Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:55 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:46 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| Preston played it over two full years on B'way, from December of 1957 until January 9, 1960. A remarkable run, by any standards. Though he was followed by Eddie Albert and famously Bert Parks, it's no surprise that some still argue* that "there was only one Hill," Preston. The OBC album was a hit, a big seller back in the day, not a small factor, and of course the film sealed the deal. I have always had a special place for the show because the first national was only the 2nd show I saw as a child (age 8), with Forrest Tucker. *Reading the comments on the WaPo website under Peter Marks's savvy review (good thread elsewhere on this site). The bizarre obsession -- that only Preston can be Hill -- is woven through much debate. I supposed the Rex Harrison Higgins is comparable in B'way lore, with a similar run (and subsequent duplication with Andrews) in London. But the Preston Hill "brand" seems an indelible image in the minds of some, boomer demographic understood. I argued that Craig Bierko certainly reminted the role, Bierko nevertheless unafraid to use Preston readings and even an uncannily similar vocal quality in that superb millennial revival. What's discussed somewhat less: the fact that the last big revival didn't build the show around a star. The 36ish Bierko was unknown to almost everyone, and scored. We got to know him as Hill, and by the end by end of the first act, the Bierko Hill had seduced the audience as much as the town. Perhaps that shrewd, if dangerous decision, would never work today. But we keep reading that Jackman is mostly Jackman in many reviews, and it's impossible not to remember that the last production aimed to place the show in the spotlight first. |
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| was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 05:56 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Delvino 08:46 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| I can't say from what, but even as a teenager in 2000, i knew his name as a TV and movie actor, and thought his casting was like some weak mix of finding someone with no theater impression made but who might also sell some tickets as a name, but wasn't such a name that he'd disappoint. Is this all in my head? When his casting was announced was it treated as an unknown? And as for scoring, I don't recall the reviews well but I don't remember critics writing him love letters and remember (and see a lot here) people accusing him of just imitating Preston. It's also one of the biggest and most loved leading man roles in Broadway history, but he lost the Tony (it was a tough year, and Stokes was overdue for a Tony after Ragtime... and I would have probably voted for Patinkin that year, but it's not like Bierko took broadway by storm). |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:40 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Chazwaza 05:56 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| If you can find evidence that Craig Bierko was anybody’s idea of a box office name, please offer it. Having credits in other mediums doesn’t constitute quantifiable street cred. The return of the show was the event, and the ubiquitous ad campaign - a little boy with a horn - underscores that. | |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 05:21 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Delvino 10:40 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Broadway at the time generally wasn't able to get box office names. Sure, we had Reba doing a high profile stint in "Annie Get Your Gun", but celebrities on stage were more of the C and D list variety, and/or they were odd stunts like Quentin Tarantino in "Wait Until Dark". Craig Bierko, a year after being the lead in "The Thirteenth Floor" felt like the kind of half-celebrity that was typical of the era. | |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:57 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Delvino 10:40 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Not only did I not say that, I specifically acknowledged that that wasn't what he was. That doesn't mean he was unknown to everyone. | |
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| Bierko’s Times review | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 11:03 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:47 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Delvino 10:40 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| He did okay in the Times: “Mr. Bierko steps into Preston's long shadow with remarkable assurance. At times he seems to be patterning his gestures and inflections too closely on his famous predecessor. But he has a gleaming impishness of his own, never so evident as when he is hoodwinking a group of officious councilmen by turning them into a mellifluous barbershop quartet (charmingly embodied by Michael-Leon Wooley, Jack Doyle, John Sloman and Blake Hammond). Preston's anchoring, reassuring humanity, which always hinted at the latent good guy beneath the scam artist, doesn't come as naturally to Mr. Bierko, who sometimes registers as so glisteningly smooth that you wonder if there's anyone home beneath the veneer. Yet in the show's last scenes, in which Harold realizes his love for Marian, something substantial, a mix of sensuality and shame, suddenly shines through. A little more of that throughout, and Mr. Bierko will have a first-class performance.” In addition to a Tony nomination, he received noms for the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and the Drama League. He was the winner of The Theater World Award. It didn’t make him a star but he ascended to the starring role in another (if famous flop) a year later. |
