An interesting connection between two of the shows on your list: Ali Stroker became the first actor who uses a wheelchair when she was in the Deaf West Spring Awakening, and the first to win a Tony for her role in the revival of Oklahoma.
I wouldn't so much call it "groundbreaking" but, to me, one of the most interesting cases of this is Chess. It's been produced so many times and is never the same play twice. I have seen it many times (professional and amateur/student productions) and I could not give a plot synopsis that would match for any two of the productions. It's like a collection of characters and songs that can never seem to find their story.
I was thinking about Chess as well. Amazing music but a book that never seems to quite work....or be understandable to mass audiences who don't already know the story.
Great, great list. As a New York theater-goer, I have to throw in a mention to Yiddish Fiddler. The production didn't change the story at all, but the language change had a massive impact. Plus, directed by original Emcee Joel Grey.
@@minirth.maggie Entirely Yiddish dialogue and lyrics. Only exceptions were when Russian characters were speaking or singing: that was in Russian. Subtitles were in English and Russian.
I work as a stage technician, currently in college studying stage management and directing. Fish’s Oklahoma was a huge eye opener for me in regards to how far a director can go with their vision. I saw the National Tour when it came to Los Angeles during previews, and the first blackout sequence was one of the most horrifying experiences i’ve ever had as an audience member. There was a subtle hostility that built up in the audience, and that boiled through poor jud up until the first gunshot. Some people down my aisle got up and made their distaste known. At intermission I moved to the center cuz I was hyped for the dream ballet lmao
A fun regional twist on Oklahoma! I have become obsessed with recently is the Oregon Shakespeare Company 2018 revival of Oklahoma!, where Ado Andy and Woody's genders were swapped so both of the main couples were queer. One article lovingly dubbed it "Oklahomo!" and I am obsessed with everything about it.
I love these educational/theatre history videos of yours! Have to say, the actor-muso Lord of the Rings at the Watermill theatre has my entire heart. To take such an epic story that played in one of the largest west end houses and put it in this tiny little theatre and still have it feel grand and expansive and glorious… Paul Hart is a genius.
Small correction: Fosse directed the film adaptation of “Cabaret”, but the original Broadway production was directed by Hal Prince. Great subject; keep up the good work!
This was a great list! One thought I wanted to share. People often say Oklahoma! was the first modern/book musical because it used songs to develop plot and characters. I would argue that that was Showboat, from the 1920s. But I think Showboat was almost too ahead of its time (plus the way it took on racism made it more challenging in terms of mass acceptance), so the musicals that followed, didn't follow suit. Oklahoma! is ground-breaking because it used integrated songs to advance plot/character, AND in the right way at the right time, and set the tone for all musicals that followed. Oklahoma! absolutely significantly changed musical theater. I just want to give Showboat its flowers too :)
I agree on the groundbreaking aspect of Show Boat, and it's one of my all-time favorites, too! And though it might have been ahead of its time, it might be somewhat outdated for our time. Unless it gets a groundbreaking revival...
@mocknburd23 it is definitely outdated for our time, but not any more so that G&S or opera, I think? I definitely think the right revival could do it! It also just makes me really happy that someone else feels the same way about this show :) I'm always surprised by how many musical theater people have not even heard of Showboat (and obviously if you're not into musical theater, the chances are even slimmer).
@@rebeccag8589Certainly the amazing 1994 Hal Prince revised revival of Show Boat which I saw multiple times as a teen showed it can still be relevant and work. One reason Oklahoma! Is often given more credit is it also integrated dance into the work which Show Boat had not (it did have dance but they were specialty routines very much in the old vaudeville tradition). When Show Boat was first successfully revived after Oklahoma! in 1946, in keeping with the times along the revisions now was a more fully integrated choreography. And while Show Boat didn’t immediately lead to notable folowups, its writers Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein did work on even more integrated shows albeit with much lighter stories on now forgotten hits like 1932’s Music in the Air (which gave us the song The Song is You) and 1939’s Very Warm for May (which gave us All the Things You Are and us the first musical Sondheim remembers). So thematically these shows were not as rich or serious as Show Boat but they did take its innovations in form and further develop them. And what do all these shows have in common with Oklahoma! Oscar Hammerstein as lyricist and librettist who really was the man who invented modern musicals.
As soon as I saw the title I said to myself if deaf west spring awakening isn't on here I will be shocked. Glad to see it mentioned, was such a beautiful and well thought out revival.
It wasn't in the thumbnail and I was thinking it might not be mentioned. I feel like for how much it is a ground-breaking and unique revival, it doesn't get mentioned very much outside of cast members who were in it and direct fans of it. I wish it were talked about more because it's gorgeous and certainly deserved more acclaim than it got (I am still bitter about the tonys)
Thank you for the praise for the 2006 revival of Company. My absolute favorite version. Raúl Esparza is the best Bobby IMO and i will never forgive the Tony's for robbing him of his rightful tony
Went to Sondheim s 80th birthday concert Sondheim had Raul sing Being Alive twice. Mia Farrow came on stage and said it's not your imagination. Stephen wanted Raul to sing Being Alive again and what Stephen wants he gets
Terrific analysis, and a great list of excellent revivals. I do have three corrections to things you mentioned. The original Broadway production of cCbaret was not directed by Bob Fosse, (lthough he did direct the movie) but was, in fact, directed by Harold Prince. The DeafWest production of Spring Awakening was not there first in that style, they did a Broadway revival of Big River with exactly the same concept of both deaf and hearing actors, including a few of the original production’s cast members. And finally, Marissa Wallace was not the first black woman to be cast as Miss Adelaide. There was an all black Broadway revival years ago. Now, in fairness, it failed very quickly, but it did happen.
You should do this video again with the opposite. Revivals that made significant changes and it absolutely flopped. For example, I recall your video on the revival of Aspects of Love and it being so strange that they decided to change Michael Ball's character because he just HAD to sing the song he's known for singing. That would be like Barbra returning as the mom in Funny Girl but then having her sing "Don't Rain on my Parade."
I'm waiting for Bartlett Shear to get his magic bands on FOLLIES. To say that the two NY revivals were wanting is an understatement. I saw a production of Fiddler with Jerome Robbin's original staging at the NY State Theater in '81. Still one of my favorite theatrical experiences.
I thought that the 2011 revival was pretty perfect, even more so than the National production (which I admit I saw in a movie theater, not at the Olivier). The 2001 Broadway revival was truly awful, though.
@@markuhl The 2001 revival was pretty forgettable, but I very much enjoyed the Paper Mill revival with Donna McKechnie, Laurence Guittard, Tony Roberts, Dee Hoty, and Ann Miller! Pretty much a classic revival but beautifully done!
