| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Circlevet 09:49 pm EST 01/18/15 |
| In reply to: | Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Neilfrombrooklyn 07:53 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| Too bad he's not a better director! | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Jackson 07:18 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Circlevet 09:49 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| My sentiments exactly. J | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | oddone 11:27 pm EST 01/18/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Circlevet 09:49 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| Agreed. He's a terrible director. That he is employed so much only goes to show that most producers have no idea what a director does or how to evaluate his/her work. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | BruceinIthaca 11:47 pm EST 01/18/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - oddone 11:27 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| I thought "You Can's Take It With You" was quite good. Granted, he had as stellar a cast as you could ask for, but it's a show that needs a good "central" director. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 03:24 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - BruceinIthaca 11:47 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| I recently saw You Can't Take It With You with the two replacement cast members. I thought it was fairly good, but not as good as it could have been or should have been with that cast. I came home and watched the video of the 1983 production, and it was interesting to compare the two. The point of the view of both productions was perhaps similar and yet they took opposite approaches to convey that point of view. In the Rabb production, the Sycamores seemed mildly eccentric so there wasn't as much distance between the Sycamores and the Kirbys as Alice and the Kirbys thought. A similar point seemed to be in Ellis's mind, but he got there by upping the Kirbys' eccentricities. I enjoyed the Ellis production, but it did seem that so many people in the cast were pushing so hard to get across their eccentricities and to be funny. It was interesting to then watch the Rabb production and see how low-key it was in comparison, yet still very funny. In short, the Sycamores in the Rabb production seemed much more like people you might actually meet somewhere. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | larry13 07:15 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - AlanScott 03:24 pm EST 01/19/15 |
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| Alan, very thought provoking as always. I didn't see either production of this play. But I can't help but wonder if the question isn't just about the directorial choices and abilities of Rabb and Ellis but also about what producers AND directors, not just Ellis, believe--correctly or incorrectly--audiences today want, expect and/or need. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 08:13 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - larry13 07:15 pm EST 01/19/15 |
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| Yes, I think there is a perception that audiences today need busyness. Sometimes we think that Broadway acting today is more natural than Broadway acting of the past, but I'm not sure if that's always so true. And I will say that some of the extreme stuff in the current production is very funny. Julie Halston's ascent of the stairs pays off. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 12:17 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - BruceinIthaca 11:47 pm EST 01/18/15 |
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| I completely agree. YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU seemed to be very well directed, far better than any previous work of Ellis's that I've seen, and I've seen quite a lot of it. On the other hand, I thought THE ELEPHANT MAN evidenced some significant directorial problems. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 07:24 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Michael_Portantiere 12:17 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| I thought Ellis's best recent work was for The Mystery of Edwin Drood. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Singapore/Fling 01:13 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Michael_Portantiere 12:17 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| I think Ellis got a lot of mileage out of his production of "She Loves Me". That was stunning - and the only thing of his that I've responded to positively - but it also recycled a lot of the best elements from the original production. That was a very smart move - it was part of why the show was so wonderful - but I think it also gave people the impression that Ellis is a strong director. I can imagine, based on how often he is hired, that he runs the rehearsal room very well. And his work is always polished and well presented. And he gets his work done on time. From a producing standpoint, all of that counts for a lot. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | scoot1er 09:01 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Singapore/Fling 01:13 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| I agree. She Loves Me was stunning, but let's not forget, he had Rob Marshall as the choreographer. I am sure he had a great influence on the production. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 01:11 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - scoot1er 09:01 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| There wasn't a lot of choreography in She Loves Me. I have a theory that She Loves Me is very difficult to ruin. I've seen numerous productions both regional and college and they've always been swell. The show makes whoever is involved rise to the occasion. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 12:47 am EST 01/20/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - lowwriter 01:11 pm EST 01/19/15 |
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| My memory of Ellis's SHE LOVES ME is that the production itself was nothing special but good enough to bring out the excellence of the material, but then the over-the-top, exaggerated stating of "Twelve Days to Christmas" almost ruined it. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | BrianJ 07:14 am EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Singapore/Fling 01:13 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| Wondering which of the elements of the original production of SHE LOVES ME you felt he recycled? (I didn't see the original.) | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | Singapore/Fling 01:01 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - BrianJ 07:14 am EST 01/19/15 |
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| The design, primarily. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 01:45 pm EST 01/19/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - Singapore/Fling 01:01 pm EST 01/19/15 |
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| Well, he hired Tony Walton, who had co-produced the 1964 London production that used the original design of the Eckarts. Which in photos of the original Broadway production looks a lot better than what was in the Ellis production, but that was doubtless due to financial constraints, not to Walton being a lesser designer than the Eckarts. | |
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| re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows | |
| Posted by: | BrianJ 01:11 am EST 01/20/15 |
| In reply to: | re: Scott Ellis is the busiest director on Broadway, handling three shows - AlanScott 01:45 pm EST 01/19/15 |
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| I wonder, though - unless you're gonna impose a bold, overarching new "concept design" (for want of a better term) like Nicholas Hytner and Bob Crowley did for Carousel - how different are the designs for a classic book musical like that gonna be? And with She Loves Me mostly taking place inside and outside a fairly naturalistic shop, and the pace of the show demanding a set able to rapidly transition between the interior and the exterior... I don't necessarily see it as Ellis "recycling" so much as just doing what made the most sense (but maybe I'm only saying that cause the word "recycling" carries a negative connotation in my head when it comes to art). | |
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