yeah. Yeah. Did 1.8 million last week. But my point is, is that the. These things are doing really well. And I was embarrassed about the sets. I thought the sets were horrendous.
- [28:07]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Other people said that it did not bother me.
- [28:12]
James Marino
I thought I was watching summer stock, I guess.
- [28:15]
Michael Portantier
I guess I just don't think they're that important.
- [28:17]
James Marino
No, not important. But I think that absolutely, if you are. If you are charging these. These rates to see shows, then they, you know, something should be there. But, you know, if you're gonna spend a dollar on a set or a dollar on Tulsa, spend a dollar on Tulsa. You know, I mean, I thought the cast was amazing, and I am a huge, huge fan of Audra, of course, but I. This show was just not my favorite.
- [28:55]
Michael Portantier
Well, I think the fact that everyone, myself and you included, love her so much, that contributes to the divisiveness. And people are really, really being. If someone loves her in it and you demur, they're going to get very angry at you.
- [29:17]
James Marino
Yeah. I can't say enough about Camille A. Brown's choreography, I thought, was just amazing. I'm not so much a person that compares previous productions to current productions and things like that, so I know exactly what you're saying about the transition scene with the flashes. And Steve Bell in our chat room says those are called trenches.
- [29:42]
Michael Portantier
Trenches. Thank you, Steve. Yeah.
- [29:46]
James Marino
And. And the funny thing is that you're saying about Danny Burstein is that my wife, who has seen Danny in a million things, and every time she sees Danny, she's like, I love that guy. Who is that? And I'm like, that's Danny Burst.
- [30:03]
Michael Portantier
What a tribute to him.
- [30:05]
James Marino
Yeah, no, absolutely. I. You know, Cheryl Hodgeselden in our chat room also said that Danny had her until tears in his final scene. And I. I did, too. I thought Danny's acting in the. In the transition of Herbie from the beginning to the end of the show was just an amazing journey. And I felt for him, too.
- [30:26]
Michael Portantier
I also would say I. I felt that he and Audra had a tremendous Amount of chemistry and, and I felt more of a romantic sexual bond between the two of them than any two previous that I can think of.
- [30:43]
James Marino
I think the younger performers were like stars to be. I think all of the younger performers really nailed it. I loved it. I loved that part of it. Maybe it's just the underlying property. Maybe it's just I, you know, one of the people say, say to me how, you know, how do you, you know, how do you know if a director is good or not? And I said, it's hard. It's really, really hard. But when you go through a show and you're like, I just can't put my finger on it. Didn't work for me. It's usually the direction.
- [31:21]
Michael Portantier
Yeah.
- [31:23]
James Marino
So we'll. I'll leave it there for everybody.
- [31:27]
Michael Portantier
Oh, I wanted to mention, because I think I mispronounced his name and he was so great. So I don't want to do that. It's Kevin Solak, C S O L A K. And if that name sounds familiar, he was in the Spielberg west side Story, featured in, I believe, the Officer Krupke number. But I mean, you know, he's one of the jets, so he's in all of those numbers. So he's pretty young and I thought he was a great Tulsa.
- [31:58]
James Marino
The last thing is unrelated to the show on stage itself, but for the future of the show. The. If you look at the billing page, I've never seen a typeface so large in comparison to the other things, which is all a negotiated contract thing. You know, my. My name shall be 100% of the typeface of Audra's name is like 150% of the title of the show. And, and that tells me I'm going to put it in the show notes, I'm going to put a copy of it in the show notes so that people can take a look at it. But the last time I saw something like this was like Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard, the original production, and they ran into a problem where they were like, Glenn Close was such the show that replacing Glenn Close became a problem. And obviously Audrey's not going to do this for ever and ever. And. But they'll have to run this for years and years to repay the investment in it. So who did they replace Audrey with? So think about that.
- [33:15]
Michael Portantier
You know, on that note, I, I noticed that the front cover of the playbill, it only says Gypsy. And that led me to. Is there like sort of a rule that unless the star is. The name is actually part of the Title like Hugh Jackman on Broadway. Is there maybe like a rule that a star's name can't be on the.
- [33:39]
James Marino
COVID I don't know if there's a rule. I think it's all negotiated in a contract.
- [33:44]
Michael Portantier
I'm going to have to look back and see. Peter, does it strike you I have no idea? Yeah. Yeah. All right.
- [33:51]
James Marino
So. All right, so that's Gypsy now and Forever at the. At the Majestic. And the Majestic. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Just the, Just the refurbishment of the Majestic is just amazing. So, all right, so Peter, you were. You were in Arlington, Virginia at the Signature Theater where you saw a funny thing happen on the way to the Forum. So tell us about that.
- [34:21]
Peter Felicia
This. Well, the reason I went is because of Erin Weaver, who I saw many, many times at Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey. And she was sensational there. And here she is playing sudalis. Now, there is a history of a woman playing sudalist because of course, Whoopi Goldberg took over in that famous Nathan Lane production way back when. So this was not as bizarre as it might sound. But. But I, while watching this production, I had two significant observations. I insist they're significant. One, it's funny that we always hear that the person playing Pseudoist fools around with the material. And that happens because Ira Mostel, the original pseudo list, fooled around with the material as time went on and it's sort of gave license to. For sudalises to do that suit alive. Anyway. So it's funny that 0Mostell also was in Fiddler on the Roof and there he had a sequence where when things got really serious with his third daughter wanting to get involved with a Christian, he talks about what is happening to the tradition. One little time I pulled out a thread and where has it led? Where has it led? Well, what's happened is with Funny Thing is that now others in the cast have taken liberties and directors have taken liberties with material. So there were a lot of anachronisms in this production. There was a reference to cvs, the store, you know, so. Which I guarantee you was not happening in ancient Rome. But anyway, so you really do get a very long show as a result of all these ad libs and quips and what have you. Now, the other point I want to make is something that Stephen Sondheim himself said at the ASCAP workshop one night when he talked about vulgarity. And he said, vulgarity is a good thing. Don't be afraid to be vulgar. Well, in this production they haven't been afraid at all. So the Director Matthew Gardner certainly allowed a great deal or encouraged a great deal of vulgarity. There's a scene with Millais Gloriosis, the vain, glorious soldier captain uses his sword to indicate that he has an erect penis. The talk about the plague. There's a plague in Crete, allegedly. Well, there isn't really. But anyway, the way Aaron Weaver describes that plague is certainly vulgar as well. But, you know, one never knows what a creator would think of a work when it's replicated in a different way. But I'm going to guess that Sondheim would have approved this production because if indeed he was sincere when he talked about vulgarity as a good thing, then he would have really responded Here. Now, funny thing about Funny Thing, and that is the fact that the famous story about the opening number Love Is in the Air, was not the right number. And Jerome Robbins said, you got to let people know it's a comed. Hence we got Comedy Tonight, one of the great opening numbers of all time, no question. But I've always been so amazed about the overture, the funny thing, because after all, the overture is very conventional. You have the flourish of the notes from Free, but then you're going love, I hear, you know, the. And in those days, in the 60s especially, it wasn't long before you essentially said, here is the big romantic ballad in the show. And, you know, this would set up the fact that it's going to be a conventional musical comedy as opposed to a knock about farce, which is indeed what it was. And what indeed. Plautus, the original playwright on whom these. This script was based on many of his plays, not just one. So. And then you get Lovely, which has done this, a samba. It's just such a strange orchestration. So it takes a while before you get to Free, which is a comic number. But. So I always thought that for all the talk about setting the table incorrectly with Love Is in the Air, I think the overture gets the show off to a very strange start, too. And frankly, if I were directing a production of Funny Thing, I would drop the overture. Comedy Tonight is just so wonderful that you don't really need it. Okay, so out comes Erin Weaver as Sudalus, and I'm telling you, energetic grabs this role, certainly tremendous in doing so. The cast comes out, and by the way, she plays Medea, later this week is said to Domina, which makes a lot of sense, but as originally written, it was really Gymnasia, another courtesan who was referred to as playing Medea, later this week. But I always think of Certainly Domina being more apt for Medea. But anyway, so, you know, I. I have to say that the emotion. The emotion that Erin Weaver put in Free about wanting to be free was phenomenal. Phenomenal. And she really made you care tremendously about her situation. In comparison, everybody else I've ever seen was perfunctory. So that was really great. Now, of course, when we have the scene where Sudalis and Hero go to Marcus Lycus to. To get him with Philia, the girl that he's seen from afar, that he's fallen in love with at first sight. There is a problem there when you have a woman doing it because after all, she's supposed to be the one who's buying the. The courtesan. So here it's a little fudged, and it seems like she's buying the courtesan for him. Well, why she would spend her money on him is a problem. But neverth we go with it. The Gemini are men. They're not female impersonators. They are men. But of course, this is ancient Rome when homosexuality was par for the course. So I don't think that's a problem at all. At all. By the way, halfway through the show, I said, boy, this Aaron Weaver would make such a Peter Pan. I don't know if she's played it either in the play version or a musical version, but somebody do Peter Pan for this lady. I mean, she is ideal for it. One of the smartest directorial choices here was the way the Philia was drawn. Now, usually she's a cipher, and that's part of the point that she is somebody who is very bland and doesn't know anything about herself. But here she was very awkward in expressing sexuality, and you could tell. And it makes sense that courtesans would be trained, that she would be trained to be sexual. She's lousy at it, purposely. Don't misunderstand that. What I mean is the actress was lousy. What I mean is the way she blinks, the way she tries to come across, the way she's moving her arms, the way she's saying, come get me. Yes, I'm doing my job. This is what I've been trained. Was a