Took my son to a small production of godspell in an old abbey. The group was trapped in the New York subway during the 9-11 attacks. The radio broke into the music for reports periodically, of course the Jesus character sacrifices himself so the others can escape. There was no curtain call and he stayed on stage “dead” until the Abbey was completely cleared.
I think the John Doyle-Sweeney Todd often gets a bit sidelined because so many more people have seen the proshot of his Company (which, for the record I adore). I think the act of reducing the famously titanic and operatic cast as score to the barest essentials make the show a far more radical departure and result in the most intimate, articulate and *scariest* version of the show I've seen. But in the US especially, that Sweeney really was a moment and felt like it kicked the door down on the whole actor/musician concept (for non-diegetic purposes) that would be continue to be so effectively used in shows like Once, Sexy Oklahoma, Great Comet etc.
I did the production of Pippin in high school based in the concept of social media and the pressures of the media and how it changes your actions in different situations.
I guess those are successful examples. One recent-ish failed example is the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, where they changed the female lead to a gay man, while keeping the male lead straight, falling for the gay man's hypnotic personality who is a female singer from decades ago. Wild.
Loving the DWSA rep here! Disabled people get SO few opportunities to do theater cause ✨ableism✨ and it was truly historic. The only show even comparable in disability inclusion is How to Dance in Ohio. Unfortunately I never got to see DWSA at the time because I was a bit young for it but I would DIE for a “slime tutorial” with captions (hearing but autistic with auditory processing issues 😭)
Though, point of order, Showboat is considered the first modern musical. Produced in 1927 as opposed to Oklahoma's 1943. Also by Oscar Hammerstein II, paired with Jerome Kern. (If you haven't seen it, it's AMAZING. And very ahead of its time.)
Well, now I want to see The Little Mermaid musical set in an asylum... ❤ I saw the US tour of Cabaret with Lea Thompson in 1999 in Dallas, TX. I DIDN'T KNOW how it ended. I was not emotionally prepared for the Emcee to end in a spotlight in a concentration camp uniform and the club in shadow and ruin, implied that everyone was dead or gone. I think he had the yellow star on his uniform, and i have this terrible image of him raising a trembling hand in salute, frail and doomed. I lost it sobbing, cried buckets, missed the curtain calls. I still feel bad about that. I would like to see that re imagining of Oklahoma. I've never liked that musical (I'm an Oklahoman, had to do it in high school, but I've disliked it since i saw the movie) , but this version sounds so intriguing! I must confess I've never liked the dream ballet, but moving and changing it is interesting. Oooh that version of JCS looks interesting too!
Little Mermaid set in an asylum as directed by the Marquise de Sade.😅 Did you mean Cabaret (Emcee, Concentration Camp)? I haven't seen that live. Isn't it amazing how theatre can draw a response like that? That's the goal. 😊
Nobody has ever liked the dream ballet as far as I can tell 😄 - not the original and definitely not the bizarre contemporary-dance revival version. But the revival itself, as a whole, was *fascinating*. All the men are creepy and/or violent, all the women are trapped under the weight of sexist sociocultural expectations, the ending is not happy. I found the show very unsettling...and I rather enjoyed the fact that it was so unsettling, given what a contrast it was to how we're used to thinking of Golden Age musicals as silly and romantic.
I did a community theater production of Pippin in 2013 that also did the 60s/Vietnam version and our leading player was performed by a woman and it was fine. So I wasn't shocked at the latest revival. Also I absolutely love the revival of Company because I can totally relate to her as a single lady in her mid-30s.
Back when Chicago came back to the West End, I was working in a big solicitors the City. One of the solicitors was a big money backer for Chicago, and I remember having to go out shopping for a huge picture frame for him, for him to display the poster in his office.
Our regional theater Lyric of Oklahoma has produced 2 shows incorporating deaf actors-Fiddler on the Roof and just this year Cinderella. Some of the actors in this production came from the Broadway version of Spring Awakening.
This is a solid list, but you might as well say "Of the 21st Century." Not "Of All Time." So many productions being mentioned in the video and in the comments have precedence. Pal Joey in 1952 and Candide in 1974 reflect last season's Merrily: Pal Joey being the first time a revival was more critically and commercially successful than its original run and Candide the first to make significant textual changes to a flawed musical and ultimately becoming the template for that show moving forward. Not to mention it brought environmental staging to Broadway musicals (tied to Sam Mendes' Cabaret). Susan Schulman's Sweeney Todd in 1990 has ties to John Doyle's and Menier Chocolate Factory productions, taking a musical known for years for its grandeur and then stripping it down to its essentials. And Carousel (1992 at RNT, 1994 on Broadway) is pretty much the Father of modern artists taking Golden Age musicals seriously, with the mentality of "Let's not approach this as a nostalgia piece, but as if it were a brand new musical play today." Not to mention it was the boldest use of color conscious casting up to that point. To say nothing of Angela Lansbury's Gypsy proving that we needn't be afraid of attacking famous star vehicles with someone new, 1971's No No Nanette launching the nostalgia revival craze, or even the 1950's revival of Threepenny Opera turning a little known Weill/Brecht piece into a phenomenon. I urge everyone to look beyond 2001! There's SO much to explore!
NEVER4GET the kazoo Raúl!Bobby briefly plays during Side By Side. I wish there was a time machine so I could see 2006 Company in person. Thank the gods for the proshot. Also one of the biggest Tony snubs (if not the biggest) was Raúl Esparza losing the best actor in a musical category. I'm still mad.
I saw the 1994(?) revival with Elaine Stritch. It was great, but stuck to the classic version pretty much. But if you've ever read the novel!! I think it might do with a new movie version combining the two stories.
29:17 Andy Mientus and Michael Arden talked about this in a couple of interviews. Yes Arden credits Mientus with the original idea for the show and having certain characters be d/Deaf rather than just having hearing/deaf actors paired and doing the show straight. Note: Krysta Rodriguez was a swing in the original Broadway production, Andy Mientus was in the 1st National Tour.
Hi I saw the revival of superstar on tour. I took my kids and their friends and we all enjoyed it! I felt like it had a kabuki feel to it with the stylized movement and costumes particularly Herod and covering Jesus in glitter rather than blood.
About twenty years ago, a theater here in Chicago did a concert version of 1776 where they gender swapped John and Abigail Adams. From what I remember of the reviews, the woman who played John was amazing! I really wish I had seen it-1776 is one of my childhood favorite films.
