Random Theatre Thoughts

[Culturegeek]

Andre de Shields in Hadestown is amazing. His singing/feeling in "Road to Hell (reprise)" just induces goosebumps it's so good.

[Culturegeek]

For those who have Amazon Prime, Heidi Shreck's play "What the Constitution Means to Me" will be airing there. Directed by Marielle Heller!!!!!!

[malcolm1980]

Broadway will remain dark at least through May 2021.

[Above the Title]

Producers were rumored to have told over the summer that October 2021 is the likeliest attempt at a re-open. (And "Music Man" announcing December 2021 is in keeping with that.) There's no feasible way to distance/mask backstage. The dressing rooms in those old buildings are tiny, cramped, and have no air flow. What would they do about the orchestra pit? The audience is the easiest to distance but there is no financial model that allows for even breaking even at 33% capacity. Broadway has NEVER been closed for more than a couple of days. It reopened September 15, 2001! This is beyond devastating.

[emmygrammyoscartony]

I was doubtful. I really wanted to stay in a state of refusal even listening to it because it is, IMO, based on the greatest album of all time. That, and jukebox musicals have become so trite and completely and predictably cliche. But "Jagged Little Pill" is so fucking unbelievably great. I listened to it straight through after revisiting Morissette's album, and every song on this OBCR is infused with new life. It is like hearing them for the first time. They sound musical but those rock roots are still there. Then, I read the plot synopsis while listening to the album a second time, and it was even more incredible. Cody, Morissette, and the producers of this musical deserve all of the Tonys. And fucking Elizabeth Stanley and Kathryn Gallagher really shine on their songs.

And now, I am just listening to it on a loop. <3

"Smiling," "That I Would Be Good," "Forgiven," "Head Over Feet/Your House," "Uninvited," "No," and "Your Learn/Thank U" are my faves. I am listening to this on a loop ALL WEEK. :-) <3

[malcolm1980]

A few theaters at London's West End are starting to open up.

Their rules could make for a good blueprint on how Broadway can too in the coming months as well.

[Above the Title]

Whew lots to dissect as Broadway prepares to reopen:

--Laura Osnes committed career suicide by being unvaccinated. She was fired from/"dropped out of" a Crazy for You concert in the Hamptons but is now unemployable at any union house in the country as they all have a vaccine requirement.
--Alice Ripley has been accused by a TikToker of emotionally manipulating and abusing many pre-teen and teen girls, utilizing her knowledge of their queerness and various mental health struggles via their fandom with "Next to Normal" to get close to them, encourage in-fighting, making them her "Children" on Facebook, then accusing them of stalking her, banning from stagedoors, etc. (I know several people that this happened to at the height of that show's success...it wasn't pretty.) She canceled her own upcoming concerts this weekend to lay low.
--Natalie Mendoza will be replacing Karen Olivo in "Moulin Rouge!" when it reopens as Karen has (once again...) quit the theatre as it's not a place dedicated to equity and diversity.
--The (white male) Managing Director of the Pioneer Theatre Company in SLC was discovered to have lied about basically, including his DEGREES, on his resume, and has been forced to step down.

[Above the Title]

Alice Ripley 'traumatized' young fans

[NUguy514]

Yiiiiiiiiikes, Ripley always seemed to have a screw loose, but that's incredibly sick and abusive.

I read about Osnes' self-cratering her career; I hope the courage of her moral convictions can keep her warm at night.

Karen Olivo...so much talent, so much drama.

[NGL]

I find it interesting that Peter Debruge could write a middling-at-best review of Dear Evan Hansen and still say it was better than the Broadway musical, which dominated its years Tony Awards. Could it be that there are so few Broadway openings in any given year that all the competition is to open on Broadway, and, once something opens it has much less competition to go all the way and win the Tony Award, even if it is fairly mediocre? Also, with the comments about Ben Platt's age, it appears that age appropriateness of actors is much less an issue for Broadway than the movies. After all, Platt comes off as a triviality compared to Celia Keenan-Bolger, who as a 40-year-old woman, won a Tony for playing the pre-teen Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird.