| Little Johnny Jones | |
| Posted by: dbdbdb 04:27 pm EDT 07/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: May the 4th be with you: Turner Classic Movies screens 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' and '1776' tonight - WaymanWong 03:32 pm EDT 07/05/21 | |
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| I saw Little Johnny Jones. It came from Goodspeed Opera House, where it had been done with Thomas Hulce in the title role. Those were the days when Goodspeed revivals regularly transferred to Broadway -- Whoopee, Going Up, Very Good Eddie, The Five O'Clock Girl -- never with much success. It was also the season when, between September and June, the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon) hosted an astounding five flops in a row: Merrily We Roll Along, The Little Prince and the Aviator, Little Johnny Jones, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. If memory serves: Little Johnny Jones was sweet, fast-moving, cheerful, and had some lively choreography. But there was nothing to it. The book, which had been adapted by Alfred Uhry, barely existed. A couple of fun Cohan tunes, but it was overall very mild and one hadn't the faintest idea what it was doing in a big Broadway house in 1982. Donny Osmond was totally competent but didn't have the ability to carry a show as weak as this. Maureen Brennan was fun as his love interest. I think it marked the end of the illusion that anyone would strike gold with one of those rickety early 20th-century vehicles from Goodspeed, although I guess David Merrick tried it one more time, a few years later, with Oh, Kay! |
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| Previous: | re: May the 4th be with you: Turner Classic Movies screens 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' and '1776' tonight - comedywest 04:27 pm EDT 07/05/21 |
| Next: | Keeping up with the 'Jones' - WaymanWong 05:22 pm EDT 07/05/21 |
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