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This Week on Broadway for May 18, 2025: Peter’s London Trip
01:02:32
Peter Filichia, James Marino, and Michael Portantiere talk about Peter’s trip to London where he saw Oliver!, The Devil Wears Prada, Les Mis, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Richard II, My Masterbuilder, Here We Are (Sondheim),
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- [00:04]
Peter Felicia
We love you oh, yes, we do we love you forever and we'll be true when you're not near us we love oh, how much we love you SAO and welcome to Broadway Radios this.
- [01:00]
James Marino
Week on Broadway for Sunday, May 18, 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 desk calendar, A show tune for today, 366 songs to bright New Year has been released. Peter also has columns at Masterworks, Broadway, Broadway select, and many other places. Hello, Peter.
- [01:25]
Peter Felicia
Hi.
- [01:26]
James Marino
Welcome back from London.
- [01:27]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, thanks. A good time was that?
- [01:31]
James Marino
Well, we're gonna, we're gonna talk about that. I, I, I'm, I'm not sure how you can fit, fit the 86 shows that you had there into just the few days that you were there. But we will talk about that in a bit. But first, let's start with the show tune for today.
- [01:46]
Peter Felicia
They're playing our song from. They're playing our song this because this is a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, because on this date in 1965, his first song was released. He was all of 20 years old when Sunshine, Lollipops and Roses was released, and he wrote when he was 18. In the interim, he became the rehearsal pianist for Funny Girl. And could he ever have imagined when he was a rehearsal pianist that he would write that star's famous song, the Way We Were? But indeed he did. But They're Playing Our Song was somewhat autobiographical because he was running around with Carol Bay of Sager at the time, and she was a songwriter as well. And so, and I'll never forget, I interviewed him at the Friars Club at a lunch once, and we talked about Carol. He said, carol Bayer Sager? Yeah. Yeah, she was. And you could tell he was angry. I said, free spirit. He said, she wasn't free at all. She was very expensive. So that's, that's the song for today.
- [02:46]
Michael Portentier
Peter, just a correction. It was Sunshine, Lollipops and rainbows.
- [02:50]
Peter Felicia
Oh, is that right?
- [02:51]
Michael Portentier
Yeah. There's that other song, lollipops and Roses, the one that Jack Jones, that hopelessly dated song that Jack Jones made into a hit.
- [03:01]
Peter Felicia
But is that Wives and Lovers?
- [03:05]
Michael Portentier
No, that's another one.
- [03:08]
Peter Felicia
Okay.
- [03:10]
Michael Portentier
Jack Jones recorded a lot of those.
- [03:12]
Peter Felicia
Okay, thanks.
- [03:14]
James Marino
Well, that other voice that you heard is Michael Portentier. 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 photography work atfilm follow spotphoto.com hello, Michael. Hello at Michael. You know, we're at the end of the season and there's a lot of jockeying around for Tony Awards and other awards and things like that. And I think that I did. Was it, was it real? Women have Curves released a bunch of tracks from their upcoming full cast recording. We're going to have to see that on cast album reviews dot com. You don't, you don't, you don't start reviewing these piecemeal as they start dripping, dripping them out with press releases, do you?
- [04:05]
Michael Portentier
Well, I, I mean, they're, they're, the cast albums, as I've said, are just coming fast and furious.
- [04:11]
James Marino
Yeah.
- [04:12]
Michael Portentier
We recently posted reviews of Operation Mincemeat. Death Becomes her maybe Happy Ending. And we have so many more coming. Oh, I, I myself wrote a review of Gyps. So, yeah, really, it's, I'm very glad that I have some wonderful new contributors to castalbumreviews.com because I don't think we'd be able to keep up otherwise. But they're just doing yeoman work, so it's really, really great.
- [04:47]
James Marino
Well, you also, last Tuesday had dinner with Sandy Duncan, didn't you?
- [04:54]
Michael Portentier
Well, I did have dinner with her afterwards, but that was after our live interview at the Laurie Beachman Theater at the Bank Cafe on Tuesday the 13th, which I'm so gratified to say was a tremendous success. Absolutely sold out. I think even some people had to be turned away, which is, was wonderful because Sandy, I mean, I'm not sure how serious she was, but she said to me at one point when she agreed to do it, let's hope that anyone's there besides me, you and God, you know, but, you know, she's very, very, very fondly remembered and beloved. And I introduced, the way the evening began was I took the stage and I said that I had been seeing Broadway shows since 1969 and that I became a theater critic in the mid-70s. And so from that point on, I saw, I've seen the vast majority of Broadway and Off Broadway shows that have opened during that period. And I said, occasionally someone will come to me and say, what was the best show you saw in all of that time? And I usually sigh and I say, well, it's almost an impossible question because how can you compare, first of all, how can you compare a drama to a light comedy to a Musical, I said, but also, I've seen literally hundreds, probably thousands of shows on Broadway alone. And so it's very, very, very difficult to try to even attempt to pick one show. And then I usually pause and say, but if you twisted my arm and insisted that I pick one, I would have to say it was Sandy Duncan and Peter Pan. So that got hand. And then we showed a wonderful clip of I'm Flying from Peter Pan. And then Sandy took the stage and got like maybe a three minute ovation as she walked from the back to the front. And then as we kept showing the clips, there was wild applause and cheering during the clips. And at one point I sort of turned to her and said, see, you can get all that without doing anything. So it really just was a wonderful love fest. And I'm so glad that it worked out.
- [07:08]
James Marino
Oh, that's. That is wonderful.
- [07:10]
Peter Felicia
You bet.
- [07:10]
James Marino
So. And. And it is still available for streaming. People can go back and revisit it again.
- [07:19]
Michael Portentier
No, alas, there was a technical. Yeah, it was live streamed successfully with only some very minor sound issues right at the beginning, but it seems to be lost to the ages. Unless someone has a way of recording directly from their. Their live stream, which I'm not sure if that technology even exists. You can tell me.