very, very, very, very smart thing. Also very smart in. And lovely. When he talks about Helen and her. When Heroes talks about Helen and her thousand ships, Philly looked say, what are you talking. I don't know what you mean. That makes sense too, you know, So I thought that was terr. Back to the vulgarity. Many might have been a little Grossed out by the fact that at one point Philia blows her nose into a handkerchief and gives it to Hero, who embraces this handkerchief in which we have just had some bodily fluid put in, but that's how much in love he is. But anyway, you have to think that Erin Weaver did not listen to the cast album. Maybe she did, but I'm telling you, her choices were nothing like anything that you've heard from Zero Mostel, Frankie Howard, if you know the London album on Nathan Lane. So I thought that was really terrific too. There was one moment that was so subtle, so subtle. Here I am talking about vulgarity and, you know, over the top type stuff. But there's a scene where Sudalus comes back and at that point, Philia, believing that Senex, the old man is the captain, is embracing him. And there's a throwaway line which she says to the audience. I'm talking about, Sudala says to the audience, looks more and more like his father every day because she assumes it's Hero. Okay? So suddenly Senex turns around and she says, sir, you're back. And to which he says, yeah, she almost broke it. And it was so interesting to see Erin Weaver saying, you've returned. As if to say, you should have known what I meant. I mean, yeah. And it really brought into focus the type of thing that we always hear from Moliere. The servants are smart people. They have street smarts because they have to deal with real life situations every day while rarefied. People with the money and the power just don't have common sense. And I'm telling you, it was a slight moment, but it was really, really terrific. I don't remember. I don't know if either of you do. I mean, suddenly that Nathan Lane, almost 30 years ago, but nevertheless, I don't know if the term eunuch was not used in that production because it wasn't used here. Yes, Courtesans in Eunuch in the opening number. Yes, but Servant was used. There's a line in which Marcus Leiker says to a eunuch, you'll be a eunuch all your life. Which of course is something that would have to happen if you're a eunuch. But the thing is, that line was dropped. And every time there was talk about hysteria being a eunuch, it was Servant. So. But I, you know, it had a familiar ring to me and I'm not sure if it was done. Nathan Lane production but. But anyway, this was a very overtly sexual production. There was plenty of feeling up of nipples and groins and what have you? So there's no question that it was low comedy, but, boy, was it flying high because of Aaron Weaver. Now, let me also point out that today, when I took out my playbill, in which I wrote notes, outfalls and understudies. At this performance, the role of Hysterium, usually played by Mike Millen, will be played by Harrison Smith. You'd never know it. My God, was he prepared? I don't know. For all I know, Mike Millen has been out for weeks. I don't know. But nevertheless, what a great performance as Hysterium. Everybody was great, though there was not one weak link in the cast. And I mean, especially, I really was tremendously taken with Lawrence Redmond as Lycus, who, by the way, sort of looks like an older Mark Lynn Baker, who, ironically enough, was cesarean in that Nathan Lane production. But they were all quite wonderful. And it was so great to see everybody respond to Sherry L. Edelin, who played Erroneous. Now, you may recall that Erroneous is told by Sudalus that he has to go around Rome seven times to break the curse. And in doing so, every now and then he shows up and says, first time around, second time around, third time. And it's a wonderful moment. I swear. I swear, though, when I saw the original production in 1962, that Raymond Wilburn, playing Erroneous, zoomed across the stage very, very quickly. It's never been done that way since. And it makes sense that it would be slow, but there was something wonderful about seeing him zoom across the stage for a second and everybody's saying, what the hell was that? And then remembering, you know, and here you don't get the chance to have that experience. And again, I've never seen it done that way. And it makes sense around. This is an old guy, so indeed, he wouldn't be able to put on the speed. But there are assets and liabilities to both choices. So, anyway, so terrific work from everybody. It's only lasting one more week. But I wish you would come here. I wish Aaron Weaver would come here. Why aren't you in New York? Nothing wrong with the regions, of course. And enough listeners have heard me say over the years about how great regional theater is, community theater is. But. But we need to see Aaron Weaver here, and maybe that'll be the next Peter Pan. And if she's going to do Peter Pan, do the new one by Druin Stiles. I am telling you, that is a great Peter Pan written by the guys who wrote the extra songs to Mary Poppins and wrote Honk, a musical that hasn't been seen in New York either. But I'm telling you, the. The new Peter Pan is so sensational. And I want Aaron Weaver to do it sooner rather than later. Later.
- [47:32]
James Marino
So Aaron was in the national company of Les Miserables. She's also done regional theater in California, the Arden Theater Company, Two River Theater here in Jersey, People's Light Theater.
- [47:46]
Peter Felicia
Oh, yeah, she's been around. No question. She's tremendous. I don't know. Did I mention. I. I forget who I talked to? Did I mention that the time I went down to see Ragtime at a high school. School in. Yeah, yeah. Her father is the one who directed that. So that terrific production of Ragtime in a high school in Southern New Jersey. So. So she comes from a lineage of. Of great, great worth. So that's part of one of the reasons why she's so sensational, because she had a father who was so sensational.
- [48:21]
James Marino
So I'm not sure which is correct here, but on the Signature website, it says today is the last performance. I don't know if they have a week left or if they didn't update their website or if they extended. This is January 12th is the last.