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| Craig Bierko in MUSIC MAN -- not an UNKNOWN, but also not a NAME | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:15 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Chazwaza 05:56 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I had seen Bierko in a couple of movies and on a few TV shows so he wasn't completely unknown, but definitely not a name that would sell tickets. He was just a fairly good actor from TV and movies making his Broadway debut. I thought his blatant imitation of Robert Preston was a shockingly bad idea. He imitated his voice, his phrasing, his movements, everything. Frankly I've never seen anything like it in a major Broadway production. He definitely got some criticism in some reviews (see The TheaterMania Guide to Musical Theater Recordings), but I don't remember everything that was written about his performance. The show itself, Stroman's direction and choreography, Rebecca Luker's performance, and the rest of the cast were highly praised. The show ran 1 year and 9 months, which was respectable, but it did not recoup, probably because it was expensive to run. I hated Bierko's performance so much in The Music Man that I waited until after he departed to see the show, which I did love. That said, I still think he's a decent actor. I've seen him in small roles, mostly on TV. In everything I have seen of his post-Music Man work, he has put his own stamp on the roles. |
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| re: Craig Bierko in MUSIC MAN -- not an UNKNOWN, but also not a NAME | |
| Last Edit: Roman 08:11 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: Roman 08:11 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Craig Bierko in MUSIC MAN -- not an UNKNOWN, but also not a NAME - BroadwayTonyJ 07:15 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| You hated his performance so much that you waited u til after he left to see this show? You either saw him or you didn’t. But if you didn’t, why’d you hate it? | |
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| re: Craig Bierko in MUSIC MAN -- not an UNKNOWN, but also not a NAME | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 08:51 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 08:45 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Craig Bierko in MUSIC MAN -- not an UNKNOWN, but also not a NAME - Roman 08:11 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I saw Bierko perform numbers from the show on various TV programs and bought the revival cast recording -- he usually did "Trouble" or "76 Trombones" on TV. He imitated Preston on every single number on the album (and gets excoriated for doing so by the TheaterMania critic). That was enough for me to decide I hated what he was doing. I finally saw The Music Man revival on stage in the fall of 2001 and loved everything about it. | |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: sirpupnyc 06:22 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Chazwaza 05:56 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I recall some ballyhooing about how this unknown was going to wow Broadway, plucked from obscurity, new to the stage, purple monkey dishwasher. I want to say it was a thing, both pushed by the production and mulled over by the press, but I can't Google up any evidence of that. This Tony-time profile in the Times gives some background: https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/17/theater/how-bondage-to-broadway-makes-the-music-man-sing.html |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 07:05 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - sirpupnyc 06:22 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Thanks for the link! But I'd say the way they repeatedly talk about him as having a long career in Hollywood, and Stroman noting how he didn't come in with a "hollywood attitude" makes it sound like he was somewhat known in TV and film at the time of his casting. Obviously not a star, not a big star of any notable movies or the lead of a tv show centered around him, but it seems like some did know who he was. Definitely unknown in theater though. However it is VERY possible at the time I personally had him confused in my head with Scott Bakula. Ha. |
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| CRAIG BIERKO --Early Career in TV and Movies | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:24 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Chazwaza 07:05 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| He had leading or large roles in two high profile films (among others) prior to his Broadway debut: The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Thirteenth Floor plus appearances on TV shows like Wings, Newhart, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, and others. Actually I used to confuse him with Scott Bakula also. |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 06:04 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Chazwaza 05:56 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I think the show itself and the production were treated as the stars last time around. I wasn't aware of who Craig Bierko was. | |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 01:00 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - PlayWiz 06:04 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Bierko had been making the rounds since the mid 80's. His biggest claim to being box office, IMHO, was his stint on SEX AND THE CITY. I heard (somewhere) that this particular director really wanted him for Harold Hill. One can only wonder why. | |
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| re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 01:55 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: was Bierko "unknown to almost everyone"? And did he score? - Pokernight 01:00 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I have to assume Stroman was hellbent on having a younger and notable sexy Harold Hill (in a way Preston just was not, not typically anyway), and wanted the title and show to be the star, not the names of the two leads. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER | |
| Posted by: claploudly 11:30 am EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Delvino 08:46 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| Dear Everyone, When I first heard who was cast in this new revival of The Music Man, I was more than surprised (and a bit angry) over the casting of Sutton Foster as Marian. Now, don't misunderstand me. I have always been a huge fan of Sutton ever since I saw her in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes, and everything else she has ever done. She is a brilliant talented performer and a lovely person. But as many people (including critics) have pointed out she is miscast in this role. Question - did the producers honeslty think that Hugh Jackman wouldn't sell enough tickets on his own???????? Really? If ever there was a chance to cast an unknown (or even a relatively unknown) talented soprano as Marian, this would have been it. BTW I also felt the same about producers thinking that Bette Midler wasn't capable of selling enough tickets for Hello Dolly. So they needed to cast famous TV (Frasier) and Broadway (La Bete, Curtains, Spamalot, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike) star David Hyde Pierce )who is wonderful? Really? Another opportunity for a lesser-known actor to play the role. I saw the incredible Lewis J. Stadlen in the role on the Broadway tour of Hello Dolly and he was amazing opposite Betty Buckley (who wasn't). Watch the unbelievable story of how our dear, lovely late friend Rebecca Luker had to really fight to even get seen for the role of Marian, the Librarian, in the 2000 Music Man revival (opposite the terrific Craig Bierko - close your eyes and you were watching Robert Preston). Becca was nominated for a Tony Award but she lost to Heather Headley in Aida. But please watch this clip where Seth Rudetsky coaxes the story out of her and she sings "My White Knight" in the key in which it was written. https://youtu.be/aRwl5wgdAR4 |
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| Link | https://youtu.be/aRwl5wgdAR4 |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 02:31 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER - claploudly 11:30 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| It was a marketing decision by Scott Rudin to cast all the lead roles with Tony winners. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER | |
| Posted by: Guillaume 12:29 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER - claploudly 11:30 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Luker was perfection in that production. You point out my huge problem with Bierko, however - "close your eyes and you were watching [and hearing] Preston". Was hoping for someone to play Harold Hill and not do an imitation of Preston all night. That, and the continually over cutesy dance numbers, really left me looking at the program for Luker's next moment to shine. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 11:55 am EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - REBECCA LUKER - claploudly 11:30 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| What a bright light she was. Thank you for posting this link. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:47 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
| In reply to: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Delvino 08:46 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| I'm fascinated by Forrest Tucker having played the entire national tour for four years (according to Ovrtur). Is this true? I see that Harry Hicox left Charlie Cowell in December 1961 but he's not listed as having taken over his understudy so I'm assuming Tucker played the entire tour (presumably Hicox subbed during Tucker's vacation). Tucker must have logged more performances than Preston at approx. 1500-1600? |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 09:59 am EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - portenopete 10:47 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| I saw Preston do it, and also saw the National Tour with Forrest Tucker and Joan Weldon. Tucker was cut from very similar cloth as Preston, and gave an almost equally terrific performance. | |
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| Interesting..... | |
| Posted by: portenopete 07:00 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - NewtonUK 09:59 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Forrest Tucker always seemed like such a gruff barfly, perpetually either sozzled or emerging from a hangover (I believe he may have had issues with drink but I don't know much about his life or lifestyle). I'd've thought he offered a very different Harold Hill than Preston, who always led with dash and handsomeness under which the sly fox could lay his trap. I'm envious that you got to see both of them! I'd also love to have seen Harry Hicox and Van Johnson (in London), not to mention Tony Randall and Dick Van Dyke! I did catch Eric McCormack when he took over after Bierko left and provided more star power, Will and Grace being at the height of its popularity. He was a natural Harold Hill, but needed a director to steer him away from constant glances and winks at the audience, which seems to be what Jackman is doing in the current revival. |
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| I would think Eddie Albert would have been very fine | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:50 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Interesting..... - portenopete 07:00 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| who really was an incredibly versatile performer and a really good singer, certainly good enough to star in the original Rodgers & Hart "Boys from Syracuse" and Irving Berlin's "Miss Liberty". He sounds lovely on the OCR of the latter. He was definitely not just the nice funny stuffed shirt lawyer from "Green Acres", which is how most folks remember him. | |