- [07:43]
James Marino
Yeah. All right. Well, Peter, what is the thing that you say you can't see them all?
- [07:49]
Peter Felicia
That's right.
- [07:50]
James Marino
Is that you can't see them all. But we, you know, this is why we get together on Sunday mornings for the last. Oh, God, 15 years, 16 years, something.
- [08:00]
Peter Felicia
It's adding up.
- [08:02]
James Marino
It is adding up. When did we start? I have it here somewhere in the show notes, but it is quite something. So, Peter, you got stuck. Were you a victim of the Newark Airport closure or.
- [08:22]
Peter Felicia
No, it's. And that's the funny part of it, because we were flying from JFK and we said, oh, thank God we're not going from Newark with all the problems. I mean, we'll have no problem getting in and out. Yeah. But no, our flight was canceled. I don't even know why, but. So that kept me from being hailing last week. But anyway, yes, I saw eight shows in London. It would have been nine, except I got bad information about the outdoor production of Shucked that was at Regents Park. They didn't do a Sunday night. So I was sorry about that. But. But what I did see was Oliver Revival, which is pretty much over the top, directed when Jack looks out at us, the Artful Dodger that is, and starts clapping his hands in unison and Nodding and encouraging us to clap along and consider yourself. That's the type of production it was, and it just wasn't for me. That night I was at the Devil Wears Prada, which I dare say was about 40% full at best. And there's Vanessa Williams. And as the star this time as the terr. Terrible boss, who's just awful if you know the movie well, unlike Death Becomes her, which I really bragged about from the fact that he, the book writer, Mario, had completely changed the dialogue. This was the dialogue, as usual, from the movie. And I wish there were more introspection. I would love a song where Miranda, the boss, tells us why she became such a horrible human being. That's really worthwhile. Or I would like a song where finally, when Miranda lets down her guard after her husband dumps her for the. For the assistant to say, well, why did you become what you became? What did it? You have to understand how horrible you are. It would be a good time for her to explode. She doesn't in the movie, to be fair. But I think that would have been a good opportunity. So it was very boilerplate. So it wasn't good. I also went to Les Mis, mostly because I want to see how it reduced. They moved from the Palace Theater to the Sondheim Theater. And isn't it interesting that Sondheim is the only person to have a theater named for him in the West End and on Broadway. So this came across as a regional production. I only mean that in terms of size, regional productions are fine. And so was this. It was a very, very fine production of Les Mis. Everybody was in good voice, et cetera, et cetera. However, because it's reduced there. There isn't as much scenery. And one of the problems is you don't get the sense where he is when he has that. When the bishop or the priest, whatever that religious person is, takes him in. There's no set for that. And you get confused. And also you get a little confused about the scene where he. There's a homeless person who's thought to be Jean Valjean. And they're about to convict him, and he comes in. The setup for that isn't well set up either, but, boy, I. Les Mis is a very controversial show among people who truly, truly, truly love Broadway musicals because plenty of people who do hate it. I think the music is glorious. And as a friend of mine said, there's a spirituality to it. So it was good to hear it again. I don't think I've heard it since the last revival. So. So that was really a good thing. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is very different from the movie. I don't know the original story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but in the movie it takes place in New Orleans. Here it takes place in England, which they may have done because of course we're in England. But there were also differences too about. In the movie the baby is abandoned. It wasn't. It's very much done in the style of Girl in the north country and Dead Outlaw. So you have a bunch of people on stage playing, singing, occasionally dancing, all that goes with that. The original lead was injured and so Benjamin Salter has been doing it for a while and he's really terrific. So is the rest of the cast. I mean, if you like Dead Outlaw and Girl in the north country in that style of show, unit, set, people playing, you're going to have a really good time because the music is very good in that style. So that was terrific as well and that was delightful. Delighted to have that experience. I went to Richard II mostly because Linda just loved Shakespeare and the idea of seeing Shakespeare in London is. Is significant to her. So she did stay. And Jonathan Bailey, who's a star of sorts, played Richard II very, very well. Very sure footed production by Nicholas Heitner at his Bridge Theater. That was a theater built actually for him and done on a thrust stage, a long thrust stage and really galvanizing every step of the way. And boy, even though you never see very much in sets and props with Shakespeare, boy, they dragged out the mama's cannon at one point and luckily they did not use it on us. So my Master Builder. Wow. You know, I expected that this was going to be like an Enemy of the People with Amy Herzog massaging Ibsen script. No, this is actually a sequel. If you know the Master Builder, you know that at the end of the. The Ibsen play the architect falls off the steeple and gets killed. That doesn't happen in this version. He has survived and indeed is 10 years later. And the girl that inspired him in the Master Builder wrote a book and all about her relationship with him and she submitted it to a publisher and the publisher turns out to be his wife. That a little too convenient, I think it may be. Ewan McGregor was in a very well acted he and everybody else. But boy, the coincidences just piled on and piled on and eventually I lost any faith in it and threw up my hands. But. But it was enjoyable on a certain level and I certainly am glad to have gone. Then I went to Here we Are The Sondheim I've show the last one. It really is quite a replica of the original, which really surprised me tremendously that it was business as usual. It's always a treat to see Jane Krakowski, and she certainly didn't disappoint here. Dennis o' Hare's in it too. I mean, so it was. It was. But really, if you had seen it, hearing, and Lord knows a lot of people didn't, you'd think you were seeing the same show. And. And while, of course, we wish there were more music in the second act, we understand why there isn't it. It's on its own level. It's. It's certainly enjoyable. And finally, the comedy about spies. Now, I had lunch with Ron Fassler beforehand and he happened to be in town, and I said, gee, I love the play that goes wrong, and I love Peter Pan goes wrong. He said, well, this isn't like that. This isn't a goes wrong show. This is simply a British farce. Of course, in the British farce, everything goes wrong too, but that's part of the script. So highly enjoyable. Spies A are looking for spies B, they know they're in a certain hotel room. They barge into the hotel room. However, Spies Bees didn't like the hotel room, so they moved to another room. And now you have new people in the room who have no idea why these people are coming in with machine guns ready to kill them dead. They're petrified. And the only excuse that the machine gunners can think of is where with the hotel, we just check to see and make sure that your room is perfectly fine. Well, of course we see people with a sheen cut, even if the water's dripping in the bathroom. You say, yeah, yeah, everything's fine. Yeah, yeah. So I thought it was very funny and. And I would have gone to shuck. That night I was told they had a Sunday performance at Regent Park. They did not. So my heart is broken, and I kept myself from throwing myself into the Thames out of despair and figuring, well, eight shows at least is better than none, even if it's not better than nine.
