Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 07:03 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| I just read there was a cast of 62? Is that true? Where does that rank among the largest ever? How did Showboat revival and Ragtime compare? Also- what roles did Debbie Gravitte play? I see she won a Tony award. |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: NewtonUK 08:18 am EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - KingSpeed 07:03 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| The cast fo MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (the play) in 1934 numbered 91. Back in the day musicals like SUNNY (cast of 74). The original SHOW BOAT (1927) had a cast in excess of 120. BRIGADOON had a cast of 60. Most golden age musicals had cast of 48-55, | |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: Fasslercom 11:27 am EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - NewtonUK 08:18 am EST 12/20/22 | |
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| I believe the last straight play on Broadway with a cast of more than sixty (and was NOT presented by a non-profit) was the 1968 production of "The Great White Hope." That's a long time ago, but I can't imagine the feasibility of a commercial enterprise for a straight play with that many actors ever again. It's not economically feasible, though a musical might have a better shot of paying back investors. But plays don't run long enough anymore, though "Harry Potter" might be an exception to that rule. But it's an anomaly (and it also only has 16 actors in it). | |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Last Edit: Seth Christenfeld 11:39 am EST 12/20/22 | |
| Posted by: Seth Christenfeld (tabula-rasa@verizon.net) 11:39 am EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - Fasslercom 11:27 am EST 12/20/22 | |
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| But plays don't run long enough anymore, though "Harry Potter" might be an exception to that rule. But it's an anomaly (and it also only has 16 actors in it). Not sure where you're getting that number--Cursed Child opened with a cast of 40 (plus swings) and the current version has a cast of 34. Seth, who had to do a bit of counting |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 07:35 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - KingSpeed 07:03 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| I suspect that if someone really wanted to do research, it would not be within the top 100 ever, but obviously among the very biggest in the 55 years or so. I mean there were occasional nonmusical plays that had casts of 90-100 and very occasionally oversized plays like The American Way that had casts of more than 100. Going back far enough in time, 62 wasn't even especially big for a musical. |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: keywslt 10:44 am EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - AlanScott 07:35 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| IBDB credits 1936's "Jumbo" with a cast of 138 including animals and actors (occasionally hard to tell the difference. Have you ever eaten with one?). It played 233 performances at the Hippodrome. Yes, I said the Hippodrome. | |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 01:43 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - keywslt 10:44 am EST 12/20/22 | |
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| The JUMBO cast is even higher than that, because some of the circus acts listed one entry in the playbill were comprised of two or more people, like the Kimris—a woman and her brother-in-law aerialists (originally the two brothers, but one was badly hurt in a fall shortly before JUMBO opened, so his wife stepped in); the Lomas Troupe (led by Tom Lomas, tumblers and stiltwalkers—at least six, as depicted in Hirschfeld’s JUMBO drawing—a fellow named Archie Leach used to be with the Lomas/Pender Troupe); the Stonleys—three more aerialists. Laura, who spent all yesterday afternoon researching JUMBO’s “Wingless Pegasus,” the amazing horse named Doheos, and his trainer, Herr Doktor Hermann Ostermaier (and asking questions of various other writers I know who have horses—I promised to answer any theatre research queries they might have, cuz Writers Help Writers!) |
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| Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 02:36 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 02:33 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - showtunetrivia 01:43 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
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| Video of rehearsal (and possibly performance) of the show starts at about 02:30, but if you skipped directly to that , then you'd miss "red carpet" (or whatever they called it back then) appearances of the likes of Fanny Brice, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Marion Davies, etc. being interviewed for the radio. Plus, if you've read "Shy", you'll know this was the first Broadway show that the very young Mary Rodgers at about 4 or 5 years old ever saw; she loved it. | |
| Link | Clips of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway |
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| re: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway | |
| Posted by: BHandshy 04:09 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway - PlayWiz 02:33 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
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| I've known for years that this footage existed out there somewhere. I'm glad to FINALLY see it! Thanks for the link. | |
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| re: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 03:38 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
| In reply to: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway - PlayWiz 02:33 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
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| Three particular things of note about this clip, aside from the spectacular footage of some of the acts: there’s no mention at all of Fanny Brice being the producer’s wife; Burns and Allen were the only ones to mention JUMBO’s long, long delayed opening; and revealing the punchline of the “Women!” number. This number had circus press agent Durante singing about how to revitalize the failing circus: by adding glamorous, glorious dames. On come the girls, while aerialist Barbette twirls above. Durante finishes his verse, Barbette gracefully lands….and yanks the wig off his head as Durante does a classic double take and shouts, “Betrayed!” It’s kind of muffled on the cip. Barbette was born Vander Clyde Broadway in Texas in 1899, joined the circus as a teen, and grabbed a gig replacing the dead half of a “sisters” aerial act—which meant wearing the dead woman’s costume. From then on, he performed in drag, going solo and adopting his stage name. He concluded his act as shown here, with the dramatic removal of the wig. Barbette became the toast of Europe in the twenties, was championed by Jean Cocteau (and appeared in one of his films), and was likely the inspiration for the German film VIKTOR UND VIKTORIA. Later in his career, Barbette coached Lemmon and Curtis in female impersonation for SOME LIKE IT HOT, and his team of aerialists, the Barbettes, appeared in the film version, BILLY ROSE’S JUMBO (1962). Laura, who has about 40,000 other JUMBO-sized words elsewhere… |
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| re: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway | |
| Posted by: winters 08:14 am EST 12/21/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Here's video of the original "Jumbo" on Broadway - showtunetrivia 03:38 pm EST 12/20/22 | |
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| 'dead half of a "sisters" aerial act--- Was this the result of Number 17....The Spread Eagle? Thanks for the rest of the info. Fascinating. |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: theaterbear 07:29 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
| In reply to: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - KingSpeed 07:03 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| It doesn't seem feasible, but it was a huge cast yeah. I think 62 including swings/stand-bys/understudies is correct. Debbie sang Mr Monotony from Miss Liberty, Mazeppa in Gimmick, Hildy in the On the Town section, Rosalia in the West Side Story section. |
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| re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway | |
| Posted by: dbdbdb 09:26 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Jerome Robbins’ Broadway - theaterbear 07:29 pm EST 12/19/22 | |
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| Between the war, enormous casts were not that unusual. The Kaufman -- Hart Merrily We Roll Along lists something like 90 actors on IBDB. | |
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