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| re: Interesting..... | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:03 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Interesting..... - portenopete 07:00 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Forrest Tucker is really charming and good-looking in the film "Auntie Mame". I'd agree with your description from perhaps his most famous role in the tv "F Troop", but his Beauregarde is quite a gent and different from Sergeant O'Rourke. | |
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| re: Here's Forrest Tucker singing -- | |
| Posted by: Guillaume 12:31 am EST 02/16/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Interesting..... - PlayWiz 12:03 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I tried to find a clip of him singing and only could find this clip of him -- it's not in Music Man, but you can see his lady's man confidence, his ease at being on stage, his vocal phrasing, lightness on his feet, twinkle in the eye and approachable masculinity would have made him a very strong Harold Hill indeed. He must have been wonderful! | |
| Link | FT |
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| re: Here's Forrest Tucker singing -- | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 01:40 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:38 pm EST 02/16/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Here's Forrest Tucker singing -- - Guillaume 12:31 am EST 02/16/22 | |
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| Thanks for that! Yeah, I agree that he looks like he would have been an excellent Harold Hill, - moving well, very at ease on stage, good rhythm, confident among other qualities that serve the role. I think that's Janet Leigh at the start, and he's joined at the end by his "F Troop" co-stars Larry Storch and Ken Berry. | |
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| re: Interesting..... | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:25 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Interesting..... - PlayWiz 12:03 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| You've hit the nail on the head. I know him mainly from F Troop and I have never seen Auntie Male (my bad). Funny that Preston took that role from him in the musical Mame film. | |
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| Forrest Tucker | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 07:20 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:19 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Interesting..... - PlayWiz 12:03 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Tucker had a long career in films, beginning in 1940, that lasted at least 45 years. He generally played featured roles in tons of "B" movies, but occasionally in "A" films like The Westerner, Keeper of the Flame, The Yearling, Sands of Iwo Jima, Three Violent People, and others. He often was cast as a big, strapping, really good-looking guy, (which he was). | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: Pokernight 11:18 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Forrest Tucker - BroadwayTonyJ 07:19 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Tucker also did a short-lived series, DUSTY'S TRAIL, where it was noted that he was fun and professional and drank a full bottle of brandy every day. | |
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| I wonder if that was Dusty's treasure trail | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 11:21 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 11:21 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - Pokernight 11:18 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Tucker did start to get, um, noticed by going to George Cukor's rather notorious pool parties when he was starting out in Hollywood. :) | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:28 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Forrest Tucker - BroadwayTonyJ 07:19 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I guess it's personal taste. I haven't seen the movies and shows that might have made me think of him as a looker. Not that Harold Hill needs to be handsome necessarily. But I've always thought the plot is basically the same as The Heiress: shy, plain spinster wooed by morally suspect charmer and the audience is left worrying how badly she will be hurt. | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: larry13 12:11 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - portenopete 10:28 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| The female lead being a "shy, plain spinster wooed by a morally suspect charmer"(and is Marian necessarily plain?)may be common to both but "the plot is basically the same as The Heiress" is NOT correct. There is a father in the Henry James story and a very different outcome to the spinster's life. | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 02:44 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - larry13 12:11 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
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| It might be more akin to THE RAINMAKER/110 IN THE SHADE, although in that story, the spinster taken with the handsome drifter, certainly makes different choices than Marian does. | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 12:35 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - larry13 12:11 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Also, in at least the '49 film version of The Heiress, Catherine wears her hair and dresses in a way that makes her look plain and dowdy. However, after her father dies and she gains confidence, she reveals herself to be quite handsome, which wasn't too difficult since Olivia de Havilland was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. | |
