Threaded Order Chronological Order
| How was the LuPone revival in 1983? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
| In reply to: Why isn't Oliver! ever revived? - charles1055 11:15 am EDT 08/21/21 | |
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| Not good I'm guessing since it closed so quickly. Surprising she didn't get a Tony nomination. Ron Moody did. Patti lost out to Rhetta Hughes in another flop show. I would have thought this would be a good role for LuPone. Must have been a shock that her first musical after Evita flopped. |
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| re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. | |
| Posted by: VEG 11:39 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
| In reply to: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? - bobby2 11:40 pm EDT 08/21/21 | |
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| Patti sang As Long As He Needs Me with verve and tenderness to rival the great Georgia Brown. It really is an aria and she brought the full measure of her theatrical and musical skill to the song and ended it climbing a ladder facing the audience, which I've never forgotten. She was brilliant in a very dark production. BTW I still can't believe that Oliver! won the Best Picture Oscar over Funny Girl, The Lion In Winter, Romeo and Juliet and 2001 A Space Odyssey, which wasn't even nominated. | |
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| re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 12:54 pm EDT 08/22/21 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:48 pm EDT 08/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. - VEG 11:39 am EDT 08/22/21 | |
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| The second part of the film "Funny Girl", with the exception of "My Man" and the funny "Sadie, Sadie" is a distinct letdown after the wonderful first half. "Oliver!" holds up rather well, even though the Nancy, well-sung and sympathetically acted by Shani Wallis, was much sunnier and less gritty casting than the original Georgia Brown, who (based on recordings and photos) was more in line with what Dickens wrote. I saw the 1983 revival, and LuPone and Moody were both very good. There was some news items about the original boy cast as Oliver being replaced either late in rehearsals or during previews. One big difference in the stage version is that Oliver's character is almost a supporting role, with much more of a focus on the other characters. Or perhaps that was my impression of the kid who finally did the role. The production I recall used a recreation of the original sets and staging. I was surprised that it closed so soon though. |
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| SPOILER: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. | |
| Last Edit: lordofspeech 11:45 am EDT 08/23/21 | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 11:43 am EDT 08/23/21 | |
| In reply to: re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. - PlayWiz 12:48 pm EDT 08/22/21 | |
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| It helped that Georgia Brown, besides being such a great singing actress, was dark-haired and street-tough. She was a tough mama, and that kind of character earned the size of the character’s tragedy. I imagine Lupone would’ve been very good. But that’s not what Dickens described. Shani Wallis was more the look of Dickens’ Nancy. However, Wallis’ work seemed slight in comparison to what Brown had done with it. Wallis didn’t have the power or the hard edge of Georgia Brown and was, unfortunately, more like a young Doris Day who’d wandered into this criminal world. I remember reading somewhere that the Fagin-actor had something to do with Georgia Brown not getting cast in the film. That they’d been competitive with each other onstage and he sided against her. |
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| re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. | |
| Posted by: bobby2 12:42 am EDT 08/23/21 | |
| In reply to: re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. - PlayWiz 12:48 pm EDT 08/22/21 | |
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| I read about the Oliver switch somewhere. Maybe in one of Reidel's books or just online. They cast the kid who was the original young Guido in Nine. Then for some reason they were unhappy with him and made him the understudy and put Braden Danner in the role. Danner would go on to originate Gavorache in Les Miz and voice the kid in Starlight Express. Neither seemed to pursue adult acting careers. |
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| Bet in that revival | |
| Posted by: CamMacFan 12:48 pm EDT 08/23/21 | |
| In reply to: re: How was the LuPone revival in 1983? Fantastic. - bobby2 12:42 am EDT 08/23/21 | |
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| The young actress who played Bet in that revival was the marvelous Sarah Litzsinger who would later go on to be the longest running Belle in the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast | |
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