So glad to see Company 2006 - I wasn’t expecting its inclusion - I absolutely love it. I stumbled upon it by accident as I’m directing the show next year (I can’t wait ! ) Another stripped back show - also a fan of that. As a director it’s one of my favourite parts of the process to look at all the white space on the page and wondering what I’m going to do with that …
There was/is a revival of Sweeney Todd that was reorchestrated for a progressive metal band. Sadly, there is no cast recording yet. Apparently, they're looking into making one. It's an exciting idea!
Huh, as someone who's played in the band for Sweeney that sounds like a super interesting idea. There's a lot of open harmonies and drones, and while the music is dense the orchestrations are mostly pretty sparse. When it does go big it goes for bare fury more than a lush full sound. So that all translates well to prog metal. Wanna hear this now!
About 20yrs ago, a local to where i am in australia had permission to re-orchestrate West Side Story to a band. Piano, Keys, Lead Guitar, Bass guitar, Drums, Percussion.....so imagine the opening on slasher guitar sound instead of brass
I was screaming SHOWBOAT at my screen but see your reply here already. Which makes me wonder what a revival would look like? Is it too sacred a cow to be reimagined? My favorite revival recently is Company, but I look forward to the tour of Parade. And frankly, a few years from now, the restaging of Days of Wine And Roses. It has to be.
Thanks Mickey Jo, I really enjoyed this video; I loved the Rosalie Craig production of Company and totally agree that Marianne Elliot was clever and thoughtful in her choices, nothing jarred even though Bobby was now Bobbie! However I thought the concert revival of Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close did the same sparing staging Lloyd did while still keeping the characters faithful. I just couldn't engage with a Norma Desmond who could still do the splits! Same for Guys and Dolls, the concept was great fun but the stages moved too often just at a peak moment and as I first saw it with Imelda Staunton, Joanne Riding and Clive Rowe I'm afraid I was rather spoilt, nothing can live up to that. I'm glad there's been a good revival of JCS, I sadly haven't seen the one described but did see the terrible arena version with Mel C where the disciples used Twitter and Chris Moyles minced on as Herod. Guess they can't all be winners! Thanks again for your hard work on this one, a really interesting subject well presented ❤
„Musical theatre has been around for about a century“ you are like the exact opposite of my professor who by ‚musical theatre‘ exclusively refers to opera (maybe operette on a good day) and only recently argued that canonical works *stopped* being created around a century ago.
While at university, there was a revival of Antigone. The director decided to put it in the year 2525. You may ask why and how does that make it different? I don't know and, well, the costumes were different.
Raul losing to David Hyde Pierce in 2007 is my 2017 Tony Awards. Also, have I told you my Being Alive on the piano theory? Because I don't think that Bobby survives to the end of the musical...
Look up “area stage” they did recently a revival of little mermaid with the daughter of Jodie benson the of voice of Ariel. And their production is way better than broadway. The costumes the scenery is all very artistic. The are only production who got the permission to do these changes
This is a pretty all inclusive list, and when attempting to run through the list of shows in my head that I've seen in NY, you kind of touch upon all of them. The only other one I can think might've been the recent revival of 1776, directed by Diane Paulus, while not critically or commercially successful, it did have an entirely female/trans/non-binary cast (many of color) playing every character, most of whom were white men in the original, as well as in their real life counterparts. Though I suppose Company/Legally Blonde cover the diversity and gender swapped casting shout outs on your list. Also shout out to Shakespeare in the Park's production of Into the Woods, just because.
I saw that version of 1776. It was interesting but they were having a rough time the night we saw it. They had to replace at least one cast member in the middle of the performance and it just felt like the rest of the cast didn't want to be there. Maybe they were exhausted. We were originally supposed to get the show as a preview but they pulled it from that season because it wasn't ready and then Covid happened, so I think we were at the end of the tour by the time it showed up. I wouldn't pay to see it again.
I'm literally the target audience for that revival(trans social justicey type) and when I saw the tour... I didn't *hate* it, but I also didn't enjoy it much at all. Hated what they did with the two most devastating songs in the score for me, Momma Look Sharp and Molasses to Rum. They were so overdone with the music changes and the choruses and the big staging that it actually killed the impact for me lol. The start with the shoes was probably the best part for me honestly.
A good list though I’m not sure I would have included them all (the Pippin revival despite the circus concept didn’t feel all that different or groundbreaking to me). One really important revival that I know you’re just too young to have seen is the still talked about 1993 London/1994 Broadway Carousel by Nicholas Hytner (on your list for G&D) At the time, due to some shabby revivals and the watered down movies, Rodgers and Hammerstein had grown the reputation as being sentimental works with no modern relevance. In one fell swoop this revival of Carousel proved that wrong and led to a great re appraisal of their shows as well to the major new productions of Oklahoma! king and I and South Pacific we have had since. I was lucky at 15 to see the tour with an unknown Patrick Wilson which made such a huge impression.
I’m worried that Sunset Blvd will get the Cabaret treatment from the NY critics (who we know did not care for Cabaret the way the London critics did). We’ll see, but I’m not optimistic at the moment that it’ll get raves.
I really wasn't a fan of the '06 Company. I just never felt like the cast playing the instruments paid off in more than a couple of corners. The use in Side by Side was pretty good, and the Being Alive is perhaps the best version I've seen, amazing performance by Raul Esparza. But like, two payoffs isn't justification for completely reshaping the music and significantly worsening it in a good number of other places imho
Amelie in the west end was a phenomenal revival. Bringing it back closer to the film with a more French vibe and accents, having the actors play the instruments, even walking across the piano as it is being played, and the puppetry made it such a charming production. West End Amelie soundtrack is one of my favourites.
I like to think of super artsy revivals like Oklahoma to be more of performance art commentaries on the original piece. Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma will never be regarded as the definitive version of Oklahoma, the way the circus Pippin is considered the definitive Pippin. You are always thinking of the original version when watching the art house interpretation (commentary).
Maybe not necessarily changing the whole musical, but My Fair Lady has an absolutely terrible ending. The audience sees Higgins as remorseful, but Eliza never does, yet she comes back and he demands his slippers. I’m sure a lot of people would want the OG ending to Pygmalion where she leaves him, but I think you could still end the musical with them together with a couple tweaks. I think Eliza would need to overhear him as he’s walking alone through the streets at the end. I can also imagine the dialogue gender swapping at the end, so she cheekily asks him for her slippers, or maybe Higgins delivers the line, but not as a demand and instead of an astonished statement when he realizes she’s returned. I like so much of that musical except the end, where I want to throw my slippers at the screen.