- [16:31]
Michael Portentier
Peter, I have two questions. You said you didn't get to see Shucked, but what's your impression of how well it's going over in England?
- [16:38]
Peter Felicia
Not a sense. That was the first or second performance. So that's what I really want to see with the Yuma translate. And I had my doubts it would, but I'll never be able to say for sure.
- [16:51]
Michael Portentier
Oh, okay. I thought maybe, you know, I didn't know how far in the run it was?
- [16:55]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, of course. Yeah. It's Regent park, so they have to wait till the weather's kind of nice, you know, so.
- [17:00]
Michael Portentier
Right. And then it's interesting. I. I've read a couple of reports on. Here we are. And, you know, some people are, like, really, really, really obsessive into the minutia. And they had. A couple of people said that they felt that Act 2 was significantly different, but what they consider significant, you know, might be not what we would consider significant. According to some reports, some of the dialogue has been rewritten, and there is some music that wasn't there before. But you weren't sensitive to any of that.
- [17:37]
Peter Felicia
No, and I'm not saying that's not true. It just seemed to be the same to me, but that's the best I can do. It even seemed the blocking was exactly the same to me. So, anyway, so we have a listener.
- [17:53]
James Marino
Over in London, John Schwab, who is a big supporter of Broadway radio. And I'm gonna have run that by him. He's. He is somebody from the US who has transplanted himself and. And lives in London now. So I. I guess he. He might be able to gauge what the reaction is from Shucked. I'm not sure. Maybe he saw it here. But I'll ask him and report back if I get any information about how it went, how it's been received over in. Ludicrous. But that sounds like, despite being shocked. Did you say shucks? Shucks. Shucked is not Shucks. Not there. But, Peter, you also. When you got back.
- [18:44]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [18:45]
James Marino
Was it when you got back, or maybe it was before you left? You got over to Bergen County Players to see a little Night Music, which is running through June 1st.
- [18:53]
Peter Felicia
So they're not running next weekend because it's Memorial Day, but. But they are running the following weekend. And. Well, what I really love is when I go to a community theater and somebody enters and gets entrance applause. And that happened with Sky Monroe, who played Desiree. But that's really great when that happens. You know, it really does indicate that community theaters can build their own stars, and this certainly is one of them. Now, this was directed by Steve Bell, who we know because every now and then he'll get a brain teaser, and sometimes he finishes first, and he certainly finishes first as a director, because what was really so wonderful is because he's worked with this organization so many times and indeed played Sudalus not that long ago at the theater. He really knows his audience. He knows what they will laugh at, what they will not. And he really played to those strengths and that's what was so wonder. So it's a very accomplished production of Night Music, which is always wonderful to see. And I also admire the fact that he cut down the so called overture because I do believe that's such a confusing opening because people are looking at these people and saying, what are they singing? What are they singing about? Why they stop singing and going into another song. Who are they? So he ameliorated that tremendously. And I thought that was very, very smart. But really everybody was quite fine. And I certainly enjoyed seeing Marion McCab neighbors, Madam Armfeld, who did a wonderful job with liaisons and. But if you're in the neighborhood, you certainly will have a good time at this little night music. Very strong, very accomplished, and bless Steve Bell for knowing how to do it.
- [20:42]
James Marino
All right, so Little Night Music is at Bergen County Players is playing through June 1st. As Peter says, there's some cancellation. Not cancellations, but no, no performances for some days week because of the upcoming holiday. But we'll have a link to the Bergen County Players website in our show notes. It's a really great website. So good information and so we'll have a link to that also. Peter, you down at NYU at the Italian Theater Festival of 2025 in is it CISM C I Z M of NYU. Not sure what this is, but you got to see 6 characters in search of an Author. So tell us about this.
- [21:40]
Peter Felicia
Well, the thing is that this really should have been called four characters in search of an author because there are two children and six characters in search of an author. And they didn't have them. They alluded to them. But I'll tell you, this is a group that came up out of nowhere. I. Somebody named Nick Gabriel adapted it and directed it. And I am telling you, the acting was so strong. It was amazing to me how there wasn't a weak link and they were all giving galvanizing performances. So this was on East West 12th street at Casa Italiana. And I'm telling you, a little space and packed, packed. I. I was amazed. It was open seating, but it took me a while to find a seat. I mean, I just sauntered over. I live on 14th Street. I just sauntered over. You know, figure I'll sit wherever. My God, the place was enormously bad. So yes, this was part of the Italian Festival. New York Encina. Michael, we need you for the Italian here. S C E N A is pronounced how Shayna. Ah, see, that's why we need you. So. But the actual place was called Casa Italiana. And I'm telling you, it was such a treat, you know, when you go expecting nothing. And that sounds like a backhanded. Not even backhanded, but a real knock. But, you know, you don't know what you're getting into. It's just been a long time since I've seen six characters, which I love. It's such a funky play, but literally, characters come in and say, please, will you do a play for us? We're characters, your actors. Can. Can something happen here? It's been a long time since I've seen. That was the motivation, but I was delightfully surprised at how wonderful the acting was. So, once again, as the Yankees used to say, at any moment, a great moment. So true of theater, too. At any moment, a great moment.
