Threaded Order Chronological Order
| Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| In the earlier thread about Pal Joey, I mentioned that one of the productions I wish I had seen in the past would have been Bob Fosse in Pal Joey. Another commenter wrote of actually seeing it and agreeing that it was one of the best he (or she?) had witnessed. I assume the commenter was a child . . . and that's why it was so impressive. But thinking about it, there are others I wish I could be transported back in time to see: Dead End. I would love to see how that set and lighting helped keep the focus on the various elements of plot involving such a huge cast. I think we get a taste of it in the movie, but close ups, etc helps to keep things focused. More difficult on stage. Mourning Becomes Electra. Although I've seen multiple productions, it's hard to imagine it's first impact. Fred Astaire in Band Wagon -- or anything else on stage. I find it hard to believe his voice, which seems soft to me, could project in a large theatre, like the New Amsterdam, without amplification. How was he able to be as electrifying on stage as people thought? The Lunts in their prime. The TV version of the Great Sebastians seems to be a mere echo of what they must have been like on stage. Two different mediums that need different qualities. The original Glass Menagerie. Another one that had a celebrated performance that was never captured on any other medium. Opening night of Showboat. I knew someone who attended (Morty Gottlieb) and he said it was astonishing. I don't think I've seen a fully successful production of that musical. I guess it was best in the context of other productions at the time of it's first production. Opening night of Oklahoma. I never understood what the fuss was about -- until the Daniel Fish production, but that wasn't a fair representation of the original's impact. Member of the Wedding. What a thrill it would be to see a young Julie Harris, Brandon de Wilde and Ethel Waters weaving their collective magic. Again, the movie gives a hint. But stage magic is more difficult and Harris and de Wilde would have already outgrown the youth seen in the original stage production. (it's interesting to consider that youngsters today would like to be transported back to see the original Rent, Spring Awakening or, in fact, Legally Blonde!) Others? |
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| Selective shows | |
| Posted by: Genealley 09:55 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| Legends with Channing and Martin Sunset Boulevard with LuPone Royal Hunt of the Sun with Carradine Fallen Angels with Kendall and de la Tour Lady In The Dark with Lawrence I Do, I Do with Martin and Preston South Pacific with Martin and Pinza Gypsy with Merman My Fair Lady with Harrison and Andrews Fiddler with Mostel |
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| re: Selective shows | |
| Posted by: schauspieler 11:00 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Selective shows - Genealley 09:55 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I saw The Royal Hunt of the Sun while in high school. Up until that time my only exposure to theater was naturalistic plays and musicals. In the jargon of that era, the play blew my mind. The memory is so vivid of the group of us, friends who'd put on plays at school, staggering out of the theater, thrilled by the experience and full of an intense need to talk about what we'd just seen. I can still see in my memory that staging with the disc shaped stage tilted down to the edge of the proscenium. And of course the mesmerizing performances of the two leads, the costumes and sound design. Yes, mind-blowing. | |
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| Thanks for the thrill | |
| Posted by: Genealley 11:35 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Selective shows - schauspieler 11:00 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Peter Shaffer - what a talent! Using theatre to make magic. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: wmorrow 05:21 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| It's interesting you should mention the 1945 Glass Menagerie in this context. Betty Corwin, who founded the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive in 1969, saw Laurette Taylor in that production. The fact that there was no lasting record of it for people to see in later years was a major inspiration for her to found TOFT. (She said as much, on several occasions.) She also saw Katharine Cornell on stage, and it troubled her that Cornell's reputation faded with time, since she starred in no films. A few of the titles cited in this thread -- such as the original 'Ragtime' -- were preserved on video by TOFT. And while we all know that's not the same as being there in person, it's a significant record of the production, in any case. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: StanS 04:21 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| Prague, Oct 29 1787: Mozart conducting the premier of Don Giovanni Harrison and Andrews in My Fair Lady Paris, May 29 1913: premier of Stravinsky Sacre du Printemps (partly, I admit, for the riot) |