A revival I feel could have been so good was the Broadway WSS revival, which was shut down for covid. It shut down before it could really find its footing, meaning that many remember it as "Millennial WSS" which is somewhat true, but it had fantastic choreo, incredible projections on the back wall of the stage that zoomed in on certain moments, and more! I do hope that we might see a production like that again, and hopefully it'll run long enough for people to see it and make their own opinions on it. (Just a funfact, this was a production with 33 broadway debuts, which is so cool, but extremely disappointing given how quickly it shut down-)
Superstar has been a favorite of mine since high school & I’ve been in several productions. However I thought the recent revival was awful! I had no idea it was supposed to be a concert, as the concept not just a concert version. It was so static. They just stood and sang into microphones. It was boring. Gethsemane was the worst. With all the angst, anger, fear & frustration, Jesus just stands there with his guitar. This Jesus Must Die: a bunch of guys just standing there, singing into microphones. I’ve seen some questionable reimaginings of Superstar, it lends itself to any concept because the script is so nonspecific. But for the love of… Christ… have them move around! The recent Peter Pan revival was interesting. A boy playing Peter & updated to modern times. The use of screens as the backdrop, especially for the flying, worked really well.
As an Oklahoman sitting in the theater watching the audience shocked into silence and dismay or anger or walking out, it was fascinating. You don’t screw with “our” show. It was pretty well hated here in the heartland.
Weren't Gilbert & Sullivan writing "musicals" (then called "operettas") which very much incorporated songs which were part of the plot and story? Not to say that the G&S cannon are anything like modern musicals; I just think they're definitely foundational to the art as it now exists. Of course, G&S shows have also been revived and reinterpreted more times than just about any others (except Shakespeare, but he didn't write musicals). I particularly have enjoyed a Jazz version of The Mikado, as an example.
saw COMPA-NY twice, in NY and Chicago, and while i love the piece and the performers, i still can’t enjoy how the gender swap interacts with Bobbie’s sexuality. marianne elliot said in the NYT that seeing Bobbie propose to Amy at close of Act I felt “unconvincing” to her, and this drove the decision to make Amy into Jamie. i can’t help but feel that having Bobbie propose to a (for all intents and purposes) gay male character is a solution to that discomfort. if anything, it worsens the moment for me - i want Bobbie to mean what (s)he says in that scene, and i don’t feel that way with Jamie instead of Amy. (this is to say nothing of the newly sexist feel of You Could Drive a Person Crazy, or how odd Joanne’s “you should make it” moment feels, or how we could have had a Kathy dealing with compulsory heterosexuality… sigh)
I adored Jamie, and there were other elements of the gender swapping that worked well, but Bobbie absolutely should have been bi. I liked the dynamic with Andy the flight attendant, but probably Kathy and definitely Marta should have stayed female. Drive A Person Crazy would work much better, the relationship between Bobbie and Jamie would be a lovely queer friendship, and there would be an interesting added element to Bobbie's ambivalence and indecision about marriage.
@@hollymcl i agree on all your potential improvements. elaborating on Jamie: i think making Amy a gay male character in general isn’t the problem. there’s nothing about the character that must be female, and male actors have clearly been hitting it out of the park with it. it’s just that the purpose that character serves in the pivotal act I climax is distinct. and a huge factor in it is whether Bobby/ie means what (s)he’s saying. that proposal scene is really the most "plotty" moment of the show. it HAS to matter in a show that's so loose with what Bobby/ie is learning when. from my point of view, Bobby’s delusion when he proposes, in the original show, can’t come purely from “everyone will leave us alone.” he has to mean the “marry me, and…” too. not hypothetically. as a romance, a connection. (obviously, one he doesn’t really understand, and an unreciprocated one.) without adding to the text, there’s no way the current state of the show would express that Jamie is explicitly attracted to women. so with Bobbie/Jamie, you have a straight woman… proposing a weird beard-esque lavender marriage thing… on a gay man’s wedding day. it just evaporates the potential for me. the potential in that scene that shows Bobby/ie has equally as much to learn about love/wanting someone as about marriage/partnership. (sorry this ended up so long! been a while since i've thought about it and it all flowed out.)
@@MickeyJoTheatre Only those that don't know their musical theatre history... It's like saying 'Some people think the Arts Theatre is one of the best in London' No.... it isnt. 😂
Act I of Deaf West Spring Awakening was perhaps the most beautiful piece of theatre I have ever seen.
The Deaf West BIG RIVER was amazing too.
An interesting connection between two of the shows on your list: Ali Stroker became the first actor who uses a wheelchair when she was in the Deaf West Spring Awakening, and the first to win a Tony for her role in the revival of Oklahoma.
I had zero clue that Pippin wasn’t originally made for a circus. I guess that’s just how iconic that revival was
I was thinking the same!
Same!
Same! I was actually in a teen production with a circus theme back in 2004 or so, so maybe it just lends really well to a circus theme?
I wouldn't so much call it "groundbreaking" but, to me, one of the most interesting cases of this is Chess. It's been produced so many times and is never the same play twice. I have seen it many times (professional and amateur/student productions) and I could not give a plot synopsis that would match for any two of the productions. It's like a collection of characters and songs that can never seem to find their story.
I was thinking about Chess as well. Amazing music but a book that never seems to quite work....or be understandable to mass audiences who don't already know the story.
This reminds me of when high schools in America decided to do random shows as steam punk for some reason.
Great, great list. As a New York theater-goer, I have to throw in a mention to Yiddish Fiddler. The production didn't change the story at all, but the language change had a massive impact. Plus, directed by original Emcee Joel Grey.
How much Yiddish was used? Was it Yiddish dialog and lyrics? I find myself fascinated by Korean language productions of familiar musicals.
I very nearly mentioned Yiddish Fiddler!
@@minirth.maggie Entirely Yiddish dialogue and lyrics. Only exceptions were when Russian characters were speaking or singing: that was in Russian. Subtitles were in English and Russian.
@@minirth.maggie I feel so many s Korean shows are amazing. Junsu Kim in Dracula must be my favorite! Even though I'm not a fan of his vibrato.
I don't speak Yiddish and yet I still listen to the cast album 😂
I work as a stage technician, currently in college studying stage management and directing. Fish’s Oklahoma was a huge eye opener for me in regards to how far a director can go with their vision. I saw the National Tour when it came to Los Angeles during previews, and the first blackout sequence was one of the most horrifying experiences i’ve ever had as an audience member. There was a subtle hostility that built up in the audience, and that boiled through poor jud up until the first gunshot. Some people down my aisle got up and made their distaste known. At intermission I moved to the center cuz I was hyped for the dream ballet lmao
A fun regional twist on Oklahoma! I have become obsessed with recently is the Oregon Shakespeare Company 2018 revival of Oklahoma!, where Ado Andy and Woody's genders were swapped so both of the main couples were queer. One article lovingly dubbed it "Oklahomo!" and I am obsessed with everything about it.
