| R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 | |
| Posted by: | jesse21 12:46 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| - Click here to read The New York Times obit by Anita Gates. - | |
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| Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 - jesse21 12:46 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Odd that Gates should say that Richard Kiley played the entire Broadway run of LA MANCHA when there were so many replacements, Jose Ferrer, Keith Michell and David Atkinson to name only three. Has anyone other than Marian Seldes ever played the full run of that long-running a show? I knw Merman played all of GYPSY, but that only ran-what?- a year and a half? | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 11:04 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | Gates' odd mistake. - portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| That error screamed out to me as well. It's the strangest kind of error, where someone goes out of his/her way to state a fact that isn't all that important to the main subject and gets it wrong anyway. The length of the run of MAN OF LA MANCHA is obviously germane to a Mitch Leigh obituary, but why need to mention how long Richard Kiley stayed with the show? | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | FriendofDorothy 12:58 am EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - Michael_Portantiere 11:04 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Agreed completely. If it had been Kiley's obit, I would understand why you would mention the length of his tenure in the show (although, presumably you would get it right). What is also off, the Times is legendary for having extensively researched and ready obits for all sorts of notables, which is why lengthy obits often go online very shortly after someone's death. So, if they had time to write, review and edit it, might not the mistake have been easily caught? When Sondheim passes, I hope they get the replacement cast for Anyone Can Whistle right. | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | FriendofDorothy 11:03 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | Gates' odd mistake. - portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Except for vacations, I think she also played all of the Broadway AGYG, 1147 performances. I know she took several vacations, one I think was a month. But she had no permanent replacement. Also, IBDB lists no standy/understudy for her (and it does list other understudies & replacements, so I don't think it's an incomplete record). | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 12:17 am EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - FriendofDorothy 11:03 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| It wasn't until the late 1940s that Broadway playbills generally began to list understudies. Merman did take vacations from AGYG and one rather long medical leave that got extended. She was quite tired of performing the role by the time the show closed, really had not wanted to stay in it that long but felt an obligation to do so since it would close without her. She even missed some performances closing week (probably because she was so tired by then and it was during the winter). Her original standby was Marjorie Knapp, but Mary Jane Walsh took over as standby shortly into the run. Walsh was paid $750 a week to be standby, a huge sum (probably unprecedented for a standby) at the time. | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | FriendofDorothy 12:30 am EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - AlanScott 12:17 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| Thanks, Alan. I knew she felt pressured to stay in it, and I think that caused her rift with Rodgers. Any idea how many perfs she missed? Also, I wonder if South Pacific hadn't been in the works if they would have brought in Martin to be Merman's replacement? | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 01:30 am EDT 03/17/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - FriendofDorothy 12:30 am EDT 03/17/14 |
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| She took a vacation in August 1947. I think that was two weeks. Then six weeks later she was out on what was supposed to have been a two-week medical leave that went into a third week. I think she was out three weeks altogether but I'm not sure. Then she took a six-week vacation starting July 5, 1948, which you probably know about as it was what happened during this vacation that made her furious at Rodgers and Hammerstein. Receipts plunged sufficiently that they announced the show was in danger of closing, which caused the cast to petition Equity to allow salary cuts so the show would not close. I guess she felt that the show had by that time made sufficient profit that they should have simply been willing to cover the losses during that period. And she missed occasional performances here and there elsewhere, including at least two closing week. Anyway, can you imagine if there had been an internet back then? First imagine the uproar when she took a medical leave just six weeks after her vacation and then the uproar when the leave went into a third week. And the uproar when the show almost closed during her later vacation and the cast petitioning Equity. | |
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| The error was removed... but NOT noted. | |
| Posted by: | TimDunleavy 09:28 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | Gates' odd mistake. - portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| The original posting stated: Richard Kiley remained throughout the entire run in the dual role of Don Quixote, a doddering gentleman knight with a grand imagination, and Quixote's creator, the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. (See the link below for proof.) Now it says: Richard Kiley played the dual role of Don Quixote... Usually the NYT adds a correction notice at the bottom when there's been a change in an article's text. They didn't add one this time. Perhaps they caught the error so quickly, they thought no one noticed. They don't know us very well, do they? | |
| Link | See the original quote here (while it lasts) |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 07:00 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | Gates' odd mistake. - portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| So many actors have played the full runs of long-running shows, although it does somewhat depend on what you're counting as a long run. In fact, in La Mancha, Robert Rounseville played the entire run, except for vacations, and I think that Eleanor Knapp and one or two other supporting people may have stayed for the entire run as well. I think Renato Cibelli was there for the entire run. Ray Middleton was there at the end, but he had taken a five-month break from Broadway to do the national tour. But otherwise, except for vacations, he did the whole run. Famous examples that come to mind are Myron McCormick in South Pacific and Jerry Orbach in Chicago (admittedly not that long a run). Gordon Dilworth played the entire run of My Fair Lady, although not always in the same roles. Near the end he moved up to the role of Doolittle and close the run in that role, but before that he'd been there the whole time in his original roles. In London, I believe Zena Dare played the whole run as Mrs. Higgins. Off-Broadway, Karen Johnson played the entire run of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It used to be said that William Duell and Marion Selee played the entire run of the Off-Broadway Threepenny, but he did leave near the end of the run and she died a few months before it closed. Did someone play the entire run of Cats? I know that someone was there for an awfully long time, though perhaps no the entire run. Anyway, I'm sure there are lots of examples. | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | FrenchDip 07:42 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - AlanScott 07:00 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Marlene Danielle did the entire run of Cats. She was an understudy when it opened, then played Bombalurina from 1984 until it closed in 2000. | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 07:44 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Gates' odd mistake. - FrenchDip 07:42 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Thanks! That's quite a record. | |
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| re: Gates' odd mistake. | |
| Posted by: | keikekaze 06:50 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | Gates' odd mistake. - portenopete 06:37 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Judy Holliday played the full Broadway run (924 performances) of Bells Are Ringing. And Rudy Valley was in How To Succeed for all, or nearly all, of its three and a half years. But Marian Seldes' record in Deathtrap would be a hard one to beat. P.S. Gypsy played 702 performances, about 20 months, on Broadway. | |
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| re: R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 | |
| Posted by: | peter3053 02:41 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 - jesse21 12:46 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| A major moment in musical history. The musical is one of the spiritually inspiring ones, calling us all to treat each other with even greater love and respect, even when the cynics call us mad. It says if we see each other as ennobled, we can change each other to become so. Romantic, yes, in the philosophical sense of that word. But it doesn't pull punches either. Evil and virtue are presented as they are, but, as Cervantes says, "Maddest of all is to see life as it is, and not as it ought to be!!" Vale, Mitch Leigh. | |
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| re: R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 | |
| Posted by: | Thom915 09:39 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
| In reply to: | re: R.I.P. Mitch Leigh, ‘Man of La Mancha’ Composer, Dies at 86 - peter3053 02:41 pm EDT 03/16/14 |
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| Well said, Peter. I remember during high school the song The Impossible Dream was thought of as a truly inspirational song. That was a less cynical time, I guess. So many people connected the two (song and show) that when it played summer stock people asked to see The Impossible Dream meaning Man of La Mancha rather than The Impossible Years which was coming in the following week. It was confusing. Rest in peace Mitch Leigh with all the truly nice people you meet now. | |
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