- [23:46]
James Marino
So, yeah, it. From what I can tell from their website, Peter, it seems like it was only. They're done with performing. Is that. Do you know?
- [23:57]
Peter Felicia
They are, I'm sorry to say. Yeah. Yeah. And today's the last day of the actual festival where there are so many other things going around. Even a Casa Belvedere on Staten Island. You must know what that is, Michael.
- [24:08]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, that's actually what I thought you meant when you first mentioned this. Yeah. And by the way, and if in case it's not obvious, sheyna is the Italian word for scene. S C E, N e. But also it can refer to the. To the stage and theater in a more general way. So it's a really good name in that sense.
- [24:32]
James Marino
So the SISM, the CiZM that I mentioned before it on the NYU websites, Casa Italiana, Zarelli Marimo at New York University. So NYU just sprawling again, north, south, east and west.
- [24:53]
Peter Felicia
But I admire that Italian, Michael. My parents used to speak Italian only when they wanted to keep something from me. So.
- [25:02]
Michael Portentier
Yes, it's useful for that.
- [25:07]
James Marino
So.
- [25:08]
Michael Portentier
Oh, by the way, just quickly, there's a new movie called Nonnas N O N N A S. Have you heard of it? It's about this actual restaurant on Staten island, like two doors down from the St. George Theater that has been famous for a couple of decades now. Maybe because they have actual Italian grandmothers in the. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Wow. And it's now a movie with Lorraine Bracco and Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire and Joe Manganiello and. And Vince Vaughn, who also produced it. He plays the lead, the guy who kind of gets it all going.
- [25:53]
Peter Felicia
Is he from Staten Island?
- [25:54]
Michael Portentier
No, I don't think so.
- [25:56]
Peter Felicia
It would have been nice if he Grew up going to that restaurant. How long do you think it's been around?
- [26:01]
Michael Portentier
You know, I said decades. It's probably, I forget, it's maybe like about 20 years. Yeah.
- [26:11]
Peter Felicia
How wonderful.
- [26:12]
Michael Portentier
And, and of course they filmed it in Jersey.
- [26:14]
Peter Felicia
Oh, no.
- [26:17]
Michael Portentier
You know, so except for the shots at the ferry of him getting off and on the ferry, you know, but, and, and the screenwriters from Jersey. But she, she, I guess she just became enamored of the story. Honestly, I, I, I thought the screenplay, the actual dialogue was the downfall, but so many wonderful performances like from those three women and.
- [26:39]
Peter Felicia
Sure.
- [26:40]
Michael Portentier
And the others. So you really, you really, it might be worth your time.
- [26:44]
Peter Felicia
Wow, that's great.
- [26:45]
James Marino
Yeah, I, I haven't seen this. But just your brief description of it, it sounds like it's, it's just ready to be converted to a musical.
- [26:54]
Peter Felicia
Yeah. Doesn't it?
- [26:55]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, absolutely. I hadn't specifically thought that, but yeah.
- [26:59]
James Marino
That sounds, that sounds like that could tear down the house. That could.
- [27:03]
Michael Portentier
And maybe they could do it first at the St. George Theater. Theater.
- [27:05]
Peter Felicia
What a great idea. And we know party would be. Yeah.
- [27:11]
Michael Portentier
Well, no, it's tiny. It's tiny.
- [27:15]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [27:20]
James Marino
So, Michael, there were a few things in the news that we wanted to talk about. The Broadway News had an article on Tony Ward's representations. Tell us about this.
- [27:29]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, I will send it to put in the show notes. I mean it's behind a paywall, but, you know, if you can get to it, I just think, you know, it is, it is certainly worth focusing on that the, this year's Tony nominees are so representative of not only African Americans, but also Latinos because of shows like Real Women have Curves and the Buena Vista Social Club and even Asians, you know, who are still, I would say it's fair to say, under represented on Broadway because of, if only because of yellowface. And I think that's just, just great when it happens, you know, especially when it happens organically like that. Of course, we never know when things are going to be produced and it just kind of the luck of the draw.
- [28:24]
Peter Felicia
Yeah.
- [28:25]
Michael Portentier
But isn't that great? Especially for Asians and Latinos who, I don't think that there has been as much focus on them recently as there has been on African Americans. But if you just read the nominees, it really is kind of a Rainbow Coalition thing and I just love that.
- [28:55]
James Marino
So in this, in, in this time leading up to the Tony Awards just coming up in a few weeks from now, Broadway News has all of these interviews called 5 minutes with xxx and things like that. It really, in a. Some great insights and some great reading and things like that. You know, Broadway News has sort of become the variety of the day, you know, and Variety used to be behind a paywall, which was annoying, but Variety is no longer behind a paywall. But, you know, really doesn't cover Broadway the way that they used to. Right, But Broadway News is behind a paywall. I wish that it weren't, but it really is an industry insider type of thing. But if you are a huge fan, you should consider subscribing to Broadway News and we'll have a link to all the, all those things in the show. Notes that. Michael, that article about the representation. And then also, as I mentioned, we are in the awards area of the year for us, for the Broadway and theatrical community. And. And here comes the Audience Choice Awards. This is the broadway.com one. Is that the one?