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| re: Forrest Tucker | |
| Posted by: peter3053 05:37 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Forrest Tucker - BroadwayTonyJ 12:35 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Learning that he played Harold Hill is not so surprising, when one thinks that, later, O'Rourke in F Troop was a supreme con man too - and had Agarn for his Marcellus. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Last Edit: AlanScott 12:40 am EST 02/14/22 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:38 am EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - portenopete 10:47 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| Forrest Tucker did play the whole three years and seven months of the tour, except vacations. A friend saw Hickox. Hickox left to play Charlie Cowell in the movie. The Music Man film has at least two tour cast members (Hickox and Susan Luckey), and at least one Broadway replacement (Paul Ford). In 1964, Luckey married Larry Douglas, Broadway Harold Hill standby for a good deal of the run. He did play vacations and, of course, when a Hill was sick. And later he played Hill in stock. And then he was the district attorney in Here's Love and Fred Gaily understudy. Luckey and Douglas were still married when he died in 1996. Not only did Tucker play more performances as Hill than Preston, he probably played more performances than Preston, Eddie Albert and Bert Parks put together played during the Broadway run. The only reason I hedge is because I can't know how much vacation time Tucker took and how many performances he may have missed for other reasons. And ditto, although to a lesser degree, for the Broadway guys. Tucker was not only the tour cast member to play the whole tour. So did Cliff Hall (Mayor Shinn), Lucie Lancaster (Mrs. Paroo), Benny Baker (Marcellus) and three of the four quartet guys. If you scroll down on the ovrtur tour page, we have a note on this. (I know people often miss those notes. If I do say so myself, sometimes there is fascinating info in those notes. And sometimes there is dull info that is nonetheless important in some way.) Of course, there are plenty of people in other shows who played even longer full runs, including on tours, which you might think would just get too tiring. But we all know why an actor might make that choice. |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:32 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - AlanScott 12:38 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Alan, your encyclopedic knowledge of showbiz never fails to dazzle. You really oughta audition for ''Jeopardy!'' and give Matt Amodio and Amy Schneider a run for their money! ;) |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: portenopete 07:14 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - AlanScott 12:38 am EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I marvel at your acumen and the invaluable addition that Ovrtur is to my life :). I don't think any detail is too obscure for inclusion! That must have been a very happy company to be in if so many principles stayed with it for so long. I would imagine Tucker would have been a big part of that, since it can't be much fun sharing a stage with an unhappy star. I always forget Davey Burns was the original Mayor Shinn, since Paul Ford is such an indelible presence in the movie. Did Ford never play Horace Vandergelder? It seems such a perfect fit! I guess he was busy with Never Too Late when Dolly! was being prepped but he was a fixture on broadway through the early 1970s and even replaced John McGiver as The Mayor at the end of the run of that very starry Robert Ryan/Bert Convy The Front Page (when the replacements are Dody Goodman, Butterfly McQueen, Maureen O'Sullivan and Molly Picon, that's a show I'd want to see again). |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 07:41 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - portenopete 07:14 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Paul Ford, hopefully you are aware, played Horace in the film "The Matchmaker"opposite Shirley Booth. They're both great. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: portenopete 09:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - PlayWiz 07:41 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| You might be hopeful, but I had forgotten. (I've never actually seen it.) | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 11:51 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - portenopete 09:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| You're also missing Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine at their most charming, as Cornelius and Irene. Plus Robert Morse is adorable in his stage role of Barnaby. | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: portenopete 10:33 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - PlayWiz 11:51 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Stop making me feel so guilty! LOL I wish I had TCM..... |
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| My mistake, you mentioned the movie! Sorry. nm | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 08:07 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - PlayWiz 07:41 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| nm | |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: Roman 09:08 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