Michael Arden's revival of Once on this Island with the staging and the sand was epic
I love these educational/theatre history videos of yours! Have to say, the actor-muso Lord of the Rings at the Watermill theatre has my entire heart. To take such an epic story that played in one of the largest west end houses and put it in this tiny little theatre and still have it feel grand and expansive and glorious… Paul Hart is a genius.
Small correction: Fosse directed the film adaptation of “Cabaret”, but the original Broadway production was directed by Hal Prince.
Great subject; keep up the good work!
This was a great list! One thought I wanted to share. People often say Oklahoma! was the first modern/book musical because it used songs to develop plot and characters. I would argue that that was Showboat, from the 1920s.
But I think Showboat was almost too ahead of its time (plus the way it took on racism made it more challenging in terms of mass acceptance), so the musicals that followed, didn't follow suit. Oklahoma! is ground-breaking because it used integrated songs to advance plot/character, AND in the right way at the right time, and set the tone for all musicals that followed.
Oklahoma! absolutely significantly changed musical theater. I just want to give Showboat its flowers too :)
I agree on the groundbreaking aspect of Show Boat, and it's one of my all-time favorites, too! And though it might have been ahead of its time, it might be somewhat outdated for our time. Unless it gets a groundbreaking revival...
@mocknburd23 it is definitely outdated for our time, but not any more so that G&S or opera, I think? I definitely think the right revival could do it! It also just makes me really happy that someone else feels the same way about this show :) I'm always surprised by how many musical theater people have not even heard of Showboat (and obviously if you're not into musical theater, the chances are even slimmer).
@@rebeccag8589Certainly the amazing 1994 Hal Prince revised revival of Show Boat which I saw multiple times as a teen showed it can still be relevant and work.
One reason Oklahoma! Is often given more credit is it also integrated dance into the work which Show Boat had not (it did have dance but they were specialty routines very much in the old vaudeville tradition). When Show Boat was first successfully revived after Oklahoma! in 1946, in keeping with the times along the revisions now was a more fully integrated choreography.
And while Show Boat didn’t immediately lead to notable folowups, its writers Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein did work on even more integrated shows albeit with much lighter stories on now forgotten hits like 1932’s Music in the Air (which gave us the song The Song is You) and 1939’s Very Warm for May (which gave us All the Things You Are and us the first musical Sondheim remembers). So thematically these shows were not as rich or serious as Show Boat but they did take its innovations in form and further develop them.
And what do all these shows have in common with Oklahoma! Oscar Hammerstein as lyricist and librettist who really was the man who invented modern musicals.
@@EricMontreal22 very well put!
As soon as I saw the title I said to myself if deaf west spring awakening isn't on here I will be shocked. Glad to see it mentioned, was such a beautiful and well thought out revival.
It wasn't in the thumbnail and I was thinking it might not be mentioned. I feel like for how much it is a ground-breaking and unique revival, it doesn't get mentioned very much outside of cast members who were in it and direct fans of it. I wish it were talked about more because it's gorgeous and certainly deserved more acclaim than it got (I am still bitter about the tonys)
Thank you for the praise for the 2006 revival of Company. My absolute favorite version. Raúl Esparza is the best Bobby IMO and i will never forgive the Tony's for robbing him of his rightful tony
Went to Sondheim s 80th birthday concert Sondheim had Raul sing Being Alive twice. Mia Farrow came on stage and said it's not your imagination. Stephen wanted Raul to sing Being Alive again and what Stephen wants he gets
Terrific analysis, and a great list of excellent revivals. I do have three corrections to things you mentioned. The original Broadway production of cCbaret was not directed by Bob Fosse, (lthough he did direct the movie) but was, in fact, directed by Harold Prince. The DeafWest production of Spring Awakening was not there first in that style, they did a Broadway revival of Big River with exactly the same concept of both deaf and hearing actors, including a few of the original production’s cast members. And finally, Marissa Wallace was not the first black woman to be cast as Miss Adelaide. There was an all black Broadway revival years ago. Now, in fairness, it failed very quickly, but it did happen.
Thanks!
Sunset Boulevard went from a musical I didn't like to probably my favourite of all time after JL's version.
I hope ragtime comes back to Broadway. I was Tateh in High School, and it was the only big role I ever did. So many memories!
The Broadway revival of Pippin was the first show I ever saw on Broadway and I literally burst into tears the moment magic to do started lol
I have very fond memories of seeing The Music Man revival in 2000 with Rebecca Luker and Craig Bierko.
I saw the Sam Mendes production of Cabaret in Australia in 2004. Was confronting and moving and AMAZING
Just saw the new Company last night and it was amazing! The set design is everything to me.
This was such a good video- really showing some of the meaning and impact of the art form to modern society.
Saw the revival of Cabret with Alan Cumming on UA-cam and I loved it!
Coming back to honestly one of my all time favorite videos on your channel 🎉
I have vivid memories of an Into the Woods production from a few years ago in which the baker worked at Greggs…
Exactly what Sondheim had in mind
HELPPPP I WOJLD LIVE
You should do this video again with the opposite. Revivals that made significant changes and it absolutely flopped. For example, I recall your video on the revival of Aspects of Love and it being so strange that they decided to change Michael Ball's character because he just HAD to sing the song he's known for singing. That would be like Barbra returning as the mom in Funny Girl but then having her sing "Don't Rain on my Parade."
I'm waiting for Bartlett Shear to get his magic bands on FOLLIES. To say that the two NY revivals were wanting is an understatement. I saw a production of Fiddler with Jerome Robbin's original staging at the NY State Theater in '81. Still one of my favorite theatrical experiences.
A Bartlett Sher Follies could be lovely - the Dominic Cooke revival at the National Theatre was pretty perfect honestly.
I thought that the 2011 revival was pretty perfect, even more so than the National production (which I admit I saw in a movie theater, not at the Olivier). The 2001 Broadway revival was truly awful, though.
@@markuhl The 2001 revival was pretty forgettable, but I very much enjoyed the Paper Mill revival with Donna McKechnie, Laurence Guittard, Tony Roberts, Dee Hoty, and Ann Miller! Pretty much a classic revival but beautifully done!
Surprised not to see Merrily We Roll Along here. That thing finally got its due.
A great revival but not one that made enormous changes in the same way.
Took my son to a small production of godspell in an old abbey. The group was trapped in the New York subway during the 9-11 attacks. The radio broke into the music for reports periodically, of course the Jesus character sacrifices himself so the others can escape. There was no curtain call and he stayed on stage “dead” until the Abbey was completely cleared.
Wow that must’ve been so intense!! Sorry to make sure I understood - the performance kept going despite 9.11 happening at the same time?❤❤
I think the John Doyle-Sweeney Todd often gets a bit sidelined because so many more people have seen the proshot of his Company (which, for the record I adore).
