This Week on Broadway for July 27, 2025: A Chorus Line turns 50

Summary

BroadwayRadio Podcast Summary: "This Week on Broadway for July 27, 2025: A Chorus Line Turns 50"

Release Date: July 27, 2025

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Introduction

In this vibrant episode of BroadwayRadio, host James Marino is joined by esteemed guests Peter Felicia, a multifaceted playwright, journalist, and historian, and Michael Portantier, a renowned theater reviewer and photographer. The trio delves deep into the heart of Broadway, celebrating its milestones, dissecting current productions, and sharing personal anecdotes that resonate with theater enthusiasts.

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Celebrating "A Chorus Line" at 50

The episode kicks off with a heartfelt tribute to the iconic musical "A Chorus Line," marking its 50th anniversary.

• Peter Felicia reflects nostalgically:

  "I don't know what I was doing on July 25th, but I believe July 26th when the album came out was unforgettable. I was entranced by the music and couldn't wait to see the show."

• Michael Portantier adds personal insights:

  "The opening sequence of 'A Chorus Line' is one of the greatest moments in musical theater. It thrusts you right into the middle of the audition, and the choreography combined with the music is just exhilarating."

Both guests reminisce about their first experiences with the musical, emphasizing its lasting impact on Broadway and its faithful audience.

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Spotlight on Current Productions

1. "Joy: A New True Musical" at Laura Pels Theatre

James Marino and Peter Felicia share their recent experience attending "Joy," a new musical based on the life of Joy Mangano, the inventor of the Miracle Mop.

• Peter Felicia praises the performance:

  "Betsy Wolf as Joy Mangano was inspiring. The show had a lot of heart, and Betsy's portrayal was both powerful and heartfelt."

• James Marino echoes the sentiment:

  "The cast was outstanding, especially Jill Abramovitz who transformed brilliantly into the role of Joy's mother."

They discuss the strengths of the production, including its emotional depth and strong performances, while noting areas for improvement, such as pacing in the courtroom scenes.

2. "Polishing Shakespeare" at 59 East 59

Peter delves into Brian Dykstra's production of "Polishing Shakespeare," exploring the challenges and triumphs of presenting Shakespeare in a modern context.

• Peter Felicia explains:

  "The production addresses the tension between artistic integrity and financial constraints in regional theaters, making it both amusing and harrowing."

• Michael Portantier shares his experience:

  "Shakespeare in the Parking Lot was fascinating. The actors' ability to project their lines without microphones was impressive, ensuring every word was heard clearly."

3. Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's "The Matchmaker" in Garrison, NY

The conversation shifts to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, highlighting their production of "The Matchmaker."

• Peter Felicia commends the cast's chemistry:

  "Nancy Williamson and Kurt Rhodes brought an extraordinary dynamic to their roles, making the production astonishingly good."

• Michael Portantier adds:

  "The open-air tent setting added a unique charm, and despite some unnecessary elements like the third act, the overall performance was exceptional."

They praise the festival's commitment to quality performances while critiquing certain artistic choices.

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Cabaret and Solo Performances

Christine Petty’s "Wicked Songs" at 54 Below

Michael Portantier reviews Christine Petty's captivating cabaret performance, where she presents a series of songs centered around show business.

• Michael Portantier highlights:

  "Christine delivered a scintillating performance with Penny Fuller opening the show beautifully. Despite last-minute cancellations by Len Cariou and Richard Kind, the evening was a resounding success."

• Peter Felicia adds excitement about upcoming shows:

  "On August 4th at 54 Below, I'll be sharing stories from my 64-year journey in theater, featuring performances by Christine Petty, Jose de Guzman, and Jackie Hoffman."

Josh Sharp’s Solo Show "Ta Da" at Greenwich House

Peter Felicia discusses Josh Sharp's solo performance, emphasizing his meticulous memorization and engaging storytelling.

• Peter Felicia praises:

  "Josh Sharp's 'Ta Da' is a masterful blend of humor and heartfelt stories, supported by an impressive array of 2000 slides that perfectly complement his narrative."

• James Marino adds:

  "The audience was thoroughly entertained, with not a moment missed in laughter and applause throughout the 85-minute show."

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Theater Anecdotes and Audience Insights

Overheard Theater Comments

Michael Portentier shares amusing and perplexing theater-related comments overheard in a restaurant setting.

• Michael Portentier recounts:

  "One young man said, 'Sondheim is a God. I worship Sondheim, but he never wrote a good second act.' It's surprising to hear such strong opinions in casual settings."

He humorously considers immortalizing these comments on the podcast, highlighting the diverse perspectives within the theater community.

"A Chorus Line" Movie Review

The guests discuss the film adaptation of "A Chorus Line," critiquing its departure from the original's charm.

• Peter Felicia notes:

  "The movie tried to stay true to the stage production but ended up being painfully long and less effective in conveying the story's emotional depth."

• Michael Portentier agrees:

  "Michael Douglas's performance and the overuse of reaction shots made the film less impactful. It's a loss that a professionally shot video of the Broadway production couldn't be secured."

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Brain Teasers and Musical Moments

Brain Teaser

Peter Felicia presents a challenging brain teaser involving multiple layers of Broadway trivia, encouraging listeners to engage and respond via email.

Musical Moment

Michael Portentier spotlights memorable segments from "A Chorus Line," specifically the opening number "I Hope I Get It," praising its choreography and emotional resonance.

• Michael Portentier emphasizes:

  "The opening sequence thrusts you into the audition scene, making it one of the most exciting and well-crafted moments in musical theater."

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Closing Remarks

James Marino wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to subscribe, support via Patreon, and check the show notes for additional links and resources. The trio bids farewell, leaving listeners inspired and eager for the next broadcast.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [01:56] James Marino: "Peter is a playwright, journalist and historian with a number of books. Peter's new Day by Day Desk calendar, 'A Show Tune for Today,' 366 songs to brighten the year, has been released."

• [03:25] Michael Portentier: "Marilyn May did an entire album titled 'A Taste of Sherry,' but there's only that one song from 'Sherry' on it."

• [10:39] Michael Portantier: "They wrote a two-person show for Broadway. A two-person musical for Broadway."

• [22:55] Michael Portantier: "There was no microphone whatsoever. I heard every word clearly."

• [60:15] Michael Portentier: "That was Jamie Lloyd. It was ridiculous how he misinterpreted the character."

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Conclusion

This episode of BroadwayRadio offers an enriching exploration of Broadway's past and present, blending expert insights with passionate discussions. Whether celebrating monumental anniversaries or critiquing contemporary productions, James Marino, Peter Felicia, and Michael Portentier provide listeners with a comprehensive and engaging take on the ever-evolving world of Broadway theater.

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Connect with BroadwayRadio

• Website: broadwayradio.com
• Support: Patreon.com/BroadwayRadio
• Contact: Email Us

Stay tuned for more episodes as the hosts continue to bring the magic of Broadway to your ears!

Transcript

[Peter Felicia]

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[Michael Portantier]

We'll pay off four phones up to.

[Peter Felicia]

$3200 and give you four free phones, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom. Up to $800 per line via virtual.

[James Marino]

Prepaid card typically takes 15 days.

[Peter Felicia]

Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement eg Apple iPhone16128GB8999 eligible trade in eg iPhone11 Pro for well qualified credits end and balance due if.

[Michael Portantier]

You pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile from the top a 5, 6, 7, 8 God, I hope I get it. I hope I get it. How many people does he need?

[Peter Felicia]

How many people does he. I hope I get it. How many boys?

[Michael Portantier]

How many girls?

[Peter Felicia]

How many?

[Michael Portantier]

Look at all the people and all the people. How many people does he need?

[Peter Felicia]

How many boys?

[Michael Portantier]

How many girls?

[Peter Felicia]

How many people does he. I really need this job.

[Michael Portantier]

Please God, I need this job.

[Peter Felicia]

I've got to get this job.

[Michael Portantier]

Stage left, boy.

[James Marino]

Hello and welcome to Broadway Radio's this Week on Broadway for Sunday, July 27, 2025. My name is James Marino and on 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 Desk calendar, A show tune for today. 366 songs to brighten the year has been released. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select and many of the places. Hello, Peter.

[Peter Felicia]

Hi.