- [30:20]
Michael Portentier
Well, there's more than one. Yeah. I did just want to make a point. As I said before we started recording, I really, I'm really against these awards, all of them, because for the simple fact that there's no oversight whatsoever, at least not according to my understanding, people don't have to have seen a show to vote for it. People can vote multiple times. I, I knew of one specific case of abuse in one. In one, one of the awards in the, in the Cabaret category a few years ago, really just kind of outrageous. And, And I, it makes me sad because the, the legit awards, the Tonys and the dramatists, they really, really do make an attempt to have oversight over the voters and to see that they actually saw the show and that, you know, they are the ones who were voting. A few years ago, there was a big deal on that because I think it had been discovered that some Tony voters were actually giving their tickets to, like, friends and not seeing the shows themselves. And they really, I mean, I think it was a tiny, tiny percentage of people who were doing that, but they really cracked down on that. So there really, there truly is an attempt to make it legit for that award and the drama desk and all the other legit awards out of critics, et cetera. But these Audience Choice Awards, to me, they're just counterproductive. And I'm sad to see really talented people who are also nominated for the legit awards just really supporting these Audience Choice Awards when they get nominated. And I almost want to write to them and say, don't you realize that you kind of, you know, that they don't really mean anything? And I think that devalues the other awards in a way, when you try to put them on the same category now. Also, I used to be hesitant to say all of this that I'm saying right now, but because I thought maybe it could be perceived that because I never got nominated that it was sour grapes. But I was nominated twice last year for Jerry Orbach's Broadway along with my dear friend J. Aubrey Jones, who was also in the show. And so I guess in my mind that gives me freedom to say what I'm saying now. So I really, I don't want to make. Make a big, big, big deal out of it, but I do hope people will consider that because there is no oversight at all and because you don't have to see the shows and because it can be just a popularity contest and because you can vote multiple times, they're really almost meaningless. And on a related note, I find this so interesting. There was an article that appeared very recently, a couple of weeks ago, and it says Academy decides watch films before voting in category. And it started by saying. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced a significant rule change starting with the 2026 Oscars. Members must watch all nominated films in a category to vote in that category. This policy aims to ensure more informed and fair voting, addressing past criticisms where members admitted to not watching all nominees. Verification will be conduct through the Academy screening room platform or via a seen elsewhere form for films viewed outside the platform. This change is part of a broader effort to enhance the integrity of the awards process. And I think that's great. And that goes in line with what I said about how the Tonys had made extra efforts in recent years to just keep everything on the up and up. So I applaud that greatly. And it's interesting that the, I guess that the theater awards, the Tonys, you know, and the other theater awards got there before the film industry did. But still, better late than never. And I think that's really great.
- [34:55]
Peter Felicia
I hate when people write me and say my niece is up for an award. Please click here and vote. I'm sure you've gotten those too. And I never do. It's just wrong.
- [35:07]
Michael Portentier
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm glad you agree. I mean, I guess I've done it in where like recently there was a. A thing that a magazine put out to vote for your favorite bar or vote for your favorite restaurant in your area. And I. And I did that, but there were no nominees and it just seemed like a different. A difference.
- [35:29]
Peter Felicia
That is different. Sure.
- [35:30]
Michael Portentier
Yeah.
- [35:31]
James Marino
Yeah. So also this week we had some interesting News that after I spent $1,000 to go see George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck, I found out I could see it on CNN for free coming up. So, Michael, tell me about that while I'm bitter.
- [35:58]
Michael Portentier
Dare we ask, did you actually.
- [36:00]
James Marino
Oh, yeah. Actually spent a thousand bucks to see George Clooney. Good night and good luck. Yeah.
- [36:06]
Peter Felicia
Wow.
- [36:06]
Michael Portentier
Wow, wow. Well, I hope you think it was worth it. Yeah.
- [36:12]
James Marino
There with my wife fawning over George Clooney for three hours. That's, you know. Well, I guess this show was only 100 minutes, so. Yeah, there's. Anyway, Michael, you were.
- [36:21]
Peter Felicia
Happy wife, happy life.
- [36:22]
Michael Portentier
Well, maybe. Well, maybe at least she appreciated it if you. If you didn't.
- [36:28]
James Marino
All I have to say is she recognized George Clooney.
- [36:35]
Michael Portentier
Well, yes. Saturday, June 7th, which I believe is the penultimate performance of Good Night and Good Luck because their last show. Is this correct? Is the matinee on the day of the Tony Awards? Sure, yeah.
- [36:49]
James Marino
Yeah, yeah.
- [36:50]
Michael Portentier
And they're billing it. Interestingly, they're billing it as the first live telecast of a play from Broadway. I was trying to think if there have been any live telecasts of a musical from Broadway. I know there was Legally Blonde, but that wasn't live, was it? Or was it?
- [37:10]
Peter Felicia
I think it was.
- [37:11]
Michael Portentier
Maybe it was. Maybe it was, and then. And I don't think. But again, maybe I'm wrong. The last performance of Rent. Was that live before it became a home video?
- [37:25]
Peter Felicia
That. I don't know.
- [37:26]
Michael Portentier
Yeah. All right. But, yeah, so maybe Legally Blonde. Anyway, it's still. It's pretty historic and because the. Because given the subject matter of the play, which is all about television, you know, in a way, it seems like a natural George Clooney. I. I forgot to research this, but I. I think I mentioned this a while ago. Wasn't he. He was in the live TV version of Failsafe Safe. So I guess it's something he really likes to do. I mean, of course, he's a huge TV star, but his. But his series. His TV series weren't live. I. I think it's. It takes a lot of guts, you know?
- [38:11]
Peter Felicia
Oh, it does.
- [38:12]
Michael Portentier
I. I admire it. I really do.
- [38:14]
James Marino
Oh, and then Fail Safe. In the year 2000, broadcast live in black and white on CBS, star George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, Harvey Keitel and Noah Wyman. Wiley. No, Wiley from ER with George Clooney. Yeah, yeah.
- [38:28]
Michael Portentier
You know, I've never seen that.
- [38:30]
James Marino
I hope.
