Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: Does BYE BYE BIRDIE work in 2020? | |
| Posted by: theotherwasblue 07:33 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: Does BYE BYE BIRDIE work in 2020? - Teacher64 03:18 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| I think there are moments that are genuinely funny and enjoyable, but some book scenes drag on and material doesn’t land well. Even years ago I thought some of Conrad’s interactions with the teens were questionable. I’ve seen a good amount of productions cut the Shriner’s dance, thankfully. Albert’s mom is a fun role for an older character actress (throw in her act 2 song for fun). The music still holds up. I think it’s one of those shows that so many people can see/have seen at community theatres/schools that a major mounting seems unnecessary. | |
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| re: Does BYE BYE BIRDIE work in 2020? | |
| Posted by: BigM 05:42 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Does BYE BYE BIRDIE work in 2020? - theotherwasblue 07:33 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| I think it's a very well crafted show that would certainly work now. I don't get what's so problematic about the Shriners' ballet. Spanish Rose seems a lot more awkward, at least to me, but a good enough Rosie could probably sell it. And I certainly don't think the film (which I found pretty awful) is popular enough with today's audience to get in the way. | |
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| The same can be said about music man and west side story | |
| Posted by: dramedy 07:44 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Does BYE BYE BIRDIE work in 2020? - theotherwasblue 07:33 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| And yet there are a highly anticipated revivals | |
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| re: The same can be said about music man and west side story | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:07 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: The same can be said about music man and west side story - dramedy 07:44 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| "The same can be said about music man and west side story." What do you feel is "the same" that can be said about WEST SIDE STORY and THE MUSIC MAN as compared to BYE, BYE BIRDIE? I think the scripts of the first two are vastly superior to the third, with little or no material that now plays as tremendously dated and politically incorrect. |
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| Major remounting on broadway | |
| Posted by: dramedy 01:34 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: The same can be said about music man and west side story - Michael_Portantiere 12:07 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| Due to local productions. I think WSS and MM are done locally also and yet we still get broadway revivals every 10-20 years. | |
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| re: Major remounting on broadway | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:34 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: Major remounting on broadway - dramedy 01:34 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| Ah, thanks for clarifying. | |
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| re: The same can be said about music man and west side story | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 07:47 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: The same can be said about music man and west side story - dramedy 07:44 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| If Hugh Jackman were going to do Bye Bye Birdie, that would be a highly anticipated revival too! ; ) | |
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| re: The same can be said about music man and west side story | |
| Posted by: Mac29 05:50 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: The same can be said about music man and west side story - keikekaze 07:47 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| If Hugh Jackman was just greeting patrons in the lobby and he wasn't even in the production, people would flock to that theatre. | |
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| re: The same can be said about music man and west side story | |
| Posted by: theotherwasblue 09:39 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: re: The same can be said about music man and west side story - keikekaze 07:47 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| While I agree, I don’t believe Bye Bye Birdie is as highly regarded as the other two shows. | |
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| Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 11:11 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
| In reply to: re: The same can be said about music man and west side story - theotherwasblue 09:39 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| While BBB is an enjoyable musical with a fun story, solid characters and a generally wonderful score, it doesn't hold up to even a B grade level of the best of Broadway, in my opinion. In the 60s and 70s, sure, maybe it was a B musical in an A production, but with 60 years of new musicals since it just doesn't make the cut at all. But even when it came out, competing for a place in the history of notably brilliant musicals, it didn't hold a candle to WSS or MM. | |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: theotherwasblue 12:51 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - Chazwaza 11:11 pm EDT 04/25/20 | |
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| I think either Disney Channel or Nickelodeon should do a modern adaptation of it. Could easily be brought up to date. | |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 01:42 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 01:40 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - theotherwasblue 12:51 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| How could it be brought up to date? We no longer have the draft (the event that puts the whole story in motion), we're not in a war, and although there's always a "generation gap," the mores are very different now than in the 50's. (Let alone the whole concept of a random young high school girl being kissed by a hunky rock star on national TV would play very very differently now.) I think it works best left in its time period, otherwise it just wouldn't be Bye Bye Birdie anymore. | |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: theotherwasblue 02:08 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - Chromolume 01:40 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| a loose adaptation of it could very much be done with some bright eyed, fresh faced teen star. obviously, it wouldn’t be a direct adaptation with the war and draft, and that’s what writers are for. it wouldn’t be the Bye Bye Birdie everyone knows per se (and that might be for the best), but it could be fun. | |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 08:59 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - theotherwasblue 02:08 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| It wouldn’t be the Bye Bye Birdie everyone knows per se At which point I say - just write a new show instead, instead of sorta kinda not really doing the original one? |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:44 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - Chromolume 08:59 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| "It wouldn’t be the Bye Bye Birdie everyone knows per se. At which point I say - just write a new show instead, instead of sorta kinda not really doing the original one?" Of course. If anyone were foolish enough to attempt to update BYE, BYE BIRDIE, it would have to so completely rewritten -- including the text and most of the songs -- that it would bear virtually no resemblance to the original. One could try to write a new show about a music phenomenon in the present day, sort of generally inspired by BIRDIE, but it would have to be an entirely new show with a new score and a new book. I may have mentioned this before, but I once came across a script of a very weird revisal of BIRDIE, presumably from the early or mid '60s, that centered not around an Elvis Presley-type character but around a group called "The Birdies," meant as a takeoff on the Beatles. Just from reading it, I thought that idea didn't work at all! |
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| re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 02:38 pm EDT 04/26/20 | |
| In reply to: re: Music Man and WSS especially are masterpieces, BBB is not - Chromolume 08:59 am EDT 04/26/20 | |
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| It is so specifically rooted in a brief era in American culture, an era in which rock and roll was seen as a passing fad, that the only way to approach it would be as a period piece. Time has been kind to the Eisenhower presidency, but the era itself epitomizes what so many have tried to move on from. Is anyone nostalgic for it? Should they be? Would a black Birdie help? |
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