[James Marino]

What is the show tune for today?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, 25 years ago already, it's amazing to think of that Nathan Lane opened Sheridan Whiteside and the man who Came to Dinner as the first attraction of the theater that we now know as the Todd Haynes. And the irony is, four years later there would be a studio cast recording of Sherry, the musical version of the man who Came to Dinner that was on Broadway in 1967. Not for long, I'm sorry to say, but it was supposed to get a cast album on RCA Victor Records with Clive Revell, who replaced George Sanders, Dolores Gray and Elizabeth Allen, who we know from Do I Hear a Waltz? So that didn't happen because the show didn't run very long. So. But James Lipton. Yes, that James Lipton, the guy who's inside the Actors Studio. James Lipton was the lyricist and once he got the Actors Studio gig and had some money, he decided to fund an album and he got Nathan Lane to appear with Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters. Bernadette Peters played his trusty secretary and Carol Burnett played the woman who was the actress who came to vamp the young playwright so that Maggie the secretary couldn't have him. So anyway, so Nathan Lane and Carol Burnett did the song Sherry, which also was done by one of Michael Portatia's favorite people in the world, Marilyn May. She did a recording of the title song.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

And. And it was reasonably that type of song in that type of era. So anyway, so you can listen to that, that cast album, studio cast album, or you can get an album called Unsung Musicals, and there you get Jonathan Freeman and Christine Baranski doing it. So you have two choices and for a while. And the thing is, if you know the song that Marilyn May did, as is the case with so many pop tunes, the lyrics were condensed. They weren't the, it's a really bitchy, catty type of number. And those lyrics are delicious. And so you must hear it, even if, oh, you think you've heard the song. Fans of Andy Williams might even think they know this song because he recorded Sherry but thinking of a woman. So. And of course, we would get Sherry many years later in Jersey Boys. But that's another story entirely.

[Michael Portantier]

And another story. Part of the story is that Marilyn did an entire album. Well, the title of it was A Taste of Sherry.

[Peter Felicia]

Right.

[Michael Portantier]

But there is only that one song from Cherry on it. But there's another song from a show that you might have heard of it. It had some success later on. And the title of that song is Cabaret, and she was the first person to record it.

[Peter Felicia]

I still remember driving down Commonwealth Avenue in my convertible when I heard it. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Cabaret by Marilyn. Maybe.

[James Marino]

I mean, that I thought, Michael, you were going to say that there was a little, little known show called Jersey Boys that had a song called Sherry in it.

[Michael Portantier]

No.

[James Marino]

So that other voice is, of course, Michael Portantier. Michael's a theater reviewer and essayist. He's the 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 photograph [e-mail] hello, Michael. Hello, Michael. You made your way back to Paris. How is Paris in July?

[Michael Portantier]

I know I should get frequent flyer miles or something, but. No, I mean, I would love to say that it was the city, but it's the Paris Cinema adjacent to the Plaza Hotel. And yeah, they. Guys, you have got to check Their calendar. Every week they announced a new fabulous festival with. With incredible movies in it. And the latest one I saw was Waiting for Guffman, which I certainly own. But I was dying to see it with an audience again. And the audience did not disappoint. It's so hilarious. I mean, it's so. It's a very cutting satire of community theater. But also there is the underlying affection, you know, which I think has to be there. If that weren't there, the whole movie would fall apart. So as, you know, as witty and as evil as it is sometimes in skewering the foibles of people in community theater and the egos and all of that, it's just so wonderfully done. And the performances by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and Parker Posey and the rest of the amazing cast. It's just brilliant. So they showed it on 35 millimeter at the Paris, which is unusual. Almost everything, it seems like they show nowadays in digital dcp, But I don't know if. I mean, I know there's a DVD of. Of the movie, so it's not that there is no digital version, but maybe there's not a high def version of it. Anyway, it was a very good print and it was fun to see 35 millimeter again because it's been a while for me. But really check up their upcoming. They have My Fair lady coming up as part of a series of movies that skewer the upper crust, which I wouldn't have thought of that as the first description of My Fair lady, but I suppose it's true. I mean, you know, the ascot. The ascot scene, certainly. And then they have a lot of other wonderful stuff coming up. So do check their calendar.

[James Marino]

And Michael, we'll get more into it as we get closer. But you are closing in on the celebration. The songs of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt coming up with Laurie Beachman, September 9th.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, yes. I think we're going to be live streamed as well.

[Peter Felicia]

Nice.

[Michael Portantier]

They haven't announced that yet because they want to wait till we get closer. But yeah, I'm. You know, they were such. I guess maybe Jones and Schmidt, you wouldn't call them underrated, but you might call them underappreciated in the sense that when, you know, people are asked to name the great teams, maybe they're not. Maybe they don't come immediately to mind. But then when you say Jones and Schmidt, people say, oh, of course, you know, Jones and Schmidt, partly because the quantity of their output was not as great or the quantity of their output that Was commercially successful. Was not as great as obviously Rodgers Hammerstein, Lerner and Low, et cetera. But. But I do think their, their, their best stuff is. Is as good as anyone else's.

[Peter Felicia]

We in the 60s, we got so used to the fact that there would be a Jones and spit show every three years. It was fantastic since 60, 110, 63. I do. I do in 66, celebration in 69. And that was it for Broadway, I believe. I think.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah. And I think they were. I think they were consistent in that they kept working simultaneously on and off Broadway. But then. Yeah, but after their last Broadway show, I mean, I don't know if they just were considered not commercial enough for Broadway. And they had no choice. So they just worked off Broadway. They had their own company.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right, the Portfolio Studios. That's what they really wanted to concentrate on. They really wanted to just develop little shows here and there. So they walked away. We had more than what they're walking away than Broadway walking away from them.

[Michael Portantier]

And of course, yeah, they seem to specialize in intimacy. 110 is one of their biggest shows. And I suppose Celebration is big in some ways. You know, in terms of the cast size, somewhat, but bigger.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. When you think of it, of the four shows, that's got to be in second place because, I mean, the Fantastics is smaller and God knows I Do. I Do is smaller. So. Yeah, right.

[Michael Portantier]

So leave it to them to write a two person show for Broadway. A two person musical for Broadway.

[Peter Felicia]

But what two people?

[Michael Portantier]

Yep.

[Peter Felicia]

Anyway.

[Michael Portantier]

Yep, yep.

[James Marino]

Oh, hearing that brings me such joy. So Peter and I got over to the Laura Pel's theater to see Joy, a new true musical. So, Peter, what do you think?

[Peter Felicia]

Well, this was a story completely new to me. I understand that there's been a book. I understand there's been a movie, but I had never heard of this woman who invented the miracle mop. And I will say that it was very inspiring to see this woman who wouldn't say die no matter how many terrible things were thrown at her. And finally, by the end of the first act, she's successful. And I thought, well, Wick, can they go from here? She's a success. I found the second act even more interesting, even though there's a courtroom trial that wraps up rather quickly and perfunctorily much too much so. And the other thing, in the beginning, I didn't know what the miracle was in the miracle mop. It took them a long time to get to fully, fully, fully explain why this mop was better than any other. So I found that a problem too. But. But I found it very inspiring. I think it had a lot of heart and that's what I really loved about it. And you can't do better than getting Betsy Wolf who is playing Joy Mangano, a Long island housewife who just didn't want to be a Long island housewife. She just thought she had one good idea after another and was really smart about this. And again, it's based on. They. They make a point of saying that this is a new true musical. So if that's to be believed or if that's really true, that it's true, then it's the story as it happened. But she, she had a great idea before this mop, a great idea which she didn't do anything with because she is totally discouraged by her mother to some degree to her father and an ex husband too who's lose much too much on the scene through her own niceness. To be frank. She's. She tries to be as good as she can, Tim, but. And her kid doesn't believe in her either. She has a daughter who's by the way is very, very, very well played by a young kid named on a blue savage, really good. So I found it very inspiring. I also thought the lyrics were terrific. There were a lot of rhymes and there were good ones. An occasional false accent, but you know me. But nevertheless, Anne Marie Milazzo did a very good job. The music was serviceable. I think maybe a little better than that. But I don't know what Ken Davenport did as the book writer, but it's nice to see him expanding into something else. I'm not saying he's giving up producing, but nevertheless that he took this on and I imagine he has big plans for it because it's a big show. I've been told that if you really want to make Money Off Broadway, 8 or 9 is the most you can have in your cast. It just is not cost effective after that. He's done twice that. So now one of our rising stars who I think is really marvelous is Lauren Lotaro. So she was the director and Joshua Bergasse is the choreographer. You can't go wrong with him either. Very, very slickly done, beautifully designed, all that goes with that. And while the components may not be first rate, the heart carries it through. And it really makes a difference when you can get emotionally involved and you really can with this woman who just was not going to be denied. So I like that very much. Big characters, big events, always good Musicals. And that's what you have here. Enjoy. All right.