- [48:36]
Peter Felicia
I thought they had a week left, frankly. That's what I was led to believe. So, anyway.
- [48:42]
James Marino
All right, so we'll have a link to it in the show notes. And that's a funny thing happened all the way to the Forum at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia. Yeah. Earlier this week, I get over to Eureka Day Day, very late in the run. Michael and Peter have talked about it. In fact, not sure Peter has talked about it on the show. We couldn't figure that out. But I was. I was very lucky to see an understudy named Joe Carroll who understudied Thomas Middleditch and. And the press reps, you know, called me up a couple of hours before the show and said, oh, Thomas is out of the show. He's gonna have an understudy. Why don't you reschedule? And I said, no, no, no, let me come see it. It's been extended through February 16th. So I'm not sure in the next month I would have been able to get back to it. So I went to go see it. Eureka Day, as Michael and Peter have talked about previously, is about a private day school where they run the school by consensus and very politically correct parents and very liberal parents in this private school in California. And all the problems that come up when you run things by consensus and try to be politically correct, direct, and inclusive. And it's very, very funny at times. And the thing to point out here that that again, as Peter just said, with the understudy for Forum, you would have thought that Joe Carroll was in this role. From the first preview, he was just really, really wonderful, as was the rest of the cast. And so get over to Eureka Day at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater. It's extended through February 16th. Michael, you were over at Birdland to see Julie Halston. So tell us about this.
- [51:01]
Michael Portantier
Yeah, I saw two great cabaret shows this week, so maybe I can talk about both of them. Julie Halston was at Birdland in a show called Julie Halston Takes the Q Train. And you might have wondered what that was all about, but she explained it kind of early on. It's because she is currently dating someone who lives in Brooklyn, and apparently it's going really, really well. I would say it progressed beyond dating, and I would say that they're a couple now, and they seem really, really happy. So that was the title to draw us in with an intriguing title, but it was. Is an hour of just brilliant comedy from a true comic genius. I've used that word a few times recently to describe people like Jennifer Simard and a few other select individuals. And. But I do think it applies. It absolutely applies to Jennifer and to Julie. Just their timing is so perfect, so right on. Their ability to use comic inflections to inflect words in a way that just make you laugh, their storytelling ability. And. Well, I mean, I know Jennifer, you know, for her work in shows where she's playing a character and reading scripted lines. Julie writes her own material for these shows and seems to be as talented as a writer as she is as a comedian in delivering the lines. But also, much of her material is drawn from real life, and she makes that point repeatedly. And she has to, because, for example, one of her shticks is that usually each of her shows features her features, her reading a wedding announcement from the New York Times or wherever, and they are all absolutely 100% legit wedding announcements that have appeared in those publications. But if you didn't know they were real, you would think she would have had to make them up. And she's been doing this for decades and different types of weddings, but this particular one happened to be about the gayest wedding you've ever. You've ever heard in your life. And after she finished reading every. Every line of it and the audience was doubled over, when she got to the end of it, she, you know, the. The the final pronouncement was, how gay is that? You know, it was just, just, just amazing. She did a fantastic section in this show about rude things that people have said to her face during her career. Wow. And you wouldn't believe it. She swears, she swears they're true. And I'm sure she's correct. One of them, appropriately, was that Julie played Elektra in the Bernadette Peters production of Gypsy. And she tells a story that she was sitting in the audition room with a lot of other women, presumably many of them considerably younger than herself. And one of the women said to her, you're auditioning for one of the strippers. I guess they're considering all age groups. So. And then that led into maybe the most brilliant section in the whole show. Julie gave us a 10 minute gypsy. She, she said, you know, it's. We all love Gypsy. It's on Broadway now with Audra McDonald and it's great. I could get you in and out in 10 minutes. And so she did it and she started with, Let me entertain you. Sing out, Louise. Anybody who stays home is dead. Some people can get it through. And she went through and she went for a while. She goes, and that's act one, act two. And then she did act two. And, and then at the end of it she said, you know, and that's it, that's. That's my Gypsy. And. And so the audience went absolutely nuts. She also did a, just a brief moment of, of, of her impression of little Edie from Gray Gardens as Lady Macbeth. And it was, I can't do it. But it's like, is this a, Is this a spot?
- [56:04]
Peter Felicia
Is this a spot for me?
