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| re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 03:55 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
| In reply to: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s - bobby2 01:20 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
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| Re Jennings and Louise: I don't remember any furor. Perhaps there would have been some if there had been an internet. I certainly was disappointed that they were not nominated. And I was so pleased they won the Drama Desk awards for their performances, which for me have never been equaled in those roles. The Drama Desks were televised that year. I think it was the first time they were televised, and then it was a long time before they were televised again. IIRC, they were on Channel 5 in New York in the early afternoon on a weekday. Of course, the Tony winners in the featured or supporting category in 1979 were really the leads in that show. They were eligible the previous year for the Drama Desks (and placed in the correct category), but they lost to Ken Page and Nell Carter. I think there was some puzzlement over Mills not being nominated for a Tony, but there also was a feeling that even though her singing was terrific, her acting was not very good. She did get a Drama Desk nomination. |
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| re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s | |
| Posted by: bobby2 04:16 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s - AlanScott 03:55 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
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| Agreed about Louise and Jennings never being equaled. I was thinking that when I saw the Barrow Street production. I don't know if it is due to political correctness but people don't seem to play Toby is the simpleton he is referred to in the script. He's played more as innocent and not impaired as I think he was meant to be. Louise must have been quite a force. I noticed in stuff on youtube she gets the biggest applause of the supporting players (perhaps equal to Jennings but more than the rest) |
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| re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s - bobby2 04:16 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
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| Yes, Jennings and Louise pretty consistently got the strongest response of the supporting players. They were also the only two principals who did not wear body mikes. It's really only Mrs. Lovett who says that Tobias is a bit of a simpleton, but I do think it makes sense to play him that way. I don't think she's just making that up to provide an excuse for the Beadle. And Jennings did play it that way, although he played it as being partly as a result of the abuse that Toby had endured. He talked about some of this in an interview during the run. Part of why he was great is because he excels at characters who are off in some way. I don't think I've ever seen him play a normal person. Onstage he's always strange and big. |
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| re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s | |
| Posted by: bobby2 05:14 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s - AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
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| that is so interesting about the body mikes. Was that their personal choice? I was just looking over is Broadway credits. I the only thing else I guess I ever saw him in was Urinetown. Funny how he was in Grand Hotel and never played or even understudied the Michael Jeter role. I would have thought that that was something that would have been a good fit for him. |
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| re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:57 am EDT 08/19/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Odd Tony omissions from the 70s - bobby2 05:14 am EDT 08/18/17 | |
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| I don't really know about the body mikes. My guess is that it was just felt that neither of them needed body mikes. Truth is that for all I know, it's not true that they didn't wear them. I can't remember who I heard it from decades ago, but I do think it was true. For one thing, as the run went on, I think Ken Jennings could have used one, really just for a few moments here and there. Merle Louise always came through loud and clear, but that is a tiny role (if a demanding one). Without someone special, that character can almost disappear, she has so little stage time. There certainly was never any danger of that with Merle Louise. Jennings was a Kringelein understudy, although not on opening night. I don't know exactly when he became an understudy for the role, but at some point he did. Actually, there was an exception to what I wrote about him, or at least probably it was an exception: I saw that Circle in the Square All God's Chillun Got Wings, and I don't remember him in it. His role was pretty small. Well, actually I think i do have a vague memory of him in it, but I might be just imagining this. :) But after Sweeney, I saw him in Present Laughter, London Assurance, A Christmas Carol, Side Show and Urinetown, and he was always quirky and strange, sometimes to an extreme degree. Which I don't mean as a criticism. I love him. I'd walk the plank for him. He's one of the unsung greats. |
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