| In reply to: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Delvino 08:46 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| An interesting point re: celebrity. Any production built around a name (and, while Preston had a name, was he one, really, before he played Hill?) has faltered. The Van Dyke, the Broderick, and now the Jackman miss. The Music Man is a piece that doesn’t really need a star. It needs a star turn. A star can do a star turn, but this particular production needs significantly less Hugh Jackman and a lot more Harold Hill. And less tapping. |
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| re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:58 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Roman 09:08 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| I'm still sad that Dick Van Dyke turned out to be such a bad fit for the role. In my mind, he would/should have been great - and clearly others saw that possibility too. But it wasn't to be. | |
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| Some Harolds I wish I had seen | |
| Posted by: aleck 12:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Watching Music Man on TCM, inspired checking out the original data - Chromolume 09:58 pm EST 02/13/22 | |
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| Jeff Goldbaum (who did it in Pittsburgh, I think) Robert Sean Leonard (who closed the last revival, I think) Two off-beat castings that could have been interesting. |
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| How was Eric McCormack? n/m | |
| Posted by: Charlie_Baker 01:17 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: Some Harolds I wish I had seen - aleck 12:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| n/m | |
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| I didn't like Eric McCormack, but I loved Mary Illes. (Plus, a few words about James Walton's Harold Hill) | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 07:16 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: How was Eric McCormack? n/m - Charlie_Baker 01:17 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I believe Illes did a sizable chunk of McCormack's run--enough of a run that she was billed as Marian in the Playbill and not as an understudy, even though Luker's leave was always temporary. McCormack clearly was a confident stage performer with significant charisma, but I never really got a sense of who his Harold Hill was. He had no strong take or POV on the role, and instead just seemed to coast from moment-to-moment. He got laughs and had sexual chemistry with Illes, but the individual parts somehow still didn't come together to form a satisfying whole. Worst of all, he had a tight, strained singing voice that sounded so much like Kermit the Frog, my sister had to suppress the church giggles whenever he sang. Illes was in glorious voice and, like Luker, conveyed such a strong bond with Winthrop, her end of act one decision to hide what she's learned about Hill actually brought tears to my eyes. (It was what I think the Stroman production got rightest in its take on Marian.) She had a regal etherealness about her that you could understand people in the town envying and navigated the character's romantic arc with the utmost sincerity. Her performance was quite beautiful, and I wish I'd seen her opposite Bierko whom I loved. As much as he channeled Preston--and he did--Bierko brought a crackling sexuality to Hill that I never saw in the role's originator. I also saw James Walton go on for Bierko. Despite being an incredible talent, he was the wrong standby for the role. I left wishing I'd exchanged my ticket, which I probably wouldn't say about any other understudy I've ever seen in a lead performance on Broadway. |
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| Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 08:37 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: I didn't like Eric McCormack, but I loved Mary Illes. (Plus, a few words about James Walton's Harold Hill) - DanielVincent 07:16 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Just to set the record straight, Robert Preston's film career ran from '38 to '84. He displayed considerable crackling sexuality opposite leading ladies like Susan Hayward, Paulette Goddard, Joan Bennett, Dorothy Lamour, and others (in his early films) and, after his stage success in Music Man, opposite Dorothy McGuire, Shirley Jones, and even Malcolm Jamieson. So Bierko was imitating Preston in that department as well as in everything else. | |
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| re: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality | |
| Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 04:35 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality - BroadwayTonyJ 08:37 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Indeed, he made his early reputation playing the second romanic leads in Cecil B. DeMille pictures. I'm personally fond of Union Pacific, opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea, in which he's particularly dashing: | |
| Link | Stanwyck & Preston in Union Pacific |
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| Just to set the record straight... | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 01:44 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality - BroadwayTonyJ 08:37 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| ...no, you cannot tell me whom I do or do not find sexy. | |
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| re: Just to set the record straight... | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 02:33 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Just to set the record straight... - DanielVincent 01:44 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I'm not telling you how to feel or challenging your right to express an opinion. I'm just stating that Preston for decades prior to Music Man and for years afterward displayed his crackling sexuality with some of the movies' most beautiful women, many of whom (including Shirley Jones) stated openly that they found Preston highly sexual and attractive. I just wanted to put forward an alternative viewpoint. Of course, your opinion is perfectly valid. |