- [56:06]
Michael Portantier
Oh, oh, is this a spot? Oh, just, just, just brilliant. And she ended with one of her famous bits is throughout her career in shows like this, she has read letters to an Landers or Dear Abby. And this one was an An Lander letter that was not to be believed. Now that's a little bit different because many people, I know, many people always felt that some or all of those letters were made up. So it's not real life in the sense of the wedding announcements, but it still was absolute comical. And it was a packed show, including a lot of stars. Charles Bush, Julie's mentor, was there. Christine Ebersol was there, which was really great when she did the little Edie bit. Andrew Rannells, T.R. knight, Mary Louise Burke, Jonathan DeCucic, Barry Brown, the producer, many others I can't remember and I don't have time to name, but Also several people from the cast of Our Town, in which Julie is now starring, appearing, including Jim Parsons and Richard Thomas, because the show was on a Monday night, so it was the dark night for Our Town. And on that note, to end my report on Julie, one of the funniest things this. She related how. And again, this is completely true. As part of the rehearsal process, the director, Kenny Leon, insisted on bringing the entire cast to. I believe she said it was Peterborough, New Hampshire, on a bus trip to get a feeling of the type of town where Our Town is set. And Julie, first of all, set it up and she said she, you know, she made it clear that it was a bus and she made it clear that Peterborough, New Hampshire is pretty far away and that we went there and back in the same day. So, you know, she was maybe half joking about being a little upset about that fact. But what struck me, and she didn't make this point certainly, is that even if you love this production of Our Town, I think it's absolutely not in any way about trying to recreate, create a realistic portrait of people in that town at that time. In fact, it's the polar opposite. The decision of this production that the Kenny Leon made was to show the diversity. Well, to cast the play completely diverse in terms of everything, age, race, ethnicity. To show the universality of. Of the play written by Thornton Wilder, which, as I've said, I think was a huge mistake. But regardless, that was his decision. So how ironic that this of all productions, he would have felt it necessary to bring these people on a bus to Peterborough, New Hampshire. I mean, I could see a director doing that if he wanted to do an ultra traditional production of Our Town with everyone seeming like they really were in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire in the early 1900s. So that strike me as very, very ironic and funny. And my other cabaret show this week, which I saw just last night, was 54 Sings, Broadway's greatest hits, Scott Siegel's show at 54 Below. And this was, he said, the 152nd performance edition of that show. That particular series. He. I want to mention, first of all, he had a fabulous new musical director, pianist, very young, un, Incredibly talented, by the name of Mark T. Evans. So, Right, that. That's another name for you to write down, folks. It's so. It's not easy to find people who are so. So attuned with and. And so talented at playing any, you know, every conceivable kind of Broadway song you would ever want to hear, and especially younger people. So, Scott, you know, I mean, has his favorites that he uses frequently at the piano, but it's always a gift to find a. A new one as talented as this one. So, Mark T. Evans, write that name down. It was a wonderful show with a great cast, and as is typical, it really ran the gamut of songs from very old shows. Two very, very recent ones. John Easterlin, the wonderful operatic type singer whose credits include the opera singer role in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. He opened it with the song Is you Jerome Kern. Then we had, let's see, we had Savannah Frazier doing simple little things from 110 in the shade. William Ryle, who do you guys know William Ryle?
- [61:35]
Peter Felicia
Yeah. Indeed.
- [61:36]
Michael Portantier
Yeah. Who turns. Who turns out to be another of my neighbors. And he is going to do his own show coming up soon after not doing. I'm not sure if it's his first ever cabaret show, but he's been away, you know, from doing that kind of stuff for a while. So it's going to be great to have him back in his own show. But in the meantime, last night he did a beautiful rendition of if Ever I would Leave you, Ben Jones, one of my personal favorites. I've grown accustomed to her face. Oh. John Easterlin also sang she wasn't you from Once from On a clear Day you can see Forever, which Scott Siegel correctly identified as not the most famous song from the show, but one of the most beautiful. That fabulous trio. Moipe the triplets from Kenya did Anything Goes in a phenomenal arrangement. And a beautiful young woman named Talitha McDougal Jones sang Bill from Showboat. William Michaels did Where's the Girl From Scarlet Pimpernel. Savannah Frazier came back and did Mr. Snow from Carousel. Let's see. Oh, Bill. William Ryle did what is going to be the title song of his solo show, and it was why Can't I Walk Away from Maggie Flynn. Ben Jones did a song from a show that is a current show, a very current show that is certainly not one of my favorites. But he made a case for the song for her from the Great Gatsby. And William Michaels was sort of in the cleanup spot with Music of the Night from Phantom. And then Moi Pei ended the show with an even more phenomenal arrangement of Tomorrow from Annie. I don't remember who does their arrangements. I think maybe it's their father. I forgot to look that up. Whoever does their arrangements, they're just top drawer and they are incredible talents in their own right. So I really love the evening. I love the fact that such a Broad section of music from how many years of Broadway is that? 80, you know, was represented. And it's a great series and, and you know, Scott is always doing them, so keep your eye out. The next one is January 25th and we'll have some of the same people in as in the show, including Moi, Pei and Johnny so Easterlin. And then there's another one on February 22nd and March 15th and March 29th. I think they're generally 2 per month at 54 below. So check it out.
- [64:41]
James Marino
Okay, so we'll have a link in this, in the show notes for that. And Peter, you picked up Dan Elish. Is that Eilish or Elish?
- [64:55]
Peter Felicia
I think it's Elish.
- [64:56]
James Marino
Yeah, Elish. Dan Elish, King of Broadway book. So tell us about it.