[James Marino]

So for Much of my feelings reflect those of Peters as well. Just an outstanding cast. Peter, did you mention Jill Abramovitz?

[Peter Felicia]

Oh, yeah, she was terrific.

[James Marino]

You know, I mean, I, oh, my goodness.

[Peter Felicia]

She's the mother. And you know, the thing is, I mean, this is a reasonably young woman and you would not believe the transformation that she makes into this old crone. I mean, it's, it's amazing because I, I certainly have dealt with her in more than one on occasion. And I was flabbergasted to see her play this role. I was even surprised she was cast in it because she seemed much too young and much too attractive. But they, they really dotied her up and, and that was that.

[James Marino]

Peter. I, I, I, I, I, I hope that if somebody hears this, they take this as a compliment. I had to check my program twice to see if there was a slip in there because I couldn't believe it was Drill Abramovitz.

[Peter Felicia]

I understand. Really.

[James Marino]

You know, I was like, wow, she was one. I mean, Betsy was great. Betsy's story.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure.

[James Marino]

And I'm glad you mentioned Honor Savage, the daughter. She was, you know, everybody is definitely a tremendously strong cast.

[Peter Felicia]

Yes, I agree.

[James Marino]

And I think that people will, will enjoy it. I felt a few of the things went on a little long. I agree with Peter that they must be a future plan, because I'm looking here, there's 18 or so in the cast. And I don't know how those numbers 18 doesn't work off Broadway. I don't think, insofar as make sure it doesn't in part of making a profit. I am 99% sure. Maybe. Peter, correct me if, you know, this is a rental. This is not.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right.

[James Marino]

Yeah, yeah, this is a rental. This is not a Roundabout production production.

[Peter Felicia]

It's in a Roundabout theater. The, the one on 46th street, close to 6th Avenue. I always describe it when I tell Linda, you know where we're going to meet. The one with the glass outside, there's a lot of glass. And the other thing, though, this just occurred to me. When she goes on QVC for the first time to sell her mops, she's very, very, very stage struck. And she panics. And I think when you talk about things were slower than they needed to be. That was one scene.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Where there was a problem because they would have never tolerated what may be a minute and a minute when nothing is happening on TV is a. Should really be shortened tremendously. She should really get up per gumption and get rid of the stage fright as soon as she possibly can. And I would expect her to. By that point in the show. I expected her to rise to the occasion, and I was very surprised that she didn't. And again, I really, I don't think a minute is out of the question. It may be shorter than that, but it certainly played like a minute or longer. So, yeah, I did feel very well. I would tighten that up.

[James Marino]

Yeah. I don't think in its current form. I saw it last night in its current form. It would be smart to transfer this exactly to Broadway. I think that they have something that can really, really work here. But we'll see what happens. But Joy is running there. It's funny what you said when you tell Lindy, meet with the place with the glass. I tell wife we're meeting at the place with the good Indian restaurant upstairs.

[Peter Felicia]

I've never gone to that restaurant. I know which one.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, it's pretty good, right? Utsav. Utsav. I've never been to it either. Yeah.

[James Marino]

Oh, we've been to it a few times. Really good. Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

Good to know.

[James Marino]

So if you want to get some naan, some good rice biryani. So Joy, a new true musical at the Lower Pels is running through August 17th. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Peter, you jumped up and over a little bit to 59 east 59 to see polishing Shakespeare. So tell us about this.

[Peter Felicia]

Well, Brian Dykstra, who is better known as an actor, not unknown as a playwright, but he has definitely done both jobs here as an actor and a playwright. And he has a lot to say about regional theater. And they're talking about whether or not it's a good idea to do Shakespeare. What will happen if you do Shakespeare, all the barriers you have in doing all this. His longtime companion. I don't know if if she's a wife, but I definitely a longtime companion. Margaret Perry, an excellent director. And of course, when you have people who know each other very well, that can work out wonderfully or terribly. But nevertheless, it works out wonderfully here. I'm always thinking of what it must have been like with a Mother's Kisses with Gene Sacks married to Beatrice Arthur. The show closed on the road, and so I have a feeling there were plenty of fights in the hotel room. Anyway, what it is is how much do you sell out? Because indeed, regional theaters need money. And the thing is, there's this.com billionaire who's willing to give money. However however, needless to say, the person with the money wins, and the person with the money has the power. You know, how can you say no when they come up with outrageous ideas? Because they know nothing about the business, but because they're wealthy, they think they know everything about the business because they know about their own business. So therefore, they know about everything. They're indomitable. They're. They're infallible, you know, so having to pretend that you agree and hope that you can find loopholes is what's going on here in this show, and it's very, very effective to see them all. And somewhat amusing, I will grant you, but also somewhat harrowing, because we know that Brian Dykstra is telling the truth when he's talking about the situation, that there are many people who come in and make demands, and especially considering the fact that today there's so much talk about what is going on and which is censorship or something close to it. So that is a big problem as well, and that is addressed in this issue. So. So this is a very effective show. It's not long. It's about an hour and a half, and it's really wonderful. I love when people do their own material. And that's what happens here with Brian Dykstra, who I have seen so many different incarnations, and he is just tremendous. But given that he really knows this play inside out, needless to say, it may be his most memorable performance yet. But there are a lot of surprises. I'm keeping a lot from you purposely, because I want you to go and I want you to be surprised. And. And the twists and turns are very twisty and very turny. All right.

[James Marino]

Polishing Shakespeare has been extended through August 24, and it's had 59 East 59. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. Michael, you saw A Midsummer Night's Dream. In fact, you saw two of Midsummer Night's Dreams. So tell us about these productions.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, I kind of. I feel like at the moment, I know the play better than I've ever.

[Peter Felicia]

Seen. The most, by the way.

[Michael Portantier]

Really?

