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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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