- [65:01]
Peter Felicia
Oh, how many books do you really read in one sitting? I picked it up, granted, I took a break to get something to nibble on and granted I went to, as they say in 1776, the necessary. But I'm telling you, I sat down in the afternoon and I did not stop. 243 pages and I was through to continue reading it. This is a story of a young man who's essentially in the BMI workshop. It's called the AMI Workshop. And he dares to write a letter to an 85 year old legend, but composer, lyricist, but somebody who hasn't had a hit in 15 years and hasn't tried to have a hit in 15 years. But out of the blue he writes him a letter saying, would you do a musical version of my children's book? And he's greeted very gruffly by the guy. The guy sees him, but he's gruff with him and he says no, out of the question, I'm not going to do it. Ironically enough, it turns out that his pet dog will turn out to be very influential in his changing his mind. So indeed, Horatio King, which is why the book is called King of Broadway, will indeed collaborate with our young man. And it's going to be quite a thing when we find that Ben Willis, 25 years old, 60 years younger, has to deal with this legend and all the problems you would have dealing with a guy who both has had tremendous experience and eight Tony Awards, that's established. You're cowed by him. And yet has he lost a step? Has he lost more than one step? Is he always right when you argue with him? Do you dare argue or must you argue? Can you argue? All these things come into play. I'll tell you the having been in the BMI Workshop. I can tell you that the way that Dan Elish describes the BMI workshop is quite, quite accurate. But more to the point, I will admit also that I never saw an explosion like you'll see in this book of what happens at one meeting at the BMI workshop. And it's very clever the way he establishes that Horatio King and the head of this workshop up indeed used to know each other. And I'm using a euphemism there. So now Dan Elish is also hypercritical of so many reimaginations of shows. I don't know if he's seen the Sunset Boulevard, but if he has, I'm guessing he doesn't like it because indeed, there are so many instances of directors fooling around with material and changing things and thinking they have the most brilliant ideas and changing them. For example, this is just one of many. I bet there are two dozen, maybe three dozen in the book of ridiculous ways of looking at musicals that Maria sings My Favorite Things to prostitutes. Okay, so that's a brilliant idea that the director had. So it's funny. There's a reference to a song called It's Only One Date that is written. And I will tell you that the inspiration for that comes from Dan Elish's musical with Douglas Cohen that was so good and so underrated. The Evolution of Man done at the Chain Theater. I'm sorry, the. Oh, the Cell Theater. Yes, the cell Theater on 23rd Street. A magnificent musical. And the song about It's Only a First Date and a song that came at the end were so magnificent. The best material I'd heard in years and years and years and years. The book is somewhat dated in the sense that he talks about. Will people pay $150 a seat to see this on Broadway? What's that now? The second balcony? I don. So he also envisions that somebody is writing a musical version of 17. Excuse me. Given the fact that this is the guy who wrote 13, we have a musical version of Seventeen. No, not the magazine. Not the magazine for which, by the way, I don't know if you know this. I used to be an advice columnist. Any women who have any leftover problems from their adolescence, please get in touch with me. I have all the answers. Anyway, so no, A musical version of Stalag 17, which is a wartime, very serious drama. So it's also fun to see that Ben fantasizes that if he had children, he would name them George, Richard, Dorothy, Oscar, and Carolyn. Now, George is clearly Gershwin. Richard is clearly Rogers. Dorothy is clearly Fields. Oscar is clearly Hammerstein, but how nice to see Carolyn representing. Carolyn Lee, a terrific lyricist who didn't work nearly as much as or didn't get shows on as much as she would hope. She did a musical version of the great Cassidy, too, and Juliet of the Spirits, the Fellini movie. But it was nice to see Carolyn Lee because she was top notch when she worked. She was really, really great. So, so that's something a musical version of Lolita he mentions. And of course, many of us know that there was a musical version of Lolita that closed out of town. Anyway, any book that stresses perfect rhymes and teaches theatrical savvy is certainly going to be aces with me, and I really respected that. But what a smooth read. Now the book is available on Amazon. Only a few copies left, by the way, folks, so get to them quickly. But it's going to be on other sites as time goes on, and it will be in fine bookstores everywhere, I'm told, if you can find a fine bookstore anywhere. But that's another story. But anyway, King of Broadway is just a delight from start to finish, and I was very glad that my start to finish was accomplished in so short a time because I have so many other books to read that I've promised people. But nevertheless, this one came to the fore and really deserved to be read and savored. And I'm gonna do it again. So there.
- [71:02]
James Marino
Peter Are you someone who can read multiple books at a time, or do you need to finish a book before you start the next one?