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| re: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 11:06 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 11:05 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality - BroadwayTonyJ 08:37 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| Preston is also wonderful in "The Last Starfighter", which is an under-rated fun film which plays kind of like Professor Harold Hill in space. It was musicalized by the team who included the wonderful lyricist who used to post here by the handle BklynBoy. | |
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| re: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality | |
| Posted by: larry13 11:44 am EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality - PlayWiz 11:05 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| I saw a workshop of the musical version(with the wonderful Joseph Kolinski in Preston's role)and enjoyed it so much that I later bought the CD. | |
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| 'The Last Starfighter' has another Broadway tie-in, too! | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:28 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Robert Preston's Crackling Sexuality - larry13 11:44 am EST 02/15/22 | |
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| In the 1984 movie, Preston mentored the film's young hero, Alex, played by Lance Guest. And Guest would go on to do more TV and film. But in 2010, Guest made his Broadway debut playing Johnny Cash in the Tony-nominated musical ''Million Dollar Quartet'' at the Nederlander. |
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| Link | 'Million Dollar Quartet' on 'Late Show With David Letterman': (That's Guest starting off the number.) |
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| re: How was Eric McCormack? n/m | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 02:47 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 02:46 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: How was Eric McCormack? n/m - Charlie_Baker 01:17 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Eric McCormack was very good, though "Trouble" and "Seventy-Six Trombones" could have used a bit more "oomph" and razzle dazzle energy, but were otherwise fine. With those reservations, otherwise his acting and presence was really quite good and sang the rest of the role very well. Rebecca Luker was out that day, but her understudy Mary Iles was quite good. Every Marian I've ever seen, when with a well-trained soprano voice, has done well with the role. | |
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| re: How was Eric McCormack? n/m | |
| Posted by: claploudly 02:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: How was Eric McCormack? n/m - Charlie_Baker 01:17 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I saw him twice. He was suberb! | |
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| re: really liked RSL | |
| Posted by: steven_carter 12:25 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: Some Harolds I wish I had seen - aleck 12:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I really liked what Robert Sean Leonard did with the part in the 2000-01 revival. He did NOT try to replicate Robert Preston, which I thought really weakened Craig Bierko's performance. Bierko seemed to be doing almost like an impersonator show of Preston, down to exact line readings. Some have posted they liked that, but I hated it. Robert Sean Leonard, on the other hand, used his excellent acting chops to interpret the part in his own way. And yet, he had enough musical comedy joy and pizzaz to honor the classic canon musical he was appearing in. RSL did start out in musicals, working with James Lapine on workshop of "Into the Woods", so he "knows the territory!" | |
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| re: really liked RSL | |
| Posted by: claploudly 02:04 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: really liked RSL - steven_carter 12:25 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I agree, he was wonderful. And Craig unfortunately had the talent to create his own interpretation. Was he possibly directed by Stroman not to???? | |
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| re: really liked RSL | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 12:53 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: really liked RSL - steven_carter 12:25 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| I couldn't stand Craig Bierko's imitation of Preston. It was like hearing fingernails on a chalk board. He should have made the part his own like he did with characters in other musicals in which he performed. I was fine with Robert Sean Leonard. He acted the role in his own unique style. He had excellent chemistry with Rebecca Luker. |
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| Tony Randall/Brian Cox as HH | |
| Posted by: tmwctd 02:13 pm EST 02/15/22 | |
| In reply to: re: really liked RSL - BroadwayTonyJ 12:53 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| Has anyone seen and can remember Tony Randall as Harold Hill? I would imagine him as being a little bit stilted... One Harold Hill I have seen in London (Open Air Theatre at Regent`s Park): Brian Cox ("Succession"). Let´s say it was not an extremely well-sung HH... |
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| No | |
| Posted by: Ann 12:08 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
| In reply to: Some Harolds I wish I had seen - aleck 12:02 pm EST 02/14/22 | |
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| You do not wish you had seen Goldblum. I still have nightmares. | |
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