Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 03:53 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 03:51 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - keikekaze 02:01 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
|
|
|
| I'd be concerned about interpolating Rodgers & Hart songs from other sources, but then again, it's not the first time. The last Broadway revival of ''Pal Joey'' was in 2008, starring Stockard Channing and Matthew Risch. Richard Greenberg, the Tony-winning writer of ''Take Me Out,'' did a new adaptation of John O'Hara's book, and interpolated ''I Still Believe in You'' and ''Are You My Love?'' And then there's the ''loosely adapted'' 1957 movie of ''Pal Joey,'' starring Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak and Frank Sinatra. It incorporated R&H standards, like ''I Didn't Know What Time It Was,'' ''There's a Small Hotel,'' ''The Lady Is a Tramp'' and ''My Funny Valentine.'' (I even saw ''Pal Joey '78,'' starring Lena Horne in a ''disco'' version, in San Francisco, but luckily my memory has blocked any recollections.) My concern about interpolating Rodgers & Hart classics from other shows is: Will they displace the lesser-known originals I enjoy? I love ''Plant You Now, Dig You Later'' and ''You Mustn't Kick It Around,'' but in the Sinatra movie, they're only instrumentals. |
|
| Link | 'Pal Joey' (1957): 'You Mustn't Kick It Around' (as background music) |
| reply to this message | |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: StageLover 07:55 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - WaymanWong 03:51 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
|
|
|
| I rather liked Circle in the Square;s ill-fated 1976 revival starring Christopher Chadman and Joan Copeland, who replaced Edward Vilella and Eleanor Parker during previews. Dixie Carter performed ZIP and the cast included Broadway pros like Janie Sell, Joe Sirola and in the chorus, Marilu Henner. | |
| reply to this message |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 05:14 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:13 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - WaymanWong 03:51 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
|
|
|
| According to Playbill, they are interpolating 6 songs from shows like A Connecticut Yankee, The Boys from Syracuse, Babes in Arms, Higher and Higher, and On Your Toes -- all very well known songs from 5 other Rodgers and Hart musicals. The '08 revival was just OK. I thought Stockard Channing was fine. Risch certainly looked the part and was competent, but just didn't have the star power that Gene Kelly, Harold Lang, and Sinatra apparently brought to the role. The 2 interpolated songs didn't add much and certainly were not needed. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:36 am EDT 10/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - BroadwayTonyJ 05:13 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
|
|
|
| I really enjoyed Matthew Risch in the role. (And I've always thought that Tony Yazbeck would've been a terrific Joey, too.) | |
| Link | B-roll from ''Pal Joey'' (2008), with Matthew Risch, Stockard Channing & Martha Plimpton |
| reply to this message | reply to first message | |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 02:56 pm EDT 10/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - WaymanWong 12:36 am EDT 10/05/21 | |
|
|
|
| The Matthew Risch revisal directed by Joe Mantello had a lot of treats. Risch seemed to be working very hard, which didn’t seem very « Joey” but he was game and personable, and he purportedly was thrown into it with little rehearsal. Perhaps way too young for Channing’s Vera, too. And Stockard Channing should’ve been perfect, but she was too arch, her ironies too studied and too italicized, and her face was unnatural with plastic surgery which tipped her into a Cruella DeVil world. The Linda was excellent and had a lovely voice. And Martha Plimpton nearly walked away with the whole show as Gladys. Very va-va-voom and an absolute trouper of a golden-age musical comedy type. But Mantello’s staging was absolutely wonderful. Constant movement, constant action. A real pleasure. I’m not enough of a connoisseur to pronounce judgement on the rewrite of the book, but it played fine for me. Divine costumes. I must admit I’m spoiled by the singing in the movie version; Sinatra and the women who dubbed Hayworth and Novak are like velvet. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:56 pm EDT 10/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - lordofspeech 02:56 pm EDT 10/05/21 | |
|
|
|
| But Mantello’s staging was absolutely wonderful. Constant movement, constant action. That could also be dreadful. Nothing worse than a show that's TOO busy. I find too many directors are afraid to let stillness happen onstage as well. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: larry13 05:42 pm EDT 10/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - lordofspeech 02:56 pm EDT 10/05/21 | |
|
|
|
| The singers you admired were Jenny Fellner(Linda in 2008), Trudy Stevens(dubbed Novak)and Jo Ann Greer(dubbed Hayworth). | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| PAL JOEY & Matthew Risch | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:03 am EDT 10/05/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - WaymanWong 12:36 am EDT 10/05/21 | |
|
|
|
| Risch is a fine performer, excellent dancer, and very good looking. He had a small role in Legally Blonde on Broadway as Carlos. He was hilarious and knocked his portion of "There! Right There!" out of the park. Christian Hoff had been cast as Joey, but suffered some sort of injury in previews. He either dropped out or was forced out -- there were conflicting stories. I had been looking forward to seeing Hoff as Joey and was probably a little disappointed. Anyway, Risch has had a very extensive career on TV (Modern Family, Looking, many other roles) and even a noticeable little bit in the second Sex and the City film. The role of Joey is a tough one to fill since he is an outright heel, but also charismatic and sort of likeable. The original Broadway production made Gene Kelly a star. He often played a variation of the role pretty much throughout his movie career. |
|
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
| re: PAL JOEY revisal | |
| Posted by: Circlevet 03:54 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
| In reply to: re: PAL JOEY revisal - WaymanWong 03:51 pm EDT 10/04/21 | |
|
|
|
| The Goodspeed production in the early 90's with the terrific Peter Reardon as Joey added a beautifully arranged He Was Too Good For Me as a duet for Vera and Linda. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.024510 seconds.