- [38:31]
Michael Portentier
I'm sure it's still available in some form. I should see it, because I love the movie, although it's very hard to watch, you know, because of the tension. And then parenthetically, I did just want to say, not to sound like a broken record, but Good Night and Good Luck is one of many shows where the press agents have been continually sending out press releases saying that they broke the box office record at whatever theater for the, you know, for the fifth time in a row. And I, I. In case this even needs to be said, I, I just wanted to point out that there's literally no comparison to the olden days because. For three reasons. Because first of all, the ticket prices, the base ticket prices are so, so much higher in general. And also the existence of premium tickets on top of that, which of course are even higher by a significant factor. And of course, when they give these figures, they just base it on dollar amounts. If they based it on attendance, it would mean something, but they're just, just basing it on dollar amounts so they do not count for those two reasons. But also, as it suddenly occurred to me, there are so many more ways and many easier ways to buy tickets nowadays than there were in the past. Where it may be hard for people today to believe this, but there was a time not that long ago when the only way to buy tickets for a Broadway show was in person at the box office or at a scalper's office or via mail. You couldn't even do it by phone for many, many years. I'm not sure when that started.
- [40:29]
James Marino
Let me interrupt you for a second. The hotel concierge network, things like that.
- [40:38]
Peter Felicia
Every hotel used to have a booth. That's right. That's a good point. Yeah, there was a tiny markup, but yeah, it's true that that was the case. But yes, Michael, you're right. By. That was the way it was done, ironically enough, off Broadway shows in the 60s, you could call up and order tickets, but not Broadway.
- [40:58]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, I mean, yes, all right, so I left out the concierges. But my point is, you had to do either in person somewhere or via mail. Not by phone, not by credit card, not by Internet, because there was no Internet. So I, for one, find all the. Of these press releases annoying. And I realize that they, they feel they need something, you know, to keep the show in the news. But, but, but to me, it's counterproductive because it's, it's, it's like an insult to the intelligence of the people who are reading the press releases who are supposed to, like, not say, well, of course they, they broke the record for the fifth time. You know, tickets are a thousand dollars now when they used to be 15.
- [41:44]
Peter Felicia
Right.
- [41:45]
James Marino
Michael, the. I don. You are up on this. But the, the New York Knickerbockers are having a pretty good season and just beat Boston Celtics over at Madison Square Garden where ticket prices were in the 30 and 40 thousand dollars a seat.
- [42:09]
Michael Portentier
So everything's relative, isn't it?
- [42:12]
James Marino
It's all, you know, the, that you.
- [42:16]
Peter Felicia
Can see on tv. Tv, yeah.
- [42:18]
James Marino
And the good and see better.
- [42:21]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, indeed. Ain't it the truth.
- [42:24]
Michael Portentier
But at the moment I'm, I'm not even, I'm not even specifically focusing on how expensive everything is. I'm. I'm focusing on the comparison.
- [42:31]
James Marino
Yes.
- [42:32]
Michael Portentier
The totally, the totally ridiculous comparison to how, how well shows used to do. I mean I'm sure if you, if you, if, if you know, if there were there was an Internet when South Pacific opened that, that they would have broken records weekly as well. Yeah.
- [42:55]
James Marino
Hollywood talks about, you know, the gold standard used to be Gone with the Wind.
- [43:00]
Michael Portentier
Yeah.
- [43:01]
James Marino
But they, they talk about ticket number of tickets sold instead of the act actual grosses because Titanic has blown out the industry. And Titanic I believe is the industry standard for the gold standard in Hollywood now. But the number of tickets sold for butts and seats in a theater, I wonder if that could be the new standard. But people don't care about that anymore. They just care about these $4 million a week headlines.
- [43:38]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, but maybe they've been trained to that. To me, anyone with half a brain would realize that there's no comparison.
- [43:47]
James Marino
Yeah. I think it's bigger than Broadway though. I think that it's everywhere.
- [43:51]
Michael Portentier
Oh, absolutely.
- [43:53]
James Marino
All industries. Yeah.
- [43:54]
Michael Portentier
No, I've read many articles on movies. I once read an article that gave the hundred most successful movies in the world and Gone with the Wind was somewhere near the bottom.
- [44:10]
James Marino
So one thing I, I wanted to talk about last week, but Peter, you weren't here. Was that about two weeks ago we had the announcement of the Theater World Award winners. And not to put you on the spot, I have the list here. Let me run through the list. The 2025 Theater World Award honorees for outstanding Broadway or Off Broadway debut performances during the 2024. 2025 theatrical season. Alana Arenas for Purpose. Kit Connor for Romeo and Juliet. Patsy Faron, A Streetcar Named Desire. Tom Francis for Sunset Boulevard. Jake Malone for Operation Minsmeat. Paul Mescal for A Streetcar Named Desire. I had a question about that. Lewis McCartney, Stranger Things. Marjan Neshat for English Jasmine. Amy Rogers for Boop Boy, everything's coming up roses for Jasmine. Jasmine, Amy Rogers these Days, Nicole Scherzinger for Sunset Boulevard, Helen J. Shen for maybe Happy Ending, who should have had a Tony nominee and Sarah Snook for the Picture of Dorian Gray. The 16th annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in Theater went to Shailene Woodley for Cult of Love, the 12th annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater for Leslie uggins, and the 2025 Special Award for outstanding Broadway Debut Performer slash playwright. Some guy named Clooney, George Clooney. So is your speech written?
- [45:56]
Peter Felicia
My opening monologue is, yeah, I'm raring to go there. But what I want to say about Theater World, if you love us or hate us in terms of these elections, in the 26 years that I've been tallying these votes, I have never seen so much unanimity. So we have nine people who make the decisions, and every year somebody picks somebody that nobody else wants and et cetera, et cetera, because. But this year it was by far. The names kept on cropping up on everybody's ballots. So love us or hate us, but that's the way it turned out.
- [46:30]
Michael Portentier
And I think that's wonderful.
- [46:32]
James Marino
This is the 79th annual theatre awards ceremony. Monday evening, June 2, 7pm at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, 1501 Broadway. My favorite building in New York.
- [46:45]
Michael Portentier
I have a question about. I. I've never been. Is it. Is it a theater?
- [46:50]
Peter Felicia
There's a nightclub and it has about 300 seats. I haven't seen it myself, ironically enough. I'd never been in the building. I went in and I said, where's the theater? And the woman said, we don't have a theater here. And I thought, oh, my God, you know. And so I talked to the powers that be. I said, they say they don't have a theater there. No, they don't. They have a nightclub. You would think that you would have said to me, we don't have a theater. We have a nightclub, but we don't have a theater. But you didn't say that. So.
