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| The Producers | |
| Posted by: standingO 08:16 am EDT 08/02/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Prior casting miscalculation: Henry Goodman as Max Bialystock - Delvino 07:53 pm EDT 08/01/22 | |
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| I found a clip online of Goodman singing three of Max’s big numbers (We Can Do It, Along Came Bialy, Betrayed). I believe it’s pro-shot. Anyway, his performance is fascinating. He sings well and has presence but the comedy doesn’t land - except the Intermission joke in Betrayal. It’s as if the show was so tuned to Lane in its creation that any other interpretation throws off the balance of the show/humor. Which brings me to that movie. Almost nothing works. How can this show be so peculiar? I will say there is a lot of joy to be found in the PBS special “recording the producers” which I found recently on dvd but not sure where else it lives. It’s about the making of the cast recording and shows everyone in peak performance. It leaves you wanting more - And better than the movie in helping explain this show as a phenomenon. Other than Lane and maybe Brad Oscar, who I assume did a good job, who else played Bailey well? |
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| re: The Producers | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 10:12 am EDT 08/03/22 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 10:10 am EDT 08/03/22 | |
| In reply to: The Producers - standingO 08:16 am EDT 08/02/22 | |
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| I only saw the originals, about two weeks before 9/11 if memory serves, blazing hot New York day, matinee, the show cheered to the rafters as few are. Lane and Bialystock were so one, it was impossible to fathom another actor playing the role without his defining signatures. The line readings, the shtick, it seemed in the text by that point. Did anyone see another Bialystock that landed as well as Lane or his Brad Oscar clone? I've never met anyone who saw Jason Alexander who thought he was funny enough, though accomplished. Most commented that Martin Short walked away with that iteration. Alexander is a comic actor who doesn't actually do shtick; he's reality based, which is harder to corral into a role as broadly defined as Max. If someone disagrees, and saw a bold new interpretation, I'm all ears. But the show always felt as hard to recast as any. Max was not a Tevya, or Harold Hill. Once Lane reminted the role post-Mostel, it bore his imprint forever. |
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| re: The Producers | |
| Posted by: showtunesoprano 05:20 pm EDT 08/02/22 | |
| In reply to: The Producers - standingO 08:16 am EDT 08/02/22 | |
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| "It’s as if the show was so tuned to Lane in its creation that any other interpretation throws off the balance of the show/humor." I don't know if I heard Mel Brooks or Nathan Lane tell this story, but one of them said that they met and Brooks said "I'm making a musical of The Producers starring Nathan Lane, do you want to be in it?" So, yes, this role was created for Nathan Lane specifically. |
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