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| Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: StageManager 02:01 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| but especially "Camelot" and the "rehearsal clothes" "Hamlet" | |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: writerkev 04:52 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - StageManager 02:01 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Link | "Hamlet" with Richard Burton |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 05:19 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - writerkev 04:52 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I saw Burton in "Equus" after having seen Hopkins. I preferred Hopkins, but Burton was certainly compelling. I also saw the "Camelot" revival in 1980. It had its moments but he did not look comfortable on stage by that point. I would love to have seen him in the original production. | |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: den 09:34 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - TheOtherOne 05:19 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I saw both Hopkins and Burton in Equus and I thought they were equally good, though my impression of Burton may have been colored by the fact that I saw him from one of the on-stage seats and was only a few feet away from him. (I think those seats were about $12.) I remember that when he exited the stage after the curtain call, he went right out a door at the back of the stage and into a waiting limo. I thought that was very cool. I also saw him in the 1980 Camelot revival, and he seemed … tired. | |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 12:11 am EDT 06/06/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - den 09:34 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I think the stage seats were more around $5-$7. Hard to be sure as no prices for those seats were listed in the ABCs ads. Top price for orchestra when Burton was in the show was $15. Only one other play on Broadway had a top price that high: A Matter of Gravity. Generally, top price for musicals was $15, with just a couple of shows higher than that and several musicals lower. Anyway, those stage seats were marketed (exclusively?) to students, and they were low priced, at least as I remember it. | |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 08:27 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - TheOtherOne 05:19 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Burton had ailments. There was some condition near the end that prevented him lifting his arms. Not an easy life to be him, though a blest career. But such a sensitive soul, beautiful voice, and eyes of an angel. His Hamlet was electric, and, if you read the two book-length accounts of it, frequently improvisatory (not with the text, of course). I don’t think he was well cast at Dysart in Equus. I wish I’d seen Alec McCowen. Burton as a youth would’ve mesmerized as the boy who blinded the horses. |
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| re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:42 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Richard Burton in ANYTHING . . . . - lordofspeech 08:27 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Alec McCowen was my favorite of the three Dysarts I saw, Hopkins and Perkins being the other two. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: Stage_Door_Steve 01:51 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| OBC of Dreamgirls, Nine and Chicago. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: pecansforall 01:21 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| The original production of ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY mainly to experience Robin Wagner's stunning scenery. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: LoisP 11:56 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| I'm sure I could think of a list of shows, but the top "wish I had seen" will always be Audra and Stokes in Ragtime. | |
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| Glass Menagerie | |
| Posted by: stevemr 09:48 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| It's barely 2 minutes long, and the sound is poor, but it's better than nothing. | |
| Link | Snippet of Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie |
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| re: I wasn't expecting the accent | |
| Posted by: Guillaume 09:05 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: Glass Menagerie - stevemr 09:48 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Wow. that gave me goosebumps | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
| In reply to: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - aleck 10:48 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| I would certainly love to have seen all of those, but with the Lunts most of all in The Visit. I've read so much about their performances in that. Also, the original productions of Death of a Salesman (although I feel like the Nichols revival got a good deal of what I imagine its impact must have been originally, at least partly by using the Mielziner set) and Streetcar and the first Circle in the Square Iceman Cometh. I've never really loved Streetcar, and I have wondered if the original had things that have been missing from all the productions I've seen. One of those things would perhaps have been the Mielziner set. And, of course, the original productions of Carousel, The King and I and Gypsy. And the Jed Harris production of Uncle Vanya, and in England Jonathan Miller's production of Three Sisters. And this isn't even considering some of the famous Shakespeare productions of the past. And then there is Olivier in Oedipus Rex and The Critic. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: lordofspeech 08:30 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| I feel certain that there’s a television caprure of the Lee J Cobb, Mildred Dunnock Death of a Salesman. Do search for it. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:41 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - lordofspeech 08:30 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Thanks for the recommendation. There is one, and I have seen it. I've also heard the recording of Thomas Mitchell, the national tour and Broadway replacement Willy Loman, with the original Broadway cast. Both are great, but the recording is abridged to 90 minutes, and the television production, which is also abridged, doesn't have Kazan, Mielziner or the original supporting cast. That Mielziner set was so amazing in the way it served the play so I think it must have been very special to see that original cast on that set (and with the projections of leaves), directed by Kazan. | |
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| You made an excellent choice... | |
| Posted by: Michaels 02:27 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| As someone who saw The Visit with the Lunts (twice), it would be the right choice. The photos of the production are chilling and give you an idea of this mesmerizing production. | |
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| re: You made an excellent choice... | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:12 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: You made an excellent choice... - Michaels 02:27 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| How I envy you. You know, the Lunts wanted to do it on television, on Hallmark Hall of Fame, but Hallmark wouldn't sponsor it. I wish they had done it on Play of the Week instead. Decades later, in 1998, it was reported that Hallmark might do a television version starring Elizabeth Taylor. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 11:29 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 11:23 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| Over the years I've confessed that the performance I'd most like to have seen was the original Skin of Our Teeth. I've always imagined that Bankhead -- so temperamentally and self-presentationally at odds with anyone's idea of a domestic employee -- sashaying out with a feather duster had to be one of the great launches for a comic play in Broadway history. Everyhing that followed must've been built on relishing the incongruity. I've never seen another Sabina that captured that element of genuine surprise, and I've seen some almost-successful ones (not a devoted fan of the Vivien Leigh's, which at least had the oddity of the casting working in her favor). Yes, I'm sure her Regina was for the ages. But we can likely imagine that performance. The synergy of Tallulah and Wilder's unlikely and unreliable narrator had to be a kind of artistic one-off. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: portenopete 11:09 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| I laughed reading this as production after production occurred to you. I'm the same way. The list feels like it might be endless. I'd like to have seen Coward, Lawrence, Olivier and Jill Esmond in the first Private Lives. And Henry Irving in anything to see what the effect would be and whether or not there was something a 21st-century viewer could grab on to in terms of character and emotional life. And the opening of Playboy of the Western World at the Abbey and the Macready/Booth Scottish Plays inn the mid-19th century to experience the riots. With all of these- and hundreds more- is the idea of having no expectations going in is just so thrilling: "This one's got Noel Coward: do we know him?" I'm grateful to have seen things like Avenue Q and Spring Awakening and The Book of Mormon with very little hint as to what they were like, Or, as a kid, seeing Noises Off on Broadway and laughing my ass off, something I'd never known a play could bring about. I'm always interested in takeovers: Thomas Mitchell or Gene Lockhart in Salesman, Quinn or Palance as Brick in Cat (and Thomas Gomez as Big Daddy), Alfred Drake in King and I. I gotta stop...LOL. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:45 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - portenopete 11:09 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| To my knowledge, neither Quinn nor Palance ever played Brick. They played Stanley, although was Palance perhaps only an understudy? Richard Kiley was also a Stanley understudy, perhaps a temporary replacement either on Broadway or a tour, and then he did play the role on the subway circuit. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 12:53 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - portenopete 11:09 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| First on my list is FOLLIES, and oh, how I envy you people here who saw it (or even saw it multiple times)! Next would be PORGY AND BESS. I managed to “see” a lot of the Golden Age classics, albeit through the eyes of my time traveler protagonist, and that was definitely one of the joys of writing the novel. It was even more fun (but considerably more work) to invent and cast shows that didn’t exist in our timeline. Laura in LA |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 11:09 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 10:55 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - showtunetrivia 12:53 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| REDHEAD with Gwen Verdon -- considered her biggest dance show in terms of how much dancing she did in the show, what with Fosse doing choreography and his first Broadway directing gig, he apparently went all out - I enjoy the OCR, but it's very tough to cast the lead role as originally conceived CAN-CAN - opening night with Verdon literally stopping the show, becoming a star, and having to be recalled from her dressing room to take a bow so the show could proceed MY FAIR LADY - Andrews and Harrison GYPSY with Merman - especially on a night with a celebrity friend in the house (when she was known to give even better performances) MAME (original cast with Lansbury, though I did see the revival) - some clips of the original show Lansbury really dancing a lot, literally working her ass off for long-awaited stardom FANNY - Pinza, Walter Slezak, William Tabbert and Florence Henderson - the long excerpt on "Ed Sullivan" looks wonderful ONE TOUCH OF VENUS - to see Mary Martin in this as well as SOUTH PACIFIC LADY IN THE DARK - to see Danny Kaye stop the show with "Tchaikowsky" then watch Gertrude Lawrence's competitive instinct kick in and top it with "The Saga of Jenny" BAREFOOT IN THE PARK -- Robert Redford, Elizabeth Ashley and Mildred Natwick - not too many folks here have mentioned comedies among the shows, which really does show how underestimated when someone is up for an award in a comedy vs. a drama. BORN YESTERDAY - seeing Judy Holliday in this and in BELLS ARE RINGING, even though she repeated them in the film versions. THE MUSIC MAN - Robert Preston and Barbara Cook -- and back then, plenty of people must have been utterly surprised how wonderful Preston was in musical comedy after being known mostly as a dramatic character actor in movies FUNNY GIRL - with Streisand, early in the run, when she wasn't bored or tired of the repetition KISMET - to see Alfred Drake in what Sondheim considered one of the greatest performances he ever saw, along with a great cast including Richard Kiley, Doretta Morrow and Joan Diener |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 08:59 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 08:56 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - showtunetrivia 12:53 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I saw Follies twice, when I was 19, 20, about five months apart, August 1971 and January 1972. People ask: "Did you know it was special?" I must say, it's one of the few times I knew. I was in college, and had one desire that fall: to return to NYC and see it again over holiday break. And so I did. I saw the full original cast both times, other than Virginia Sandifer, who if memory serves had left to play Eve in Applause with Bacall on the road/LA. Young Phyllis was then Alexandra Borrie. And both performances were matinees, a steamy August Saturday, the NYC heat reaching the upper 90s, and then a Wednesday in early January, frigid (I saw Dorothy Collins hurrying into the Winter Garden, bundled up in a camel coat, and met Fifi exiting, after the matinee. She was in full make-up, and lovely to me.) What's powerful about that original production: every one since has the ability to remind us -- at odd moments -- of the first. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: schauspieler 01:16 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - showtunetrivia 12:53 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I agree about FOLLIES. My number one would be FUNNY GIRL with Streisand in its first weeks. Others: VIRGINIA WOOLF, STREETCAR, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY with Hepburn and THE VOICE OF THE TURTLE with Margaret Sullavan. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: comedywest 12:58 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - showtunetrivia 12:53 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I'd add the original (Sondheim) Merrily, the first preview and the last performance (and a few in between). | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: bmc 02:08 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - comedywest 12:58 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I DID see the first preview of MERRILY!!!!!!!.others i wish i could see were the OBC SOUTH PACIFIC, Golden Apple, tryouts of HOUSE OF FLOWERS< as well as the OBC, West side Story, Gypsy, Boston tryouts of Camelot, Sound of Music ..WHOLESALE Cabaret,Mame the last sat's 2 perfs (in Boston)of FOLLIES and Promises, Promises(when the eve perf was changed from the Matinees) and OBC of ACL on Bway and ALNM OBC and SEESAW tryout and on Bwy AND on tour w. Luci Arnaz........... (I'll stop now NM |
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| Original London South Pacific production -- complete | |
| Posted by: aleck 09:41 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - bmc 02:08 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Here's a video of the entire original London production of South Pacific -- with Mary Martin and Wilbur Evans. Even discounting the quality of the video/audio, the sets look so privative (look for those traveler scenes), the staging is stiff and, frankly, I didn't care for Mary Martin in it. The Lincoln Center production with Kelli O'Hara is how I want to remember South Pacific. But maybe there are other opinions of this complete record of the original South Pacific since I assume the London production replicated the original Broadway production. |
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| Link | Original London South Pacific -- complete |
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| re: Original London South Pacific production -- complete | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 12:35 am EDT 06/06/23 | |