- [47:14]
Michael Portentier
So it's table seats, meeting.
- [47:16]
Peter Felicia
I guess I haven't seen it. Yeah, I don't know.
- [47:18]
Michael Portentier
And I guess that's a. That's much smaller than. Than some of the other venues you've had, so that.
- [47:22]
Peter Felicia
Oh, indeed. Oh, indeed. Yes, indeed. Money's tight, to be perfectly frank. Money's tight. So this is the best we could do.
- [47:28]
Michael Portentier
Yeah.
- [47:29]
Peter Felicia
So frankly, so many of our donors said, we're so afraid of what's happening. With the stock market, we just can't do it.
- [47:36]
Michael Portentier
Yeah.
- [47:37]
Peter Felicia
You know, so we have another person we can blame for this. We got a million of them. Yeah.
- [47:47]
James Marino
So my other question for you is, how is the annotation of the season going?
- [47:57]
Peter Felicia
Oh, terrifically well. I'll tell you what happened, though. I had to. For people that don't know what we're talking about, I'm annotating updates on the season. The book by William Goldman, and in different color flare pens at every page. Every page will have a notation. So I. I had two copies of the book. One my old one from 1969, and one a new one that somebody gave me. And I was doing it in the old book, figuring I'd keep the new book, but the old book was so battered, I thought, I can't put this up for auction. This is terrible. So I'm now putting all the things I had put in the old book in the new book. So that's taking time, and that's why I'm a little behind on this. I'm up to page 318. There are about 420 pages in the book. I hope to finish it this week. We shall see what we shall see. But I do want to put it up for auction and for the theater world. Aw. Out the check to Theater World Awards, not me. And. And that would be nice. And maybe if the auction goes well enough, we'll be back in a Broadway theater next year. We'll see.
- [48:56]
James Marino
Oh, good. Excellent. So. And do we know if you have so many people on this list that are. That are, you know, just pulled in so many directions in the next couple of weeks. Do we know if.
- [49:19]
Peter Felicia
Well, here's what we do know. We do know Kit Connor isn't coming because he's filming in London. Of the other. Of the other 11, 10 said, yeah, we'll be there. So we're still waiting to hear from one other, but it looks like they're all going to be there.
- [49:34]
James Marino
So. Streetcar Name Desire, Patsy Farron. Was that the band production?
- [49:44]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [49:46]
James Marino
You consider that off Broadway?
- [49:48]
Peter Felicia
Well, it's in the area. I mean, you know.
- [49:50]
Michael Portentier
Okay.
- [49:51]
James Marino
Yeah, it's right soon. You know, it's.
- [49:55]
Peter Felicia
We try to be inclusive.
- [49:59]
James Marino
It has crossed the river. The river where the Mexican boat hit the. Hit the bridge.
- [50:07]
Peter Felicia
Oh, I know. Huh. Wow. It wasn't bad enough to happen in Baltimore, but wow.
- [50:12]
James Marino
Yeah. So, yeah, I was. When I saw that, I was like, oh, Theater World Award went over the river and through the woods.
- [50:21]
Peter Felicia
We did.
- [50:22]
James Marino
So, okay. So, all right. Anything else that you guys have. Before we wrap it up for this.
- [50:29]
Michael Portentier
Week, I'm just, I should mention I'm going tonight talking about people being pulled in different directions. Jonathan Groff and some of the other creators of Just in Time are going to be doing a discussion at 7pm at the 92nd Street Y, which is where the show started in a prototype version a few years ago. And I saw it there. So, you know, I mean, I think it's great that I'm sure that he's exhausted, but I think it's great that Jonathan is, you know, is going to do this personal appearance, you know, that he's loyal to the why. And I'm sure it'll be absolutely packed and it'll be really interesting to hear what he and the others, Alex Timbers and the others have to say about what has turned out to be a terrific success.
- [51:23]
Peter Felicia
And meanwhile, I'm off to New Jersey to do a show called Broadway Tunes and Tales with Aaron Davy, Nude Joshi and Asia Barrows. They'll be doing the singing, interspersed with stories I have from my life as a theater goer, reviewer, writer, what have you. So we're doing that out in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and we did it yesterday and I have to say the response was very good. I'm very glad about that. But these people can really sing the songs that punctuate the stories that I have to tell.
- [52:01]
James Marino
All right, so that wraps it up for this week. Before we get on to our brain teaser and our musical moments, I want to remind everybody that you can subscribe to to these broadcasts by going to the front page of broadwayradio.com there's a subscribe link. That way each and every time we have a new episode of this Week on Broadway, it'll be automatically downloaded to Apple Podcasts for you. Of course, you don't have to listen to us on Apple Podcasts. There's many ways to get us. One way is Patreon P A t r e o-n.com broadwayradio. You can support all of Broadway radio shows as well as get us early and join us on Sunday mornings for live recordings and various other bonus things that happen for various levels on Patreon. Contact information for Peter, for Michael, and for 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?
- [52:59]
Peter Felicia
In fact, I do. Two shows of the 50s open with the same song as two shows in the 60s, what were they? Well, there were New Faces of 1950, New Faces in 1956, New Faces in 1962, New Faces of 1968. They all opened with the same song, which was simply called Opening by Ronnie Graham. Sean Logan was the first to get it, followed by Paul Witty, Tony Janicki, Fred Abramowicz, Larry Loder, Ingrid Gammerman, and Brigad. This week's question, what do the prom crazy for you and Oliver have in common?
- [53:37]
James Marino
Okay, if you have an answer for that, email us@triviabroadrayradio.com we'll let you know if you're on the right track. So, Michael, we have a special musical moments this week.