I think the act of reducing the famously titanic and operatic cast as score to the barest essentials make the show a far more radical departure and result in the most intimate, articulate and *scariest* version of the show I've seen.
But in the US especially, that Sweeney really was a moment and felt like it kicked the door down on the whole actor/musician concept (for non-diegetic purposes) that would be continue to be so effectively used in shows like Once, Sexy Oklahoma, Great Comet etc.
One of the best productions I’ve ever seen!
Seconding the Doyle Sweeney Todd! I've only heard the cast recording, and it's spine-chilling.
YESSSSSSS THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED TODAY 😂🎉❤
'94 Broadway Revival of Carousel
I did the production of Pippin in high school based in the concept of social media and the pressures of the media and how it changes your actions in different situations.
I guess those are successful examples. One recent-ish failed example is the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, where they changed the female lead to a gay man, while keeping the male lead straight, falling for the gay man's hypnotic personality who is a female singer from decades ago. Wild.
Best thing was Harry connicks singing
Loving the DWSA rep here! Disabled people get SO few opportunities to do theater cause ✨ableism✨ and it was truly historic. The only show even comparable in disability inclusion is How to Dance in Ohio. Unfortunately I never got to see DWSA at the time because I was a bit young for it but I would DIE for a “slime tutorial” with captions (hearing but autistic with auditory processing issues 😭)
Not to promote the slime tutorials but if you look around a bit I believe there are some captioned ones out there
Though, point of order, Showboat is considered the first modern musical. Produced in 1927 as opposed to Oklahoma's 1943. Also by Oscar Hammerstein II, paired with Jerome Kern. (If you haven't seen it, it's AMAZING. And very ahead of its time.)
Well, now I want to see The Little Mermaid musical set in an asylum... ❤ I saw the US tour of Cabaret with Lea Thompson in 1999 in Dallas, TX. I DIDN'T KNOW how it ended. I was not emotionally prepared for the Emcee to end in a spotlight in a concentration camp uniform and the club in shadow and ruin, implied that everyone was dead or gone. I think he had the yellow star on his uniform, and i have this terrible image of him raising a trembling hand in salute, frail and doomed. I lost it sobbing, cried buckets, missed the curtain calls. I still feel bad about that.
I would like to see that re imagining of Oklahoma. I've never liked that musical (I'm an Oklahoman, had to do it in high school, but I've disliked it since i saw the movie) , but this version sounds so intriguing! I must confess I've never liked the dream ballet, but moving and changing it is interesting.
Oooh that version of JCS looks interesting too!
I intrigued myself too!
Little Mermaid set in an asylum as directed by the Marquise de Sade.😅
Did you mean Cabaret (Emcee, Concentration Camp)? I haven't seen that live. Isn't it amazing how theatre can draw a response like that? That's the goal. 😊
Nobody has ever liked the dream ballet as far as I can tell 😄 - not the original and definitely not the bizarre contemporary-dance revival version. But the revival itself, as a whole, was *fascinating*. All the men are creepy and/or violent, all the women are trapped under the weight of sexist sociocultural expectations, the ending is not happy. I found the show very unsettling...and I rather enjoyed the fact that it was so unsettling, given what a contrast it was to how we're used to thinking of Golden Age musicals as silly and romantic.
Very interesting, thanks! Looking forward to seeing the Sunset Boulevard revival.
I did a community theater production of Pippin in 2013 that also did the 60s/Vietnam version and our leading player was performed by a woman and it was fine. So I wasn't shocked at the latest revival. Also I absolutely love the revival of Company because I can totally relate to her as a single lady in her mid-30s.
Back when Chicago came back to the West End, I was working in a big solicitors the City. One of the solicitors was a big money backer for Chicago, and I remember having to go out shopping for a huge picture frame for him, for him to display the poster in his office.
Oh and thank you for including JCS at the OAT. Very fond memories of seeing that show, and the outdoor setting just added to all the feelings.
There was a Broadway revival of GUYS AND DOLLS in the 1970’s with an all black cast.
Saw it excellent
Our regional theater Lyric of Oklahoma has produced 2 shows incorporating deaf actors-Fiddler on the Roof and just this year Cinderella. Some of the actors in this production came from the Broadway version of Spring Awakening.
This is a solid list, but you might as well say "Of the 21st Century." Not "Of All Time."
So many productions being mentioned in the video and in the comments have precedence. Pal Joey in 1952 and Candide in 1974 reflect last season's Merrily: Pal Joey being the first time a revival was more critically and commercially successful than its original run and Candide the first to make significant textual changes to a flawed musical and ultimately becoming the template for that show moving forward. Not to mention it brought environmental staging to Broadway musicals (tied to Sam Mendes' Cabaret). Susan Schulman's Sweeney Todd in 1990 has ties to John Doyle's and Menier Chocolate Factory productions, taking a musical known for years for its grandeur and then stripping it down to its essentials. And Carousel (1992 at RNT, 1994 on Broadway) is pretty much the Father of modern artists taking Golden Age musicals seriously, with the mentality of "Let's not approach this as a nostalgia piece, but as if it were a brand new musical play today." Not to mention it was the boldest use of color conscious casting up to that point.
To say nothing of Angela Lansbury's Gypsy proving that we needn't be afraid of attacking famous star vehicles with someone new, 1971's No No Nanette launching the nostalgia revival craze, or even the 1950's revival of Threepenny Opera turning a little known Weill/Brecht piece into a phenomenon. I urge everyone to look beyond 2001! There's SO much to explore!
much appreciate this contextualization!!
I NEED that cap.
I never saw it live, but I think the Regent's Park revival of Into The Woods made some bold design choices!
Enough to transfer to Central Park NYC, starring Donna Murphy
NEVER4GET the kazoo Raúl!Bobby briefly plays during Side By Side. I wish there was a time machine so I could see 2006 Company in person. Thank the gods for the proshot. Also one of the biggest Tony snubs (if not the biggest) was Raúl Esparza losing the best actor in a musical category. I'm still mad.
Surely Showboat was the first 'Book' Musical, in 1927!
That's the other candidate!
That's what I assumed Mickey Jo was gonna say before he mentioned Oklahoma! lol
The "Showboat" revival was extraordinarily well staged! One of the greatest pieces of theatre I've ever seen.
@@christophercobb249 Which revival? I suspect it is a piece that will be very rare going forward
I saw the 1994(?) revival with Elaine Stritch. It was great, but stuck to the classic version pretty much. But if you've ever read the novel!! I think it might do with a new movie version combining the two stories.