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. 27 times. Yeah. So.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, obviously, there are. There are reasons to do it in the middle of the summer. It's very appropriate. And, yeah, I saw two very worthy productions. The first one was a production of the Ensemble Shakespeare Company, and it was done at the Flea Theater. I mentioned it a few weeks ago because my friend Gerard Lobo, who had been a guest on our podcast some time ago, was in it, and I went primarily for him. The thing with that production was that it featured a tremendous amount of gender blind casting which I personally thought was a, was a huge mistake in terms of the storytelling. I had to keep reminding myself who was who. And also I saw like almost zero point to it in this case because they, although they had gender blind casting, they, they kept the couples as still male, female. So in other words, Gerard played Helena, but then, and then there was an another man playing Hermia and then there were two women playing Demetrius and Lysander. So it's not even as if they had a female couple and a male couple, you know, to, to make the play different in that sense and you know, explore it through a gay lens. They just change, they just changed the, the characters. So, so. Well, anyway, I, I, I don't know what purpose that served other than confusing the audience that said otherwise. The production was really very well directed by a woman named Dylan Deal in terms of use of the space and the movement and the pacing of the show, which really, it does have to be kept up. They did an abridged version of it with an intermission, one intermission. So it was really good that they kept the pace up and the acting was across the board was excellent, uniformly excellent. So that was my take on that. I personally wish she hadn't made that gender blind casting decision. Now this other production is the current one which is still running. It's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot which has been going on for years at various locations on the Lower east side. The Hamilton Clancy is the, is the driving force behind the company and he directed this production. And they're now in a, in a parking lot that's adjacent to a School at 145 Stanton street is the address of the school. And it's, it's pretty easy to get to there the sub one or two subway stops not, not far away. So that wasn't a problem. And I, I picked a good night in going last night because the has been iffy here today and the night before. And I was really lucky in getting a wonderful night. And this was my first Shakespeare in the Parking lot experience. I wasn't sure how it was going to be set up and how it was going to play out, but they actually performed, they confined the performance to one corner of the parking lot so they concentrated the action that way. And one interesting thing, there was absolutely no problem, problem whatsoever in terms of projection of the lines. I heard every single word. I mean, I guess it's a combination of the fact that the actors knew how to project, but also I suppose they have to test out a space to see what the acoustics are like in terms of the surrounding buildings and things of that sort. So for whatever reason, I really heard every word with no micing whatsoever. So that was a tremendous, tremendous plus. And really again here the acting was just fabulous by everyone. But I want to sing aloud. Patrick Hart is Lysander, Caleb Barker Baker, excuse me, Caleb. K A L E B Baker as Demetrius, Miranda Riley as Hermia and Leah Bonfiglio as Helena. Now Leah is the. That I knew in this cast and it's ironic that she and Gerard played the same role of Helena in two different productions which wouldn't normally obviously have happened, but I had raved about Leah when she was in a incredible production of A View from the Bridge last year. And here she. She really did a wonderful job as Helena. She got every laugh and she really inhabited the character. She's a. One thing that they did was that was interesting. She's a very attractive woman and Helena makes more than one reference and other people make reference to the fact that she is not. Shakespeare wrote it that way for some reason. So the way they dealt with that is they gave Leah a pair of unattractive glasses to wear and it did the trick. So that plus her acting, it really was a wonderful, wonderful performance. And this production did have a couple of gender blind examples in the casting. Peter Quince was played by Evangeline Fontaine and I have to mention Aegea, who is normally the father of Hermia. Is that right? Aegean Aegeus, who is normally. Yeah, the father of Hermia was the mother of Hermia played by a woman named Elizabeth Alley. Yeah, played by a woman named Elizabeth Allen. Not. Not to be confused with Elizabeth Allen from To Our Hero Waltz who is no longer with us. Yeah, but this Elizabeth Allen, she started to talk and I turned to the friend that I was with and I said she sounds exactly like Cyndi Lauper. She was like, what ho Lysander? What mean you by this? It was just hilarious. So she was great too. This production, as I said, it has one more week end of performances coming up. I hope the weather stays with them and if so, please get down there to see it. Absolutely free. Absolutely free. They do take donations, but you're under. No, no pressure to give one. Oh, and oh gosh, I almost forgot. Two other people. Alessandro Cola. Alessandro Cola. C O L L A was absolutely superb as bottom and also Andy Rowell or Raoul. R O W E L L Excuse me. R O W E L L S Puck. He was great too. And he, I, I was convinced that he was a Brit because his accent, his Cockney accent, I guess you would say lower class Brit accent as Puck that he, that he used for the character sounded absolutely perfect to me. And I said, well, you know, that's great. They found a Brit somewhere. But then he played another small role at the end of the play and he spoke in a completely American accent. So I thought, oh, well, all right. And I didn't know which was which, but I got to speak with him very briefly afterwards. And he, he is American. So I complimented him on his dialect, his accent, which was really fantastic. Really great that you can see something like this, especially for free. And the company does have a history dating back quite a few years. I regret that this is the first time I've been there, I've been to one of their shows. So I'm definitely going to put them on my calendar for the future.

[James Marino]

So Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is on their website. It says the 30th anniversary, right?

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, they mentioned that as well.

[James Marino]

It is the little brother to Chorus Line. All right, so that is running through August 2nd. Shows are Thursday through Saturday at 7pm at 145 Stanton street this year. And we'll have all this information in the show notes. You can check it out there. Peter, you headed up to Garrison, New York for the Hudson Shakespeare production of the Matchmaker. Tell us about.

[Peter Felicia]

This was excellent, Astonishingly good. And you know, it's funny, I was talking about Margaret Perry and Brian Dreikstra and their collaboration. Well, here we have playing Dolly Levi, Nancy Williamson, who has been married to Kurt Rhodes, who's playing Horace Vandergelder for quite some time. And they, of course, have wonderful chemistry together, I'm happy to say. But this cast was extraordinary. I mean, just amazing beyond belief. I, I don't know if I've ever seen. And Irene Malloy, that has the zest for life. I mean, zest. I mean, she is grabbing it with both hands as Helen Cesperides did. Tremendous, tremendous performance. Also wonderful is Carl Howell, who again is taking his moment in the sun to the point to which you almost believe that line about, if I have to dig ditches for the rest of my life, I'll at least have a wonderful day. That's a very hard thing to really say. Well, yeah, I understand, you know, but he almost makes you do it. I'm a tremendous production, really quite wonderful. I don't know if you've ever been up there. It's, it's in a tent, though. They are building a new theater. It's an open air tent. I mean it's just the top is the tent, that's all. And and they certainly make use of the fact that they have surrounding grounds and people come and go quite quickly there. So it's so really Davis McCallum did a wonderful job. Now the thing is, you know who else did a wonderful job? Michael Stewart. Because who wrote the book to hello Dolly? Because I'm telling you, when you see the Matchmaker you really have to be impressed with Michael Stewart did because there's a third act to the play that really isn't very necessary. It involves mistaken identity taken to the the nth degree. Now to be fair.

[Michael Portantier]

We.

[Peter Felicia]

I may be giving too much credit to Michael Stewart. It could very well be that he wasn't the one who said oh, that third act has to go. Because after all there was a marvelous, marvelous movie and I think in 1958 with Shirley Booth, you know who she is as, as Dolly, hilarious performance. I wish she had done the musical on Broadway at some point. I don't think. I'm not saying that she needed to open it, but at some point I think she should have done it because good Lord, she did do musicals and did very well by them. So. And Paul Ford, not the. The accompanist, but an actor who you may know from the music Man, Anthony Perkins, Robert Moore, Shirley MacLaine. I mean, what a cast, a terrific movie. But here's the thing. John Michael Hayes, who wrote the screenplay, also dropped that third act and it really isn't terribly necessary. Now I don't know if Michael Stewart had seen the movie. Sometimes they say I'm not going to look at any. I'm going to start from scratch. You know, I don't know, but I think it's easier to believe that he saw the movie. But nevertheless, who knows. But. But the thing is, when do you get a chance to see the Matchmaker as is. And seeing that third act is interesting and entertaining for its own sake to see how really the show doesn't need it at all. That everything is wrapped up very, very nicely for any of this third act happen when they go to somebody's house and they're again, mistaken identity. G And if you're the type person who can't stand mistaken identity, you might even be well advised to leave after Act 2 and you'll feel very, very satisfied. But no matter what the case. Davis McCollum, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Put it on your radar and hope to see Helen and Carl and Kurt and Nance time and time and time and time again. Now, it's done in rep with a few other shows. So as a result, you do have some time for the rest of the summer. Check their schedule. And there's no question that there will be nights when they won't be doing it, but there will be nights when they will be doing it. And those are the nights you should be there.

[Michael Portantier]

Another element of that play that I think is unnecessary, that they cut for the musical is that character, Malachi Stack.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, yeah. He's very funny. In the movie, though, when. When Van De calls him, do you drink? And he says, no, not right now. Thank you. You know, I wasn't offering you a drink. I'm asking you if you drink. It's. So I forgive the exchange, the character, just for that exchange. So. But yes, you're right, it's not particularly necessary. He has a soliloquy to the audience that really isn't particularly neat. No, really, both John Michael and Michael Stewart deserve great credit for streamlining the play. Tremendously. And I don't know, you know, don't forget the Matchmaker was actually a rewrite of a play called the Merchant of yonker done about 20 years earlier. I don't know if there was tremendous work done by Thornton Wilder. If we just tacked on a new name on it and said, let's try it with a new name and see how it plays. I don't know. But, you know, it's very interesting to think that the Merchant of Yonkers, after all, refers to Vandergelder, while the Matchmaker, of course, refers to Dolly Levi. And I'll never forget Jerry Herman saying to me that when they opened in Detroit, I'm sure many know this, that Penny in your pocket song ended the first act. And they brought out a house. One hundred and six props that I'm not. That's not an estimate. That's what they brought out. One hundred and six props to show how wealthy Van de Gelder had become. And. But as Jerry Herman said to me, they didn't want to know about him. They wanted to know about her. And I guess Thornton Wilder came to the same conclusion some years earlier when he changed from the Merchant of Yonkers to the Matchmaker.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, I have read. I. I mean, I don't know the Merchant of Yonkers either, but I have read that that Dolly's presence was increased greatly for the Matchmaker and the ch. The title change. Yeah, it's. It's amazing. We. We discussed this not long ago when we. When we talked about the concert of hello Dolly, that was done at Carnegie Hall. Sure, yeah, that. How. How could you know? I mean, hindsight is 20 20, but how could they ever have thought that penny in my pocket should be the end of Act One? I know, it. It just, you know, boggles the mind, you know?