- [53:49]
Michael Portentier
Yes, the great Charles Strauss died on May 15, 2025 at age 96. One of the true, true greats. And also, also a real mensch of a person. And also hilariously funny. Two stories I've told before, but if you'll indulge me, I'll tell them again because I just think they're hilarious. And the first one, I'm pretty sure is in Mr. Strauss's memoir. But he also told me we were talking about Dance A Little Closer, one of his flop musicals. And he said, well, the show was co written but also directed by Alan J. Lerner. And one of the stars was Liz Robertson, who was married to Mr. Lerner at that time. Maybe his, I don't know, seventh or eighth wife. Thank you. Thank you. And so Charles said, we learned two things on that show. The director and the writer should not be the same person. And neither one of them should be fucking the leading lady.
- [55:01]
James Marino
Oh, boy.
- [55:03]
Michael Portentier
Yeah. And then the other thing was just a little personal thing between him and me because we were talking and I remember asking him because I figured, who else could I ever ask this question to? In applause, on the cast album of applause, there's the song the Best Night of My Life, beautifully sung by Penny Fuller. And it starts off with little tinkly bells kind of sound. Very, very sweet tinkly bells. But then you hear a guitar plunk out the first few notes of Side by Side By Side by Stephen Sondheim from Company. So you hear tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. And then you hear. And I, you know, I mean, I. And that show came right after Company. So I said, I said, was that, you know, I couldn't help noticing that that's. That melody. Did. Did you do that on purpose? And he said, well, now I'm going to have to kill you. But he never actually answered the Question.
- [56:15]
Peter Felicia
Oh, I dare say that applause opened before Company though of course, who knows who hears things in Baxter's audition because as I Recall, applause Opened March 31. Company, I think opened around April 24 or something like that. But again, they both have engagements and who knows what they heard at parties and what go on and so forth. But anyway, for the record, that's what happened.
- [56:39]
Michael Portentier
Well, or if he had just said no, no, our show.
- [56:43]
Peter Felicia
Yeah, right, right, yeah.
- [56:44]
Michael Portentier
Or if I look, you know, if I had looked it up to see. Oh yeah. But I guess it might be just a coincidence. But listen to it and tell me if it does not sound exactly like is it. I look forward to it anyway. He was a great man, you know, he's one another one of those if only people. If he had only written. Well, if he had only written Annie, he would be a legend. If he had only written Bye Bye Birdie, he would be a legend. And then there were some other wonderful shows too. The vastly underrated Golden Boy.
- [57:18]
Peter Felicia
I thoroughly agree.
- [57:19]
Michael Portentier
I did get an Encores production, which I assume they thought of moving it to Broadway. Maybe it just wasn't that big a hit. But I don't see any reason why that show should not come back to Broadway. I think it would be a hit if it was cast correctly, if they got the right people. So I really hope that happens, I really do. I sent along two photos that I took in 2008 at a tribute to Mr. Strauss at the Paley Center. This was back when they used to do a lot of wonderful theater related programs which they don't do anymore. And that's another story that we won't get into. But they really had a lot of wonderful things and so I looked it up. I, I had almost forgotten that I had even taken these photos, but here's the info. On Monday, June 2, 2008, the Paley center for Media hosted a tribute to Charles Strauss on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The event, applause, applause. A Tribute to Charles Strauss featured rare television footage, a live piano performance by Strauss and Andrea McArdle who created the title role in the original cast, the Broadway Muskulani, and a panel discussion about his life and work moderated by Paley center president Pat Mitchell, Peter Felicia, theater critic, the New Jersey Star Ledger, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera was on the panel. Friends in the audience included Thomas Meehan and Martin Charnin, you know, the book writer and lyricist of Annie. And so there's the two photos. One is a photo of Charles taken. I Think right before or afterwards at the Paley Center. But then the other photo is an on stage photo of Andrea McArdle, Charles, Pat Mitchell and Peter Felicia. So it was nice to see those photos and they brought back memories of that wonderful event. And so much to choose from for our musical moments for Charles Strauss, needless to say. But our opener is what is billed as the overture, the beginning of the overture of Bye Bye Birdie from the original Broadway cast album. Although I am told that it was actually the entr. You would never believe it that it wasn't the overture because it's so exciting. It starts with that use huge orchestral glissando and then into the girl singing, we love you, Conrad. And then there's a you huge string build into the song. Baby, Baby, Talk To Me. Yeah, Baby Talk To Me is the title, which I think they thought was gonna.
- [60:20]
Peter Felicia
That's right.
- [60:21]
Michael Portentier
Become the big hit.
- [60:22]
Peter Felicia
That's right. Yeah. Charles told me that.
- [60:25]
Michael Portentier
And it, you know, it had some play, but. But it was certainly overshadowed by Put On a Happy Face and One Boy and. And several of the others.
- [60:34]
Peter Felicia
A lot of living to do.
- [60:35]
Michael Portentier
A lot of living to do, which.
- [60:36]
Peter Felicia
Is not in the overture or on track, if you will.
- [60:38]
Michael Portentier
Yeah, right. And, oh, and by the way, you know, the point has been made that although it's not, of course, an authentic rock score, Bye Bye Birdie did arguably bring rock sounds to Broadway for the first time, as far as most of us can tell. And that's. So that's historically significant in that way. So that's our opener after all that. And our closer is one of. I think. What I think is one of the most beautiful songs ever written for Broadway, maybe from Annie, as sung by the aforementioned Andrea McArdle.
- [61:20]
James Marino
All right, so on behalf of Michael Potentier and Peter Felicia, this is James Marino saying thanks so much for listening to Broadway videos this week on Broadway. Bye bye bye.
- [61:37]
Peter Felicia
Betcha he reads Betcha she sews maybe she's made me a closet of clothes maybe they're strict as straight as a line don't really care as long as they're mine.
- [61:57]
Michael Portentier
So maybe.
- [61:59]
Peter Felicia
Now this prayer the last one of its kind Won't you please come get your baby, baby.