29:17 Andy Mientus and Michael Arden talked about this in a couple of interviews. Yes Arden credits Mientus with the original idea for the show and having certain characters be d/Deaf rather than just having hearing/deaf actors paired and doing the show straight.
Note: Krysta Rodriguez was a swing in the original Broadway production, Andy Mientus was in the 1st National Tour.
Hi I saw the revival of superstar on tour. I took my kids and their friends and we all enjoyed it! I felt like it had a kabuki feel to it with the stylized movement and costumes particularly Herod and covering Jesus in glitter rather than blood.
About twenty years ago, a theater here in Chicago did a concert version of 1776 where they gender swapped John and Abigail Adams. From what I remember of the reviews, the woman who played John was amazing! I really wish I had seen it-1776 is one of my childhood favorite films.
So glad to see Company 2006 - I wasn’t expecting its inclusion - I absolutely love it. I stumbled upon it by accident as I’m directing the show next year (I can’t wait ! ) Another stripped back show - also a fan of that. As a director it’s one of my favourite parts of the process to look at all the white space on the page and wondering what I’m going to do with that …
Already got my ticket for Sunset on Broadway in October
I loved Oklahoma at the Young Vic, Guys and dolls just brilliant seen it 4 times
Saw the Chicago touring company last year. It was enjoyable if uneven with some of the cast.
There was/is a revival of Sweeney Todd that was reorchestrated for a progressive metal band. Sadly, there is no cast recording yet. Apparently, they're looking into making one. It's an exciting idea!
Huh, as someone who's played in the band for Sweeney that sounds like a super interesting idea. There's a lot of open harmonies and drones, and while the music is dense the orchestrations are mostly pretty sparse. When it does go big it goes for bare fury more than a lush full sound. So that all translates well to prog metal. Wanna hear this now!
That sounds awesome and very thematically matching.
About 20yrs ago, a local to where i am in australia had permission to re-orchestrate West Side Story to a band. Piano, Keys, Lead Guitar, Bass guitar, Drums, Percussion.....so imagine the opening on slasher guitar sound instead of brass
I was screaming SHOWBOAT at my screen but see your reply here already. Which makes me wonder what a revival would look like? Is it too sacred a cow to be reimagined? My favorite revival recently is Company, but I look forward to the tour of Parade. And frankly, a few years from now, the restaging of Days of Wine And Roses. It has to be.
Showboat was revived - magnificently - in the 1990s.
Parade!
Thanks Mickey Jo, I really enjoyed this video; I loved the Rosalie Craig production of Company and totally agree that Marianne Elliot was clever and thoughtful in her choices, nothing jarred even though Bobby was now Bobbie!
However I thought the concert revival of Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close did the same sparing staging Lloyd did while still keeping the characters faithful. I just couldn't engage with a Norma Desmond who could still do the splits! Same for Guys and Dolls, the concept was great fun but the stages moved too often just at a peak moment and as I first saw it with Imelda Staunton, Joanne Riding and Clive Rowe I'm afraid I was rather spoilt, nothing can live up to that.
I'm glad there's been a good revival of JCS, I sadly haven't seen the one described but did see the terrible arena version with Mel C where the disciples used Twitter and Chris Moyles minced on as Herod. Guess they can't all be winners! Thanks again for your hard work on this one, a really interesting subject well presented ❤
„Musical theatre has been around for about a century“ you are like the exact opposite of my professor who by ‚musical theatre‘ exclusively refers to opera (maybe operette on a good day) and only recently argued that canonical works *stopped* being created around a century ago.
I think from now on we'll see many more productions of Company with a Bobbie instead of a Bobby.
At the moment in the UK that version isn’t licenseable
While at university, there was a revival of Antigone. The director decided to put it in the year 2525. You may ask why and how does that make it different? I don't know and, well, the costumes were different.
Raul losing to David Hyde Pierce in 2007 is my 2017 Tony Awards. Also, have I told you my Being Alive on the piano theory? Because I don't think that Bobby survives to the end of the musical...
Look up “area stage” they did recently a revival of little mermaid with the daughter of Jodie benson the of voice of Ariel. And their production is way better than broadway. The costumes the scenery is all very artistic. The are only production who got the permission to do these changes
How could any other man play the part of Leading Player after the legendary Ben Vereen?
This is a pretty all inclusive list, and when attempting to run through the list of shows in my head that I've seen in NY, you kind of touch upon all of them.
The only other one I can think might've been the recent revival of 1776, directed by Diane Paulus, while not critically or commercially successful, it did have an entirely female/trans/non-binary cast (many of color) playing every character, most of whom were white men in the original, as well as in their real life counterparts. Though I suppose Company/Legally Blonde cover the diversity and gender swapped casting shout outs on your list.
Also shout out to Shakespeare in the Park's production of Into the Woods, just because.
I saw that version of 1776. It was interesting but they were having a rough time the night we saw it. They had to replace at least one cast member in the middle of the performance and it just felt like the rest of the cast didn't want to be there. Maybe they were exhausted. We were originally supposed to get the show as a preview but they pulled it from that season because it wasn't ready and then Covid happened, so I think we were at the end of the tour by the time it showed up. I wouldn't pay to see it again.
I'm literally the target audience for that revival(trans social justicey type) and when I saw the tour... I didn't *hate* it, but I also didn't enjoy it much at all. Hated what they did with the two most devastating songs in the score for me, Momma Look Sharp and Molasses to Rum. They were so overdone with the music changes and the choruses and the big staging that it actually killed the impact for me lol. The start with the shoes was probably the best part for me honestly.
This is may be a dumb question, but where can I find the recording of Company that was mentioned here?
"Sexy Oklahoma", I only ever heard it referred to as "The Oklahoma that Fucks"
A good list though I’m not sure I would have included them all (the Pippin revival despite the circus concept didn’t feel all that different or groundbreaking to me).
One really important revival that I know you’re just too young to have seen is the still talked about 1993 London/1994 Broadway Carousel by Nicholas Hytner (on your list for G&D)
At the time, due to some shabby revivals and the watered down movies, Rodgers and Hammerstein had grown the reputation as being sentimental works with no modern relevance. In one fell swoop this revival of Carousel proved that wrong and led to a great re appraisal of their shows as well to the major new productions of Oklahoma! king and I and South Pacific we have had since.
I was lucky at 15 to see the tour with an unknown Patrick Wilson which made such a huge impression.
I’m worried that Sunset Blvd will get the Cabaret treatment from the NY critics (who we know did not care for Cabaret the way the London critics did). We’ll see, but I’m not optimistic at the moment that it’ll get raves.