- [71:09]
Peter Felicia
I do do multiple books, but mostly because I rarely read fiction. I'm much more interested in books that deal with the history of Broadway. Or I'll tell you what I'm doing right now. And this is the first time I've mentioned this, but I do want to mention this William Goldman book, the Season. Years ago, I asked an editor if I could compare that season with what happened in the 50 years. And he and I started talking. I said, you know, really? I mean, there was a time when there were run of the play contracts. And I mean, there was that 63, 64 season when we had Carol Burnett and Barbra Streisand and Julie Harris and Robert Preston, Mary Martin, Olympia Dukakis, Peter Falk, Carol Burnett. I mean, I went on and he says, that's the season you should write about. And that's how the book the Great Parade happened, which was the look of the 63, 64 season. But what I'm doing now, I was looking for an extra copy of the season by Goldman because mine is tattered and torn. And ironically enough, a friend of Linda's picked one up at a garage sale for 25 cents and it's in perfect condition. So what I'm doing with my old one is I'm taking notes in margin with different color flare pens and every page is going to be a comment or 2 or 7 or 12 on what has changed. And what I'm going to do is put this up for auction for the Theater World Awards. And when I'm done, I'm going to certainly make that happen. And anybody who wants to buy this book will be able to bid on it. It may only get a quarter that the other book cut if the garage sale, but I want to try to do that. And all proceeds will go to the Theater World Awards to make sure that they keep going. And so that spending my spare time doing now taking notes on the season. So. But yes, I am reading other books at the same time and Stuart Lane sent me his book on the Palace Theater, a coffee table book. It just arrived last night when I came home from Virginia, there it was. So that's going to be one I'm going to be delving into shortly as well. So, yeah, a lot of. A lot of the same time. It's fun to go from here to there.
- [73:19]
James Marino
All right. And finally this morning you were over 54 below to see High Spirits, a 60th anniversary concert of an improbable musical.
- [73:28]
Peter Felicia
Comedy closer to 61. I saw it on February 28, 1964 at the Colonial in Boston. And it was a wonderful experience. And it was a wonderful experience. At 54 below. Walter Willison played Charles Condamine and Ann Kittredge played his second wife, Ruth, while indeed, Christine Andreas played his first wife, Elvira. Now, the irony is this is one of the rare times when I saw the musical version version of a play before I saw the play, so it was brand new to me. I didn't know anything about Noah Cowan's Blythe Spirit. And I have to say that the adapters, you, Martin and Timothy Gray did sensational work. And here is exhibit A in Blightsburg is a quick reference to the fact that Elvira, who's dead and has come back as a ghost as a result of a seance that Madame Arcadi has conducted, made a quick reference to knowing Genghis Khan on and I am telling you, Martin and Gray ran with this and wrote one of the great 11 o'clock numbers of all time, Home Sweet Heaven, in which she talks about the Various people she misses in heaven. Joan of Arcs, the type who sparks the dullest party. And I will tell you, Tammy Grimes, the original Elvira got the one of the biggest laughs I've ever heard in my life when she sang the Duke of Prussia, I call him Freddie is living by mistake with Mary Baker Eddie. Notice the rhyme in between. And who was the head of the Christian Science Church, which was headquartered in Boston. So no wonder it got such a laugh there. Anyway, Christina Andreas did a tremendous justice. She was fetching and wonderful. Also somebody who never looks a day older every time I see her. And Anne Kittredge was wonderful. You know, High Spirits gets off to a very odd start because it starts with a ballad after a book scene. And it makes sense that Ruth would say, was she prettier than I Thinking of the first wife. You always do think about the person who came before you. It's a logical thing. They get show off to a kind of slow start. And one of the problems too is that Home Sweet Seven really isn't an 11 o'clock number, it's a 10 o'clock number. There is still time to go and there's nothing that tops it. So that's a problem as well. Now that I think is really the reason why High Spirits has never had the. The great success that indeed the other musicals of that season had, which indee included hello Dolly and Funny Girl. And so. So I do understand why it was not a smash hit. However, it is quality work and I am telling you, even down to the smallest lyric where Charles sings 12 Vera I'm drawn to you but I'm on to you. What a great couplet. I mean that is just. And this. The score is full of things like that would High Spirit. Every year people talk about encore should do High Spirits. And of course it should. And it's amazing it hasn't because it's a show. You don't need much of a cast, ironically enough. I mean, it was really blown up in the original production. It wasn't needed to be as big as it was because you had scenes where Madame Arcadi would be with her acolytes and singing go into your trance. I think that Madame Marcati should sing go into your trance when she is at the Condamine home early in the show. It'd be nice to have that number there. I made that suggestion you Martin found out about it, called me up out of the blue and said, you're absolutely right. I mean it was amazing to have that happen. But he did so as a result, I have to say that High Spirits with a little Retooling might be a more successful show. I don't know if it would be a successful show on Broadway because it does have the type of music and lyrics that are currently out of vogue, I'm sorry to say, but it is quality work. But to watch these people do it so much justice was just so great to see and the audience was over the moon about it. So a tremendous time was had by all. And I really do. I am very grateful to have been there at 54 below to see a show at below that was quite high.
- [77:35]
James Marino
All right, so that wraps it up for today. 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 there's a new episode of this Week on on Broadway, it'll be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to get us in Apple Podcasts. There's many ways to get us. One way is Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio. That way you can not only get us earlier than everybody else, but also support all the Broadway radio shows. One of the extras that Patreon supporters got was Jan Simpson's all the Drawers drama, which was this month the Kentucky cycle, the 1992 winner for the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Patreon listeners got it a week earlier and it is now available to the general public. Contact information for Peter for Michael and Me can be found in the show notes@broadwayradio.com as well as links to some of the things we've talked about today. So, Peter, do you have an answer to last week's brain teaser?
- [78:40]
Peter Felicia
Audiences first heard this song on West 46th street in the 70s 70s. It starts with nonsense syllables, then goes into patter with music playing underneath. The first sung word gives you 25% of the song's title, the second sung line gives you 50, the third 75, and the fourth gives you 100 and more. Well, I'm talking about. I don't believe it. Malpey Shire song from Starting Here, Starting now, which played West 46th street in 1977, not on Broadway, but on Restaurant Row in a Longuard club called Barbara Inc. Yes, this was really tough and a lot of people got flummoxed because when they heard West 46th Street. They said, well, the 46th Street Theater and the Lunt Fontaine Theater. What else could there be? But I didn't stress Broadway. So the only person to get it. What words am I going to use? Of course, Tony. Tony, Right. Because indeed, he's the only one. No Sean, no Paul, no Juliet, no Brigadoo, nobody. So I'm hoping that this week there will be a bigger turnout of answers. Though this one isn't quite easy either. Which of them is really. He's a character who was first seen in a play on Broadway during the first decade of the 20th century. The same character was also in a musical revival in the last decade of the 20th century. Furthermore, this character could also be found on Broadway in the 20th, the 50s, the 70s and 80s, too. All right, he lived in a European country. But let's pretend. We're pretending now. Got it. Okay, pretending. Let's pretend that he left his family, went to another European country where he learned a different language and fathered a daughter who took his last name. Her first and last name Together. Together would provide the title, the full title of a Tony losing musical. Who's he? Who's she? What's the musical?
- [80:51]
James Marino
Okay, if you have an answer for this, tell me.
- [80:59]
Michael Portantier
You're up.
- [81:00]
James Marino
Yeah, that's it. Trivia. Broadwayradio.com will let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?
- [81:10]
Michael Portantier
Well, because as I mentioned, Julie Halston had played Elektra in the Bernadette Peters production of Gypsy, we're allowed, we're able this week to tribute both Gypsy and Julie Halston. So our opener is kind of an interesting item. I remember that I knew that Jack Everly, the wonderful conductor, had had a recording of Julie Stein Overture. Yeah, yeah. But what I didn't know, and do you know this, Peter, is that there was a Volume Two.
- [81:44]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, yeah, I did know that. Yeah.
- [81:46]
Michael Portantier
Well, yeah, I somehow missed that, but. So the original volume has the Gypsy Overture, of course, in the Broadway Orchestration, but Volume two has the Gypsy Overture in the movie orchestration, which is a lot of it is exactly the same. Some of it is a little different, and then there's a few sections that are noticeably different. So I really think it's worth being given a listen, especially, you know, it's state of the art sound and the huge national symphony playing it. And so beautifully conducted by Jack Everly. So we're including a link to the full recording, but we're starting off our show today with the opener as the first part of the Gypsy Overture, as heard in the film version in that orchestration. Anyway. And the closer is a section of. You got to get a gimmick from the cast album of the the 2003 Broadway cast recording starring Bernardette Peters. And we're going to come in on Julie Halston's section as Electra and then play to the end. But you will also hear hear. You will hear Kate Butticky as Mazeppa and Heather Lee as Tessie Tura. And that's a recording, the Bernadette Peters one that I think is worth re listening. The production itself, as many remember, was troubled because Bernadette became ill around the opening and she had a lot of absences. But, you know, but she certainly was in great voice voice for the recording.
- [83:35]
Peter Felicia
And.
- [83:35]
Michael Portantier
And it is in that case all of the original orchestrations, as far as I can tell, which are so phenomenal. So please enjoy these two excerpts from Gypsy.
- [83:49]
James Marino
Okay, on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye. Bye.
- [84:00]
Peter Felicia
Bye.
- [84:06]
Michael Portantier
She can, she can, she can. They'll never make her rich. Me, I ah and I, and I. But I do it with a switch I'm electrifying and I'm not even trying I never have to sweat to get paid. Cause if you got a gimmick Gypsy girl, you got it made.
- [84:52]
Peter Felicia
All them uhs and them uh and them uh.
- [84:56]
Michael Portantier
Uhs ain't gonna sound success. Me, I uh and I uh and I uh, uh uh. But I do it with fin.
- [85:29]
Peter Felicia
Dressy.
- [85:30]
Michael Portantier
Tessie Tora is so much more Demiura.
- [85:33]
Peter Felicia
Than all them other ladies. Because you gotta get a gimmick if you wanna get a flow, you.
- [85:46]
Michael Portantier
Do something special.
- [85:49]
Peter Felicia
Something special.