I totally forgot about that wretched production of Bye Bye Birdie--easily the worst production I've seen at Roundabout, probably the worst revival of anything I've seen on Broadway, and definitely in the top (bottom?) ten worst musical productions I've ever seen on Broadway.
That being said, I genuinely liked his production of Dreamgirls, which I forgot he directed. I know there's talk of bringing the Casey Nicholaw production to Broadway from the West End. I also know that there are a lot of strong feelings on this board about the necessity of authenticity in representation. But, sweet Jesus, if we have our fourth major production of Dreamgirls in NYC and it's the fourth directed by a WHITE MAN, my "Black ass" (Effie's words!) will be outside that theater protesting.
Longbtoom also did a stellar production of Hay Fever at the Old Globe with Alan Campbell and an early-career Santino Fontana whose every second onstage announced him as a star-to-be. |