| In reply to: Original London South Pacific production -- complete - aleck 09:41 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| Though it is a valuable documentation, I would not judge the experience of seeing the show live in NY by this video. Mary Martin is the only original cast member, she and the cast are performing as though there is an audience in the house (there isn’t) and not with the intimacy of the camera in mind, plus, as Logan said in his autobiography, Martin felt pressured to live up to her performance’s legendary status and had lost much of her spontaneity. I’d still love to have seen it in NY. |
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| re: Original London South Pacific production -- complete | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 01:50 am EDT 06/06/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Original London South Pacific production -- complete - TheOtherOne 12:35 am EDT 06/06/23 | |
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| The other thing to remember is that after Logan had restaged some things a bit for the national tour because he felt that the tour performers were different and sometimes adjustments in the staging worked better for those people, Rodgers and Hammerstein forbade him from working on the London production. It was staged as a replication of the Broadway production, but without the creativity that Logan might have been able to instill. Nonetheless, Muriel Smith is quite good, I think, and it's a fascinating document. Interestingly in the London video, she belts "Bali Ha'i," which is not how she does it on the film soundtrack. On the partial London cast recording, her performance is rather in between the live performance and the performance on the film soundtrack. Also, the staging of "Bali Ha'i" is totally brilliant as far as I'm concerned. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Last Edit: TheOtherOne 06:09 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 06:01 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - bmc 02:08 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| For the most part I am too grateful for the shows I did get to see growing up in New York to be sorry for those that I missed, but there are a couple of exceptions. I wish I could have seen the original production of "Picnic." The video of the original cast's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show is so preferable to the glossy film version that it's hard to believe the same man directed both. (By the way, Ralph Meeker was a replacement Stanley in "Streetcar." I know a few posters mentioned replacement Stanleys as Brick in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof," but I believe Meeker actually closed the original run of "Streetcar" and that performance probably led him to the role of Hal.) Anyway, getting back to "Picnic," the dance to "Moonglow" in the film is a much revered cinematic moment, but the same moment as depicted on the Sullivan appearance, a much less deliberate seduction in which Hal and Midge are surprised by how turned on they are by each other, is electrifying. And I wish I could have seen the original production of "South Pacific." Logan again! But SP will always be a favorite. That gorgeous score, the seamless way its dialogue spills into its songs, especially as performed by that cast...yes, I wish I could have seen it. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 08:53 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - AlanScott 11:15 pm EDT 06/04/23 | |
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| Anything starring Ethel Merman, but Annie Get Your Gun in particular. I would love to have seen her powering her way over the orchestra to the last row of the theater without amplification. I often wonder how actors and singers are trained to be able to do that and not sound like they’re shouting. | |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 05:50 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - BillEadie 08:53 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I think you'd have to go back to the 1930s to hear Merman completely unamplified, or maybe the earliest shows in the 1940s. There was some amplification here and there — in revues and in very large theatres — during the 1930s. I mean floor mics and area mics, of course, not body mics, although body mics were being talked about as a possibility as early as the early 1940s. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the original AGYG had floor mics. in Hello, Dolly! she was not miked (miced?) on the runway as she was not wearing a mic, at least according to the press at the time, although Brian Kellow's bio of Merman said she did a wear a mic. Anyway, I saw her in it, and she sounded completely unamplified on the runway. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 01:13 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - BillEadie 08:53 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I'd pick GIRL CRAZY to see if the Merman "star is born" legend is actually anywhere close to what the actual reaction was. It would be so interesting to see an audience react to Merman as a brand new talent that few of them would have seen or have heard of prior. And the bonus would be seeing a pre-Hollywood Ginger Rogers. |
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| re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen | |
| Posted by: huskyital 12:54 pm EDT 06/05/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Productions of the past I wish I'd seen - BillEadie 08:53 am EDT 06/05/23 | |
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| I saw her in the production of Annie get your gun at Lincoln center and I remember even after I ran out of an exit to go to the bathroom I could still hear her bellowing beautifully. The original recording of gypsy with Ethel is still thrilling to listen to. | |
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