I'd watch a whole video about how bizarre Pippin is and different ways you can play it. Show's great but it is WEIRD
Chicago was VER DARK. Revival glitzzy and good
I really wasn't a fan of the '06 Company. I just never felt like the cast playing the instruments paid off in more than a couple of corners. The use in Side by Side was pretty good, and the Being Alive is perhaps the best version I've seen, amazing performance by Raul Esparza. But like, two payoffs isn't justification for completely reshaping the music and significantly worsening it in a good number of other places imho
Kinda sad falsettos is not on here but otherwise amazing list
Amelie in the west end was a phenomenal revival.
Bringing it back closer to the film with a more French vibe and accents, having the actors play the instruments, even walking across the piano as it is being played, and the puppetry made it such a charming production.
West End Amelie soundtrack is one of my favourites.
I like to think of super artsy revivals like Oklahoma to be more of performance art commentaries on the original piece. Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma will never be regarded as the definitive version of Oklahoma, the way the circus Pippin is considered the definitive Pippin. You are always thinking of the original version when watching the art house interpretation (commentary).
1993/1994 carousel revival, made carousel a bit more gritty and normalized colorblind casting
Can we please, pleeeeeease have a video about the may layers of Pippin? I'd LOVE that. You're so right, it is such an underrated show.
Maybe not necessarily changing the whole musical, but My Fair Lady has an absolutely terrible ending. The audience sees Higgins as remorseful, but Eliza never does, yet she comes back and he demands his slippers. I’m sure a lot of people would want the OG ending to Pygmalion where she leaves him, but I think you could still end the musical with them together with a couple tweaks. I think Eliza would need to overhear him as he’s walking alone through the streets at the end. I can also imagine the dialogue gender swapping at the end, so she cheekily asks him for her slippers, or maybe Higgins delivers the line, but not as a demand and instead of an astonished statement when he realizes she’s returned.
I like so much of that musical except the end, where I want to throw my slippers at the screen.
A revival I feel could have been so good was the Broadway WSS revival, which was shut down for covid. It shut down before it could really find its footing, meaning that many remember it as "Millennial WSS" which is somewhat true, but it had fantastic choreo, incredible projections on the back wall of the stage that zoomed in on certain moments, and more! I do hope that we might see a production like that again, and hopefully it'll run long enough for people to see it and make their own opinions on it.
(Just a funfact, this was a production with 33 broadway debuts, which is so cool, but extremely disappointing given how quickly it shut down-)
Superstar has been a favorite of mine since high school & I’ve been in several productions. However I thought the recent revival was awful! I had no idea it was supposed to be a concert, as the concept not just a concert version. It was so static. They just stood and sang into microphones. It was boring. Gethsemane was the worst. With all the angst, anger, fear & frustration, Jesus just stands there with his guitar. This Jesus Must Die: a bunch of guys just standing there, singing into microphones. I’ve seen some questionable reimaginings of Superstar, it lends itself to any concept because the script is so nonspecific. But for the love of… Christ… have them move around! The recent Peter Pan revival was interesting. A boy playing Peter & updated to modern times. The use of screens as the backdrop, especially for the flying, worked really well.
I did really like the TV version with John Legend and Brandon Victor Dixon and Sara Bareilles.
As an Oklahoman sitting in the theater watching the audience shocked into silence and dismay or anger or walking out, it was fascinating. You don’t screw with “our” show. It was pretty well hated here in the heartland.
How'd ya miss Merrily???
An incredible revival! Groundbreaking and full of creative changes? Not quite.
Weren't Gilbert & Sullivan writing "musicals" (then called "operettas") which very much incorporated songs which were part of the plot and story? Not to say that the G&S cannon are anything like modern musicals; I just think they're definitely foundational to the art as it now exists.
Of course, G&S shows have also been revived and reinterpreted more times than just about any others (except Shakespeare, but he didn't write musicals). I particularly have enjoyed a Jazz version of The Mikado, as an example.
saw COMPA-NY twice, in NY and Chicago, and while i love the piece and the performers, i still can’t enjoy how the gender swap interacts with Bobbie’s sexuality.
marianne elliot said in the NYT that seeing Bobbie propose to Amy at close of Act I felt “unconvincing” to her, and this drove the decision to make Amy into Jamie. i can’t help but feel that having Bobbie propose to a (for all intents and purposes) gay male character is a solution to that discomfort. if anything, it worsens the moment for me - i want Bobbie to mean what (s)he says in that scene, and i don’t feel that way with Jamie instead of Amy.
(this is to say nothing of the newly sexist feel of You Could Drive a Person Crazy, or how odd Joanne’s “you should make it” moment feels, or how we could have had a Kathy dealing with compulsory heterosexuality… sigh)
I adored Jamie, and there were other elements of the gender swapping that worked well, but Bobbie absolutely should have been bi. I liked the dynamic with Andy the flight attendant, but probably Kathy and definitely Marta should have stayed female. Drive A Person Crazy would work much better, the relationship between Bobbie and Jamie would be a lovely queer friendship, and there would be an interesting added element to Bobbie's ambivalence and indecision about marriage.
@@hollymcl i agree on all your potential improvements. elaborating on Jamie: i think making Amy a gay male character in general isn’t the problem. there’s nothing about the character that must be female, and male actors have clearly been hitting it out of the park with it. it’s just that the purpose that character serves in the pivotal act I climax is distinct. and a huge factor in it is whether Bobby/ie means what (s)he’s saying.
that proposal scene is really the most "plotty" moment of the show. it HAS to matter in a show that's so loose with what Bobby/ie is learning when. from my point of view, Bobby’s delusion when he proposes, in the original show, can’t come purely from “everyone will leave us alone.” he has to mean the “marry me, and…” too. not hypothetically. as a romance, a connection. (obviously, one he doesn’t really understand, and an unreciprocated one.)
without adding to the text, there’s no way the current state of the show would express that Jamie is explicitly attracted to women. so with Bobbie/Jamie, you have a straight woman… proposing a weird beard-esque lavender marriage thing… on a gay man’s wedding day. it just evaporates the potential for me. the potential in that scene that shows Bobby/ie has equally as much to learn about love/wanting someone as about marriage/partnership.
(sorry this ended up so long! been a while since i've thought about it and it all flowed out.)
Oklahoma was the first book musical? So we're just pretending that Showboat never existed 20 years earlier?
@@DDTC73 I said some people consider it to be! SOME PEOPLE! 😂
@@MickeyJoTheatre Only those that don't know their musical theatre history... It's like saying 'Some people think the Arts Theatre is one of the best in London' No.... it isnt. 😂
Sorry but nobody like Ben Vereen. Patina was good but IMHO not as good as Ben
Still love the Legally Blonde the Musical better it has nothing to do with race.
Neither did the Regent's Park revival!
Hi Karen!