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Completely disagree about Olive (Helene York)... plot spoilers inside

Posted by: Jonesy 12:48 am EDT 03/14/14
In reply to: Bullets Tonight - robert_j 11:03 pm EDT 03/13/14

Her performance was the very definition of stealing the show. She basically made the other actors (who aren't bad) dull and uninteresting in comparison. The show perks up whenever she comes back into a scene.

If anything, she's too good... because when she gets killed halfway through Act II, the show basically just plods along to the end... which is a problem.

Provided they don't make her tone down her performance (which would be a shame, because it's so much fun), I think she's a contender for the Supporting Actress Tony this year.

Another problem is that the plot just ends the show on kind of a blah. Stroman tries to kick it up with that silly Bananas song, which is fun, but not big enough to end the show.

Overall, this is Stroman trying to recreate her success with The Producers. She succeeds quite a bit. There are a lot of really great "big production numbers" that she's known for, and they don't disappoint. But the problems with the show weigh it down.

Oh, and Santo Loquasto's sets... they look very expensive. Which is a good thing. How they are able to store all those huge pieces offstage must be an engineering miracle.


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Yes, we have no bananas...

Posted by: showtunetrivia 10:49 am EDT 03/14/14
In reply to: Completely disagree about Olive (Helene York)... plot spoilers inside - Jonesy 12:48 am EDT 03/14/14

Okay, you've got me curious about this Bananas number, if only because I remember the one in the MINSKY'S musical. Details?

Laura, who, as Al Stewart wrote, was "born too late to see Josephine Baker"


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re: Yes, we have no bananas...

Posted by: CamMacFan 11:22 am EDT 03/14/14
In reply to: Yes, we have no bananas... - showtunetrivia 10:49 am EDT 03/14/14

I had forgotten all about Minsky's. That show had potential


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re: Yes, we have no bananas...

Posted by: Jonesy 11:22 am EDT 03/14/14
In reply to: Yes, we have no bananas... - showtunetrivia 10:49 am EDT 03/14/14

At the very end, in the show-within-the-show's after party.... after all the plot threads have been wrapped up, the gangster who financed the show starts a number about a saying his mother once used to say... "Yes, we have no bananas"... which turns into a big musical number in which the principals (who are still alive) each have a turn as couples twirl in the background.

Then they go into the curtain call.


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re: Completely disagree about Olive (Helene York)... plot spoilers inside

Posted by: robert_j 01:06 am EDT 03/14/14
In reply to: Completely disagree about Olive (Helene York)... plot spoilers inside - Jonesy 12:48 am EDT 03/14/14

I think that the part of Olive is a winner, but for me Helene York was loud and obvious and missing in star quality. I feel like a better comic actress could have done so much more with it.

I also thought the "Hot Dog" song was really vulgar, but that wasn't her fault.


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