[Peter Felicia]

Know. Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

Anyway.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

At the risk of plugging the new book I'm writing called Musical Makeovers, where I talk about things like that and why decisions were made and what decision should have been made, I do use that as an example of how smart people established people, everybody had had a Broadway credit or two or more. And certainly producer David Merrick did and certainly got what Champion did. And yeah, there it was. You would even think that David Merrick would say, 106. Are you crazy? You know, so anyway.

[James Marino]

All right, so there's a jewel in the Hudson Valley, indeed, the matchmaker. Hudson Valley Shakespeare festival in Garrison, New York, through August 3rd. Peter, you drove up there? Yeah, about an hour drive.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, about an hour. I would say about an hour. Parking. Ample parking.

[James Marino]

Long Metro North.

[Peter Felicia]

No idea. No.

[James Marino]

Okay, just.

[Peter Felicia]

I just rented a car and left. But long walk, I have to say, from. From where you park to get to the theater. But. But it ultimately was worth it.

[Michael Portantier]

What's the name of the town?

[Peter Felicia]

Garrison.

[James Marino]

Garrison.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, Garrison.

[James Marino]

Yeah. G A R R I S O.

[Michael Portantier]

N. So this is not. Is this the same company that used to perform in Montauk?

[Peter Felicia]

No idea.

[James Marino]

I don't.

[Michael Portantier]

There was that company that used to do Shakespeare in Montauk. I saw a Taming of the Shrew there, and they did it in a park. I'll have to look that up. I mean, obviously Montauk is nowhere near Garrison.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

And Garrison, interestingly. Garrison, interestingly is where some of the movie of hello Dolly was filmed. Filmed.

[Peter Felicia]

Is that right?

[Michael Portantier]

Yep. Oh, Vandergelder's hay and feed store area. Those scenes. Yep, yep. And the. And the train station.

[Peter Felicia]

Ah. Wow.

[Michael Portantier]

Put on your Sunday clothes. Wow. Yeah.

[James Marino]

All right, so I'll have a link back to Hudson Shakes, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's website, and there are some videos from this production, so check out it out. Michael, you were at 54 below where you saw one of our favorites, Christine Petty. Tell us, was she scintillatingly delightful?

[Michael Portantier]

Yes. Actually, the quote that I wrote in my review for. I've started reviewing cabaret for NightLifeExchange.com, which is a really great, great venue that. That covers cabaret quite thoroughly. So those of you who are cabaret fans, you're probably well aware of it already. If not, you definitely want to check it out. And I'm glad to that Scott Barberino, who I. Who I know for years, called me up and invited me to start writing cabaret reviews for them. I was happy to do so. I've done that, that over the years on and off, but lately haven't really had a venue for it. I mean, other than, obviously, our podcast. But as far as written reviews, I'd be really glad to have the offer. So, yeah, what I said was. Actor, singer Sirius XM radio host Christine Petty brought the third edition of her scintillating series of shows titled the Wicked Songs about show business back to 54 below. And I have to tell you, first of all, I'm happy to report that it was absolutely packed. You could not get a seat. Every seat was taken for this show at 54 below. And Christine was astounded by that fact. She herself, because she said, a week before, we had soldiers sold 37 tickets. So she had no explanation for why. Why there was the sudden uptick. But it really just. It turned out beautifully. And she was so pleased. I mean, in a way, it wasn't surprising because she had a great lineup, even though two of the biggest people who were scheduled. Two of the biggest people who were scheduled had to drop out at the last minute. Len Cariou was supposed to be in, but I was told he couldn't make it because it turned out he had to be filming. Presumably for Blue Bloods. Yeah, presumably for Blue Bloods. So that kept him out. And then Richard Kind was supposed to be in the show, but he had another sort of scheduled conflict. So that was disappointing. But the show was opened by Penny Fuller, who actually did some stuff that she had done in one of my previous shows at 54 below. She opened with. It's a sort of medley of welcome to the Theater and the title song from Applause. But mostly welcome to the Theater. This is a medley that a friend of hers wrote and arranged, and it's a really great opening number for her. And she did it fabulously again. And then later in the show, she did her own song from Applause, because Welcome to the Theater is. Is originally sung, you know, by Margot Channing, originally played by Lauren Bacall. But then later in the. In this show, Penny did One Halloween, which was her big moment as Eve Harrington in the show. And I wrote in my review that. And I said to her afterwards, when I got to speak with her after her performance, I said, it's too bad that not that many people did applause after the original production because you really would have aged into the role of Margot very well. And you know what she said that was so interesting and so honest? She said. Well, maybe, she said, but that show really needed somebody like Lauren Bacall and all the mystique and all of the star power that she brought to it, she said, because without that, she said, it's really not a very good show show. So I just thought that was great that she was honest about that. I mean, there. I think there were fine moments in it and some of the score is very good, some not so much. But I think it's fair to say it's not in the first rank of musicals. So that was refreshing to hear her herself say that. Anyway, so that was the opener and that was great. And then it was followed by Faith PR doing Broadway Baby from Follies into Adelaide's Lament from Guys and Dolls. And I know for a fact that there were some people there because one of them was sitting at my table who said, you know, that they had not gotten to see her in Guys and Dolls back in the day. And it was just a great privilege and a thrill to hear her recreate her, you know, that, that wonderful moment from her Tony winning performance in Guys and Dolls so many years later. And of course, she still has it all in terms of her voice and her personality. So that was an amazing moment. John Tracy Egan was in the show as a last minute substitute. He's a good friend of Christine, so I guess she called him up when she heard that both Len and Richard weren't going to make it. And so at the last minute he sang Shall We Dance from the King and into a Murray grand song called I'd Rather Cha Cha Than Eat Than Eat.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, I love that song.

[Michael Portantier]

I think I had never heard it before Peter, so I was delighted. It's just wonderful.

[Peter Felicia]

John Wolowicz used to have a cable TV show where people could call in and make requests, and not only did the woman call in and request that song, and not only did he know it, but they did it as a duet. I mean, incredible. She joined him and she knew every word and so I've never forgotten. I'd rather Cha Cha. Boy, that's a dated concept, isn't it? You know.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, he, he was wonderful, I'm sure. And, yeah, and as, as I wrote John Tracy, I mean, he's been in a million shows, but he is kind of special in the fact that he, he really combines a character actor skill and Comedy chops with a leading man, quality voice, which, you know, you don't get that combo very often. So I think that that has served him in very good stead. He was followed by Jack Malone from Operation Mincemeat who picked, of all things, to sing a song called All Falls Down. I guess the full, the full title is When It All Falls down from Chaplin, the musical Chaplin. And, and, and again, as I wrote in my review, I think that, that, that people who heard just this number are going to want to probably get that cast album now and see, oh, you know, what else is in Chaplin because Jack just did a great job with it. He made such a case, such a good case for it. This was a song that was originally sung in the show by Jen Colella in the role of Hedda Hopper, who was really a nemesis to Charlie Chaplin. So there's, that's the whole backstory of. Jack Malone gave just a brief summary of that as a setup. So really that was a highlight. And I think it was so great that he picked something so little known like that and really made such a great case for it. Then Christine herself came up and sang a song that always makes me cry. It's a song called Errol Flynn by Amanda McBroom and Gordon Hunt and it's just lovely. And followed by Michael Levine at the piano, who sang the Broadway song from Pamela's first musical, which has a score by Sy Coleman and David Zipple. And I got to see a production of it at the Two River Theater in Jersey some years ago. But that's a show that hasn't gotten its due yet. I mean, I don't know. Peter, do you know if it's done in obvious places?

[Peter Felicia]

I've never heard of another production besides Stu river and of course I went to see it there.

[Michael Portantier]

I was wondering if maybe it's done in schools and community theater. But we'll have to research that because it's just terrific, especially David Zippel's lyrics. Really wonderful stuff. And then, and then all of the people I just named came back to do second numbers in, in the show, including Penny Fuller's One Halloween. So it was a just a terrific night. And again, so, so edifying to see that it was packed to the rafters and that everyone enjoyed themselves so much. It was really terrific.

[Peter Felicia]

In case you want to see Penny Fuller and perhaps do a number from Applause, we'll see what happens. On Monday, August 4th at 7 o', clock, I'm going to be at 54 below telling stories about my 64 year journey. Literally. Yesterday was the 64th anniversary of my attending My Fair lady as a teenager. And so I'm going to be telling stories and people are going to be singing songs from the shows that I tell stories about. Penny's going to be involved. Make Busset's going to be involved. Jose de Guzman is going to be involved, Jackie Hoffman, a lot of good people. So by all means, if you're around on Monday the 4th at 54 below, 7 o', clock, I look forward to seeing your smiling faces in the audience.

[Michael Portantier]

Josie de Guzman has been in several shows lately and I'm so thrilled to have her back. I agree. Back in circulation in New York because she's still. Boy, she still has her voice and. And she's a delight on stage as well.

[Peter Felicia]

Delight is exactly the right word. It really is. So, terrific lady.

[James Marino]

Okay, so the Christine Petty show, that was just that one evening or is.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

Do you have anything else coming up?

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, as I said, this is, I guess, a series of shows called the Wicked Stage. Really great idea she had to feature songs about show business. And when you think about it, there's really a lot of them.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure.

[Michael Portantier]

So I think she can keep this series going as long as she wants. And I'm sure 54 Below was thrilled that this one sold so well. So I think it's safe to think that there'll be a fourth edition.

[James Marino]

Okay, so. So, Peter.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

You got to see Josh Sharp's solo show called Ta Da.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right.

[James Marino]

Just like saying Ta Da. Directed by Sam Pinkleton. So tell us about this.

[Peter Felicia]

Indeed. Well, you know, whenever you see a one person's show, you really have to be impressed that the person memorized so much. Okay. However, when you really think about it, we don't really know if the person is memorized that well. Maybe there's a word off here, maybe there's a word off there, Maybe several sentences were omitted, Maybe they forgot. You know, anything like that can possibly happen. But Josh Sharp shows us that he really knows his material. Why? Because he accompanies his show with literally 2000 slides. So much of the time, when he speaks, speaking, you are actually seeing the words on the screen that he's speaking. Sometimes they're abbreviated, you know, in an LOL type of way. Sometimes he makes a point about something he doesn't like. The word is up there, but crossed out. There are a number of clever, clever graphics in this, let's say, subtitling in a strange way, way it is. But he is really quite marvelous in telling his Stories one has to do about the fact that coming out as a gay man was something encouraged by his mother. That and, and Lord knows plenty of people wish they had that experience where your mother says, come on, you know, you know. But also, just as we come to care about that mother, we find out that she ran into some very, very, very serious problems. And it's wonderful how he makes her come al for us and then guess our sympathy for, for her. So he's very, very funny. The audience really was so enthusiastic. Seldom was there a moment when the audience was not laughing. And I think that in the 85 minutes which he promises and delivers on, he really does a terrific job. A nice young man. You're delighted to be in his presence. And really, how many people could really do this, really, note for note, letter for letter, be literally letter perfect because if not, your slides are going to betray you. And certainly they didn't. They validated him all night long.

[James Marino]

All right, so Josh Sharp's show tada at the Greenwich house Theater is 3 through Aug. 23. We'll have a link to that in the show notes. So Michael, I just have a note here for myself that you were going to tell us about the stupidest theater related comments you heard this week.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes, I used to regale people with the stupidest thing I ever overheard in a restaurant or bar. And it was as New Yorkers know, there are times when we have, if we have a water shortage that there, that is sort of an edict will go down that in restaurants that servers will won't automatically bring you glasses of water, you need to ask for it. And then they, you know, they'll happily bring, bring you water. So, so I remember some years ago we were during one of those drought periods and there was, I was eating alone somewhere and there was a young gay couple sitting next to me and the one of them said rather testily to the server and can I please have a glass of water? And so the server went to get the water and then after the server exited, the guy said to his date, I don't know why they don't just bring the water. If you don't drink it, they're going to just throw it out and it's going to go back to where it came from. So that was the stupidest thing I ever heard. But now I, but now I have, I think I'm going to create a new subset of stupidest theater related comments I've ever heard at a restaurant or bar. Because I was at, well, the restaurant was Mr. Bigs but that's, that's immaterial. The restaurant bar was Mr. Big. And yes, I was sitting there and yes, again, there was a very young gay couple next to me. And I overheard three things. After the first one, I started taking notes and I'm all right, here they are. Ready? Okay. They started talking about, well, they were really, were talking about lots of different theater related subjects and shows and actors and writers and stuff. And at some point they got on Rent the Musical rant and one of them said to the. Now these are two young gay white guys, right? One of them says to the other, you know, I hate that white savior thing. I really don't need a straight white man man like Jonathan Larson to write a story about aids.

[Peter Felicia]

Wow.

[Michael Portantier]

So I almost said something, but I didn't. I just started taking notes and then they went on and they were talking different subjects and then they started talking about the current production of Pirates and the same one. But I should mention, it's the same one of the two who was doing all the pontificating and pronouncing and commenting. And he said, he said, I'm sorry, he said, but had. Having Jinx Monsoon. A trans woman being okay with marrying a minor just doesn't sit right with me.

[Peter Felicia]

Do you think this was Jamie Lloyd?

[Michael Portantier]

And I almost turned and said, you idiot, the character is not a minor. He's 21 years old. The joke is that it's. He's only had five birthdays because it's leap year, you know. But I, I didn't. I just kept taking notes. And then the final thing that this person said before I got my check and left was he got onto Sondheim and he said, I have to, you know, he said, don't get me wrong, he said, sondheim is a God. I worship Sondheim. But he never wrote a good second act act.

[Peter Felicia]

My God.

[Michael Portantier]

And so I, and so I thought, all right, now what example is he going to give of that? All right, if he, if he says, here we are, we could accept that. But that was, that wasn't finished. So that wouldn't be a good example. You can't say Follies because Follies doesn't have a second act. And I think that comp. I personally think that Company and a Little Night Music have great second acts. Do you know what show he gave as an example of a Sondheim show that has a bad second act?

[Peter Felicia]

I'm ready.

[Michael Portantier]

Sweeney Todd.

[Peter Felicia]

Wow. Wow.

[Michael Portantier]

So. So I, I just.

[Peter Felicia]

It was Jamie Lloyd. It was.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, no question. No this guy was not, this guy was not tatted up.

[Peter Felicia]

I see.

[Michael Portantier]

But he, but boy was he, he was just feeling his oats and pot. He, he looked like he was about 25, 4, which, you know, is still no excuse. But anyway, so I, I, almost everybody.

[Peter Felicia]

Has to go through stages like that. Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

Anyway, as I left, I almost turned to him and said, you know, I'm not going to use your name, but you're going to be immortalized on Broadway radio.

[James Marino]

Well, you know.

[Peter Felicia]

The one that I.

[James Marino]

I tried, I try to give people grace on these things because I know I, I think that I said way stupider.

[Peter Felicia]

Sure, yeah. Yeah.

[James Marino]

When I was 24.

[Peter Felicia]

Yep.

[James Marino]

I'm sure they said way stupid things this morning.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to be smart. No question about it.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

The only one I could think of, and this really had nothing to do with theater, was just we were in the theater and this old woman said, oh, the air conditioning in here is just so low they need to get an air conditioner with far more bituminous. And what she meant was brittle British thermal units. But btu. But she thought that was bituminous. That's the best I can do.

[James Marino]

That's like Dame Edna when she first opened on Broadway and she's like, oh, I love Bassepha. Yes, yes, great.

[Peter Felicia]

Yeah. And that he, she also had a son who said to her mom, I forget the word she said. I think was. He said he was hilarious. Well, not quite. You know, he was saying something else entirely rather than hilarious. But that's the way she heard it and remembered it and wanted to remember it.

[James Marino]

So anyway, you know, I, it's just out of the corner of my eye, I've been missing it. Rob Johnston posted about the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. They've got Hudson a section on their website on how to take the train there. And they have a shuttle from the train from the Metro north train station to the theater. And it says right there on their website, they were like, it's a five minute drive and it is not walkable.

[Michael Portantier]

All caps.

[James Marino]

Not walkable. So Hudson Valley Shakespeare. I'll throw that in the show notes. Thanks. Rob and Paul Whitty suggested that these people that we're talking about, Sondheim Times, should have a three year suspension of his theater card as required and required reading of all of Peter's books before he can reapply.

[Peter Felicia]

That'd be fine with me.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, something needs to be done, obviously. But yeah, and yes, you're right, James, that I'm sure that I, too, said something, but, you know, because the arrogance of you.

[James Marino]

No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

But.

[Michael Portantier]

But I did think that all three of those in combination just really kind of.

[James Marino]

No.

[Michael Portantier]

Took me aback. You know, it raised the stakes. Definitely did. All right.

