| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - Ncassidine 03:35 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Zoglin's article is ridiculous, and condescending to his readers who don't live in New York (oh, us poor rubes out in the sticks who couldn't possibly understand a joke about Brooklyn!). But I want to highlight the two most (to me, at least) ridiculous statements in the article: "star Idina Menzel (who has made the show a near sellout, thanks to John Travolta’s mispronunciation of her name at the Oscars)" Really? That's the only reason that the show is selling out? If Travolta had called her by the correct name, the show would be selling fewer tickets? That's... insane. And "Rent, which is sort of the original New York musical." Again, really?! Ever heard of On The Town? | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 04:01 am EDT 04/01/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Just posted this comment there. Re Mothers and Sons: I'm a gay man — and a native New Yorker — who found Katharine a tremendously sympathetic character. It seems to me that she is perhaps something of a self-portrait on McNally's part. Certainly McNally gives her plenty of experiences with which we can empathize. In fact, the other characters all empathize with her, even if Cal and Will don't really want to feel empathy for her. That is clearly part of the point of the play: These characters are a family, even if they don't know it till the end of the play. Mr. Zoglin right about one thing: It's a bit of a stretch that a woman who reads The New Yorker does not know what the AIDS quilt is. Mr. Zoglin writes that Tyne Daly "is about as convincing playing a Dallas matron as Kim Kardashian would be playing Mother Teresa." But the character is not a Texas native. She grew up in a working-class community in Westchester. This is repeatedly emphasized. She repeatedly says how out of place she feels in Texas, even after living there for decades. She mentions her home town again and again. Mr. Zoglin writes that Rent is "sort of the original New York musical." It's a good thing he said "sort of." Any moderately comprehensive list of "New York musicals" would go back decades and would include Guys and Doll, On the Town, The New Yorkers, West Side Story, Knickerbocker Holiday, Dearest Enemy, Company, Promises, Promises, Up in Central Park, Bells Are Ringing, Sweet Charity, Wonderful Town, Mame, Fiorello! and many more. A list of classic and semi-classic New York musicals would go on and on and on. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | ryhog 08:37 am EDT 04/01/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - AlanScott 04:01 am EDT 04/01/14 |
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| re reading the New Yorker... I think there are a lot of people who read the New Yorker and nonetheless would not know this. Everyone who reads a magazine or newspaper does not automatically know everything that is in it. I don't think it is that far-fetched that she would consciously avoid any articles or content mentioning AIDS. It is also, of course, possible she knew all about it and was affecting ignorance. The bottom line to me is that this seems like a silly nitpicking criticism-what difference does it make if you liked (or hated) everything else about the play? It may not be the silliest thing he said, but it strikes me as unwarranted. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | bway1430 09:50 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| I wish posts had a "Like" button ala Facebook. You are spot on. Saw IF/THEN Saturday night and didn't miss a joke, including the one about the MTA announcer....not bad for an Atlanta resident, huh? | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | keikekaze 07:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| And "Rent, which is sort of the original New York musical." Again, really?! Ever heard of On The Town? Exactly--not to mention The Garrick Gaieties, The New Yorkers, Hazel Flagg, Fiorello!, West Side Story, How To Succeed, Wonderful Town, Hello, Dolly!, and the list goes on and on and on. My eyeballs practically fell out of my head when I saw that line! | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | larry13 09:04 am EDT 04/01/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - keikekaze 07:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Seems like RENT was HIS "original New York musical." If you started going to B'way. 20 years ago and/or you know--and care--nothing about its history, it's plausible this is what you could come up with. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - MikeR 03:53 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| I'm not sure why Zoglin thinks the themes in these current pieces would be any more difficult to understand than, say, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK or THE CRUCIBLE. These classic plays are set in very specific times and places and yet seem to have themes universal enough that audiences continue to connect with them. I haven't seen IF/THEN, but I could imagine anyone anywhere coming away from MOTHERS AND SONS with their own thoughts about grief, guilt, and moving on with ones life amid the ghosts of the past. You don't have to have the specific experience of living in colonial Massachusetts or a 1940's Amsterdam attic to fully engage with those plays, so it seems a bit disingenuous to claim that MOTHERS AND SONS and IF/THEN can only be understood and enjoyed by New Yorkers. | |
| Link | Jere-Rigged |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 11:07 am EDT 04/01/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - JereNYC 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Very well put. Universal themes are what make plays and films hits. Whether a show is set in New York or Iowa has little to do with why people relate with stories like WEST SIDE STORY or THE MUSIC MAN. And, of course, a great percentage of Broadway ticket sales are made up of out of town buyers. And of all the things I've read about MOTHERS AND SONS, Tyne Daly's performance is almost always mentioned as it's greatest strength. Comparing her abilities to Kim Kardashian is a bit off the mark. His opinion for sure but with all the other blunders in his piece, it's hard to take his opinion with more than a grain of salt. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 05:10 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - JereNYC 04:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| pretty uninformed piece all around. when was b'way not nyc-centric? no other generation of tourists seemed to have any trouble following along. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | mikem 06:16 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - enoch10 05:10 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Zoglin named the recent Grease revival, one of the worst productions I have ever seen on Broadway, to his 10 Best of the Year list. He also voted for The Little Mermaid for the Best Musical of the year in the New York Drama Critics Circle voting. (Passing Strange, Adding Machine, Next to Normal, Xanadu, Cry-Baby, and A Catered Affair were also eligible that year. He was the only critic who voted for Little Mermaid as the best. No one else even put it in their Top 3.) Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but he seems totally out of left field sometimes. | |
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| re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) | |
| Posted by: | enoch10 09:07 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Is Broadway Only for New Yorkers? (Time Magazine) - mikem 06:16 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| >> The Little Mermaid for the Best Musical of the year well there you go. | |
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