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| re: And then there was SUGAR ... | |
| Posted by: toros 09:28 am EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - NewtonUK 07:47 am EST 12/28/22 | |
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| " It had a Jule Styne/Bob Merrill score, and a book by Peter Stone, and direction & choreography by Gower Champion. Sets by Robert Wagner, orchestrations by Philip J Lang. And stars. Robert Morse and Tony Roberts. And Cyril Ritchard. And a world class producer." Because of the pedigree of the talent involved, expectations were very high for SUGAR, and many (not all) reviewers were disappointed. But SUGAR was great fun. I love the score, and the OBC CD is terrific. Penniless Bums, The The Beauty That Drives Men Mad, Sun On My Face, Hey Why Not, What Do You Give To The Man Who Has Everything, It's Always Love, When You Meet A Man In Chicago and the title song are all first-rate Style. It is still one of my most frequently played CDs. The musical direction and vocal arrangements by Elliot Lawrence are excellent. Morse and Roberts were hilarious, and Elaine Joyce was darling. Cyril Ritchard's two numbers have not aged well, but that character is, for my taste, about the only improvement in the new musical adaptation, which is entertaining, but completely generic. SUGAR was vaudeville. And forgive me, but SLIH lacks lust, which was a driving comic force in the movie and in SUGAR, which was revived, retitled (SOME LIKE IT HOT) and revised in London, starring Tommy Steele. I didn't see it, and the CD is not as good as SUGAR, but still worthwhile. Some SUGAR songs are cut, and other Bob Merrill songs have been added (Romance, Magic Nights and Dirty Old Men from "Breakfast at Tiffany's). I wish SLIH well, and who knows why audiences don't seem interested, but I think SUGAR is a much better musical, and I'm surprised that it's so consistently dissed here. The real question is why SUGAR wasn't a bigger hit, although it ran a respectable 500ish performances. |
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| re: And then there was SUGAR ... | |
| Posted by: Jack1009 03:44 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - toros 09:28 am EST 12/29/22 | |
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| Exactly my feelings. Great CD. | |
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| More about SUGAR | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 10:07 am EST 12/29/22 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 10:06 am EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - toros 09:28 am EST 12/29/22 | |
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| I saw a fantastic production of Sugar (retitled Some Like It Hot) on 9/5/1999 at a Chicago area theater (in Munster, IN). The estimable Katrina Lenk starred as Sugar Kane and was able to evoke Marilyn Monroe without doing an actual imitation. Other top notch Chicago veterans like Felicia Fields (Sweet Sue), James Harms (Bienstock), Marc Robin (Spats), and Dale Benson (Osgood) rounded out the terrific cast. This production was during the tenure of Michael Weber as Artistic Director of the Theatre at the Center. I agree that the score of Sugar is highly enjoyable, although not regarded as one of Styne's greatest scores. Unfortunately, Sugar seems to be forever tarnished by the mediocre 1992 London revisal and the disgraceful 2002 tour with Tony Curtis as Osgood. I also love the OBC recording and listen to it often. |
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| re: And then there was SUGAR ... | |
| Last Edit: Ann 09:38 am EST 12/29/22 | |
| Posted by: Ann 09:36 am EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - toros 09:28 am EST 12/29/22 | |
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| There was also a U.S. tour of the renamed Sugar/Some Like It Hot with a book by Peter Stone in the early 2000s, with Tony Curtis. | |
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| re: And then there was SUGAR ... | |
| Posted by: toros 12:03 pm EST 12/29/22 | |
| In reply to: re: And then there was SUGAR ... - Ann 09:36 am EST 12/29/22 | |
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| And, if you can believe it, I saw it in Italian in Rome about 10 years ago. They cut a lot of songs and added Marilyn Monroe songs (Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, My Heart Belongs To Daddy, A Little Girl From Little Rock, etc.) It was called "Sugar Il Musical: A Cualcuno Piace Caldo." It was very sexy. | |
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