[James Marino]

Talking about raising stakes, a show where everybody on stage needed that job. Fifty years ago, Chorus Line got to the Broadway stage July 25, 1975. Of course, it had a life just before it got to the Shubert Theater. But, Peter, tell us your thoughts. Where were you July 25, 1975? Did you see it before or after? Tell us about the Chorus line of Peter. Florida.

[Peter Felicia]

I don't know what I was doing on July 25th, but I do believe it was July 26th when the album came out and I got it and I played the first side and I was just entranced by it. So I played the first side again and again and again. And at this point, I had asked my friend Richard Norton, who was living in New York. I was still living in Boston. Richard, listen, my wife and I and another couple are coming to New York on August 9, Saturday. So four tickets for Chicago and four tickets for chorus Line. My God, these were hot tickets. And. But, God love Richard, who came through. Truth to tell, I have a feeling he didn't want to break it to me that he went to a broker or a scalper or something like that because he was a good friend by that point. I really have always suspected that was the case because we had orchestra seats for a Saturday, Saturday matinee of Chicago and Saturday night for Chorus Line. But the thing was, when I went into that. That show, Chorus Line, I only knew the first side of the record. And it was so amazing that I knew it so well. And the thing was that I wasn't prepared for the fact that hello 12, hello 13, hello, love, had so much more material. Because if you know that original album, you'd swear that that's the way it was written. I mean, it doesn't seem like anything was cut out. It just didn't. And the other thing was to find out that nothing was part of that number, as opposed to a single cut on the other album. And I mean this. When. When that sequence ended, when I had heard every song that I had heard in that record, there was a part of me wanted to jump up and say, wait, wait, wait, I gotta go home and listen to the second side before you go on. But I knew they wouldn't stop. I knew they wouldn't. So. So that's. That's the first time, August 9th, when I heard Music in the Mirror and what I did for Love and one.

[James Marino]

Okay.

[Michael Portantier]

And I, I remember that we all got the album right away and there was a little bit of a disagreement because one of our group of friends couldn't get beyond the fact that some of the singing on it is, is really not very good. I'm thinking of the only, I think the only place where it's really, really barely acceptable is in, at the ballet. Kelly Bishop or Carol. Was she Kelly or Carol?

[Peter Felicia]

Originally Bishop Carol and then Kelly, I think.

[James Marino]

Yeah, well, she's Kelly now.

[Michael Portantier]

Okay. So she would, yeah, yeah. So whatever that person who was then called Carol Bishop, there's that section of, of that that's barely acceptable, you know, from a musical standpoint. But the rest of us in our, in our group told him, you know, but it, that's kind of the point is that they, you know, it's, it's realistic and they're primarily dancers and not singers. And you really have to probably see the show to get the full effect. I remember I, I've told the story. I, I got lucky. I was not reviewing yet when that show opened, so I had no way to get press tickets and I, I, it was very difficult, difficult to get tickets just, you know, by purchasing them. But a friend of mine, I was at Wagner College and a friend of mine, he had gotten two tickets, he wanted to take a girl that he was interested in and I think initially she said yes, but then she backed out. And so then he went to me and I said, yes, I will take that ticket. So thanks to her. Her name was Jackie. I can't remember her last name. Wherever she is, thank, you know, 50 years later for not for backing out on that date. So I could see Chorus Line with the full original cast. And I remember how thrilling it was. We sat in the mez, which I think is a really a great place to sit for that show, to see the choreographic patterns, maybe even better than from the orchestra, etc. So of course that, that was absolutely unforgettable.

[Peter Felicia]

What's also unforgettable was eight years later when it broke the record held by Grease as the longest running show. And so many people who were with it here, there and everywhere came back to do it. And I only had a second balcony seat, but boy, I was so glad to be there. And what was really great, I was at the dress rehearsal and they did the one number twice because NBC had a show called the Big show and it was going to be featured that night so that's when they taped it after the show had been over, Michael Bennett came on and said, you want to see it again? And what do you think we said? So it was really. It was such a great evening. Performance 3383, if I'm correct. And just. And it was something after the opening to see the. We remember they used to. The original cast was almost all there. There were some people decided not to be part of it, but. But we. We accepted when the lights went on and told us the original cast and we all went crazy to see these people. Eight years later, when people ask me what are the greatest experiences I've had in the theater, it doesn't take me long to mention performance 3380. 83.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[James Marino]

So the.

[Michael Portantier]

I don't know how long it's been there, but on YouTube I just found there is a full version of the show. You know, it's a bootleg, but when. When Donna McKechney returned to it to the cast, uh, it has a date on it, but I'm not sure it's correct. So I'm not. I'm not going to mention it. But anyway, it is the whole show and it's quite well done from a. In terms of how well it's shot and the audio and video quality, as opposed to. As I'm sure many of our listeners know, the original production was preserved on video as basically the first entry in the Theater on Film and Television tape archive of the New York Public Library. And it is viewable at Lincoln Center. But that one is pretty rudimentary as far as the camera angles and the video quality and the audio quality are not great. This one is much better. So we're going to include a link to this performance where Rudonna McKechnie returned. And we're going to include that in the show notes for you. Also, I just sent to James, as I'm sure many people heard, there was what they called a secret flash mob. I guess flash mobs are always secret, aren't they? Or they try to keep them secret. At Lincoln Center. Was it yesterday or the day before Friday? And was Friday the actual anniversary? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that there was that as well done. On the plaza at LEGO Center. We have a link to someone's video of that which really looked like it was kind of amazing. I sure wish I had happened to be there. I think I almost happened to be there because I think I was at Lincoln center center earlier that day. Oh, well, anyway, it can't see everything but, yeah, it's. It's just a historic, historic, historic moment. And we'll see. Well, I wonder what kind of future A Chorus Line has. Some people feel like it's too dated for another revival. Too dated. Quote, unquote. I don't know if I agree. Um, but one thing that had to.

[Peter Felicia]

Change as time went on was the fact that in the original production, people gave the year of their birth. And of course, as time went on, they found that people would seem like that they would be, you know, senior citizens, even though it's established that they say time 1975, but.

[Michael Portantier]

Right.

[Peter Felicia]

There's something about it that makes you feel like you're seeing it, that the time is colon now. You know, so now they just talk about how old they are as opposed to what year they were born. That was one change that was made.

[Michael Portantier]

And there's another example of things, you know, smart changes that were made during the genesis of the show. I think everyone, by this point has heard the story that initially, Cassie did not make it into the show. She was not hired, and it was Marcia, Mary Mason.

[Peter Felicia]

That's right.

[Michael Portantier]

Who saw a preview, I guess, or a rehearsal and said no. She said, I. I think. I think really, Cassie has to make it because the audience is too invested in her, and if she doesn't, they won't be able to enjoy the closing number, the finale, fully. Now, of course, one could still argue that there's still that, you know, the devastating scene of Paul getting injured and not making it into the show. So the show, it's not like they completely sold out.

[Peter Felicia]

You know, if we're going to talk about devastation, I've always thought it was terrible that Zach has the people names. The names at the end. People, step forward. Thank you. Frontline. Go away. You know, I mean, that's making them think for 4, 5, 8, 10 seconds that they have the part.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

And then to tell them they're dismissed. I think that's truly, truly awful. And we hear a lot about how difficult Michael Bennett could be, and I think that is exhibit A on. To show us some side of his personality that I would rather not have seen.

[James Marino]

Yeah.

[Michael Portantier]

I always wondered if that was. If there was also maybe a reference there to people like Jerome Robbins and. And even Fosse, who were, you know, who could be very, very autocratic and. And sure. Extremely difficult.

[Peter Felicia]

I just don't see that happening, though, in. In a professional situation. I. Why would you want to do that? I mean, even. Even as much as we hear about Jerome, Roger, Robin, it doesn't make sense to me that even he would do that. And again, he might have routinely done that. What do I know? But, but I've always thought that was truly, truly terrible to make those people think they had it. And especially like if, if you saw the show. I mean, like one of them even put up like his hands, like he was praying, thanking God.

[Michael Portantier]

Yes.

[Peter Felicia]

That indeed it happened. And, and then to find out that both Zach and God let him down was really something.

[Michael Portantier]

I assume it's done just because it is such a dramatic moment, but I.

[Peter Felicia]

Agree, it is dramatic.

[Michael Portantier]

It's horrible. It's h. Yeah, yeah.

[Peter Felicia]

So. But, you know, despite that, it did need our criticism to be what was then the longest run. You know, and the thing is that was one that people really felt bad when it was a clip by Katz as the longest running show in Broadway history. That one that was really beloved because the other shows that broke the long run record, and I'm talking about Dolly, and I'm talking about Fiddler, and I'm talking about Greece, they were not profitable at that time. The producers said, no, we want to break this record. We'll take the losses, that'll be fine. You know, we're not losing that much, but we're going to take the losses. And so, but course Line was still profitable when it broke the record. Still making money. Because notice those other ones, you know, the moment they broke the record, they closed. You know, I mean, so, you know.

[James Marino]

So, so question for you guys. So 1975, it opened on Broadway. 1985. The movie comes out just 10 years later while it's running on Broadway and runs for another five years. What was your take on the movie?

[Michael Portantier]

You know, we don't have enough time.

[Peter Felicia]

When I start watching, I think, ah isn't so bad, you know, and then it gets really bad. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's really very painful as time goes on. And the use of what I did for love isn't nearly as effective. However, what the movie does do well is explain how Cassie can actually stay around as long as she does because she has an ally in the assistant choreographer. So I thought that was very good. Because why is Cassie on stage? Why is he even entertaining her for the little bit of time that she's there in the beginning, you know, when he says number 3940 to Cassie, you know, you know that he knows her. I guess the answer to that question is he wants to really understand what's going on with her and he's going to talk to her privately later. But I wouldn't be surprised if under those circumstances, a director who had a relationship with somebody and. And she failed in Hollywood would get her off the stage right away. But the movie does do a smart thing there with the choreographer saying, sit tight, I'll. I'll get you in. Don't worry about it. You know, so on and so forth. That he has real affection for her. So I like that quite a bit. But, boy, you know, tough stuff.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah, the movie's pretty bad. I remember people made fun of all the reaction shots of Michael Douglas as Zach while people are, you know, because Richard Attenborough, who, you know, first of all, how the hell did that happen? How was that he. The choice to direct a movie of A Chorus Line? But anyway, bizarre. I guess, you know, one of his solutions to make it more cinematic was to cut to reaction shots. And I guess people felt that there were just too many of them and poor Michael Douglas had to keep, like, smirking and smiling and, you know, laughing and whatever. But, yeah, I've told this story before, too, but when it was announced that A Chorus Line was closed. Closing, there was a press conference at which that was announced, and it was a very big deal, as you might imagine. And it was held in the Shubert Theater, and Joe Papp, of course, was there, and all the producers, John Brelio, everyone who was anyone was there. And then there was a Q and A period that Joe Pep ran. And so I. My question was, I said, given the failure of the movie version, has there been a thought of doing a professionally shot video of the Broadway production? And everybody got really quiet for a second, and Pap looked to Brelio and, like, went over and talked with him for a second and then got back on the mic and he said, well, he said, I don't think we could do that because we don't have the rights to do it because the rights still lie with the people who made the movie. Now, you know, they might have been able to. If they had thought ahead, they might have been able to do a pro shot and then held it for some years. But people don't always think in terms of things that don't have immediate return, you know, so that is a. That is a big loss. Of course, it wouldn't have had the original cast in it at that point. So. So it's great that we do have that version that is at Lincoln center, even though it's not what everyone would wish in terms of technical quality.

[Peter Felicia]

What's also interesting to Me is as successful as the show was, it has very few cast albums from around the world and so many more minor shows have had so many more cast albums and I don't know, I wonder if it's just because it's too American a show and it doesn't get done as much in foreign countries. Is that why we have so few albums? I really don't know. But that's something that certainly has occurred to me over the years, that I don't have many Chorus Line recordings in my collection and I bet you don't either.

[Michael Portantier]

No, yeah, that is a good point. And I, I, maybe it is to. Maybe it is because show business and other places is, is different. Except I, I guess the only close one would be London. Right?

[Peter Felicia]

I don't think they made an album, did they? I don't recall.

[Michael Portantier]

No, I, no, I don't believe so.

[Peter Felicia]

So, but you know, when you mentioned the, the video of Donna McKechney, she told me that indeed she enjoyed it so much more when she came back to it. You know, needless to say, the pressure, the celebrity be here tomorrow at 10 o' clock for a shoot, all that kind of stuff all over and she could just enjoy doing the show and so she had a better time the second time around.

[Michael Portantier]

Well, check out this video that we, we're linked to in the show notes because she still was at the top of her forum and it's wonderful to see it with, you know, good color and good sound and, and to see her.

[Peter Felicia]

I may be saying this out of the sequence, may be wrong, but I really think she came back to it after she had had her tremendously difficult boat bout with rheumatoid arthritis, I believe. So if, don't be surprised if I'm wrong, but I think she really had to go through that before she was able to even dance again. And then what a comeback she made again, don't quote me, but I think that's the case.

[Michael Portantier]

Yeah.

[James Marino]

So yeah, we have some great videos in the show notes, so check that out. Peter, when you mentioned the cast recordings, I thought to myself, hey, there was that Gypsy cast recording. It was just released this week and I'm wondering if Michael bought the vinyl or not.

[Michael Portantier]

Vinyl? No, I know.

[James Marino]

I have a Vinyl with a 64 page deluxe book with a copy of, of a signed photograph of Audra.

[Michael Portantier]

I read about that. Yes, I read about that. No, I did not purchase it.

[James Marino]

All righty.

[Michael Portantier]

So.

[James Marino]

That wraps it up for today. Yeah. Before we get on to our brain teaser, our musical moment, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadway radio.com this is Subscriber Subscribe Link that way each and every time there's a new episode of this Week on Broadway be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course you don't have to listen to an Apple podcast as many ways to get us one way is Patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com BroadwayRadio is one way that you can support all of Broadway radio shows and get us a little bit early and get a few extra benefits here and there. Contact information for Peter, Peter, for Michael and for me can be found in the show [e-mail] as well as links to some things we've talked about today. So Peter, do you have an answer to last week's Brain teaser?

[Peter Felicia]

In fact, I do. The leading male character in The Thornton Wilder three act classic would certainly take to the opening song of two 1960s musicals, each produced by David Merrick, but five years and two months apart. Well, David Merrick opened Stop the World, I Want to get off on October 3rd night, 1962 and how now Dow Jones on December 7th, 1967. Both shows opened with a song called ABC, which would have pleased Thornton. Well, this main male character in the skin of our teeth, Mr. Antrobus, who we're told invented the Alphabet, Tony Janicki returned to first place after finishing fourth last week, where he didn't get credit because you may recall I was away and I taped before he answered. So this is a makeup for Tony. To Tony. This week, though, he was followed by Paul Witty, Sean Logan, Isaac Blevins, Juliet Green, Ingrid Gammerman and Brigad. This week's question he won multiple Tonys for the books he provided for musicals, but he also wrote a play that closed in Philadelphia. If you take the first two words of that flop's title, you'll have the name of a person who has never appeared on Broadway. Broadway, but one, who did provide voices for a play that opened in the first decade of this new century. It received one and only one Tony nomination, but that one nomination resulted in a win. Who's the writer? What's the play? Who provided the voices? In what show did he do it and who won the Tony for that show.

[James Marino]

It's a lot of questions, isn't it? If you have an answer to some or all of these questions, email us@trivia rodriveradio.com we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, what do we have in this week's musical moments?

[Michael Portantier]

Well, I think we would all agree that one of the greatest things about A Chorus Line is the opening sequence. I hope I get it. It just thrusts you right into the middle of the audition. And it's so exciting, and the music is so great, and, of course, the choreography. And I think that just when we all got the album in. In most cases before we had seen the show, it really got us excited to listen to the rest of the album and also to finally see the show because you could only experience it from an audio standpoint at, you know, at that point. And it then when we all did see the show, I think it more than lived up to it. So our both are Open are and closer are sections of the opening number. I hope I get it. The opener is the very beginning with Zach instructing the dancers in the steps. And then the closer is the end of I really need this Job into the solo that closes the number, which is so beautifully sung by the late, great Sammy Williams. So please enjoy these two moments from I hope I Get it from A Chorus Line.

[James Marino]

Okay, so on behalf of Michael Portantier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to your Broadway radios this week on Broadway. Bye.

[Michael Portantier]

Bye. Bye.

[Peter Felicia]

Bye.

[Michael Portantier]

Who am I anyway? Am I by my resume? That is a picture of a person I don't know. What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around and here we go.

[James Marino]

I need this job.

[Michael Portantier]

Oh, God, I need.

[Peter Felicia]

This show.