Company London- Page 8
Company London
Sondheimite
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/14
#175Company London
Posted: 10/18/18 at 6:57pm
From what I understand
(and I could be 100% wrong)
no one is on lock to transfer to Broadway except *maybe* LaLuPoneHerself
Broadway World's Fireman.
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#176Company London
Posted: 10/18/18 at 7:28pmI haven’t seen this production, but Michael Urie seems like he would be a great Jamie if Bailey didn't transfer.
Sondheimite
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/14
#177Company London
Posted: 10/18/18 at 7:30pm
How does Jim Parsons sing? I can just.... see him in my head singing Getting Married Today...
Broadway World's Fireman.
#178Company London
Posted: 10/19/18 at 6:59am
I just noticed on the West End website that they're selling tix until March 30th. Does anyone know whether Lupone will still be there next spring or if she's only in the production until end of December.
#179Company London
Posted: 10/19/18 at 7:32am
Wick3 said: "I just noticed on the West End website that they're selling tix until March 30th. Does anyone know whether Lupone will still be there next spring or if she's only in the production until end of December."
Her recent comments about the political situation in the US lead me to believe she’s not in a rush to come back. I wouldn’t be surprised if she stays through March 30th.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#180Company London
Posted: 10/19/18 at 8:19am
Unless the show ends up moving to Broadway this season, I would expect LuPone to do the extension in London.
#181Company London
Posted: 10/19/18 at 11:00am
Are there plans for a cast recording? Would love to hear this.
#182Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 6:18amI really want a cast recording too. If any production needs one it’s this - with the lyric changes, female ‘Bobbi’, gender swapping throughout nearly every song is different in some way. I can’t wait to hear the harmonies of ‘Poor Baby’ and ‘You Could Drive a person crazy” again.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#183Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 6:54amThe producer tweeted (I believe) they are trying to make a cast recording happen. I’d blindly speculate at this stage the chances of a recording would be extremely high.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#184Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 8:45am
If it transfers to Broadway, I definitely see a cast recording happening. Is it normally common to have a West End cast recording and a Broadway cast recording of the same revival production?
#185Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 9:06am
It is not common. But if they cast an a-list oscar winner on Broadway you can almost be guaranteed it will be re-recorded or new vocal tracks overlaid (assuming whoever it is actually sings and wants it to happen).
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#186Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 9:12am
I think a new London cast recording is highly likely. If the show transfers to Broadway with Rosalie Craig and Patti LuPone, a second cast recording is unlikely. If Anne Hathaway (or another name) does the role on Broadway, there would very likely be a separate Broadway cast recording.
The way the union contracts work these days, I actually don't believe its possible to simply "overlay" the tracks from a London production with Broadway performers. If a recording happened in New York, it would have to be a completely new recording.
“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”
SomethingPeculiar
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/15/14
#187Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 11:00am
Lots of factors go into a cast album (financial and the interest of record labels), but I think it's safe to assume there WILL be a cast recording. If this version of the show is going to get licensed, MTI is going to want an album to reflect that, even if they have to help pay for it. It's also theatre history: Sondheim's first new lyrics since Road Show, revised orchestrations, and a bold new stage production.
The question is, which cast? If it does move to Broadway with a star, waiting for NYC seems likely, where there might be more changes. If it doesn't move, then maybe they record the London cast. I wouldn't hate a live album for this show.
Semi-related for those who've seen it in London...: how many players are in the orchestra?
#188Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 11:28amThe producer tweeted that he's working to make the cast recording happen.
#189Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 4:02pmCraig is sounding much much better tonight. Definitely soaring in the right moments in “Someone is Waiting” and “Marry Me A Little”. Very skillfully acted singing too. I guess she really was just sick.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#190Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 9:39pm
And the raves for LuPone's performance are still coming in....
The second half of Company belongs mostly to Patti LuPone, who reprises the role of Joanne, which she played in the New York Philharmonic’s limited 2011 production. LuPone’s Joanne is as vodka-addled, bitter, and furious as the role demands, but her dynamic with Bobbie is altered by their newfound sisterhood. Joanne still stings in her skewering of nonworking women (few pleasures in life measure up to seeing LuPone sing “Ladies Who Lunch" , but she’s almost maternal toward Bobbie, protecting her rather than swooping in on the prey that a male Bobby represents to Joanne. Craig is mostly passive in this scene, giving space to LuPone to dominate the stage even as Bobbie begins to question her own desires with new intensity.
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/573262/?utm_content=edit-promo&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_term=2018-10-19T10%3A00%3A13&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true
I need to see this production on Broadway, ASAP!
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#191Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 10:32pm
Apologies if I've missed it, but have we yet gotten a New York Times review of this production?
bwayboy22
Broadway Star Joined: 5/9/12
#192Company London
Posted: 10/20/18 at 10:35pm
LuPone has extended her contract through March 30th. I don't know what that means for a transfer, though.
#193Company London
Posted: 10/21/18 at 4:49am
The orchestra/band is probably about 10 pieces (but don’t know the exact number). It’s not large. But not ridiculously small.
Re: transfer. We are assuming it would be a spring transfer - what if it transferred in the summer like Follies? If they really have an Oscar winner (and part of me does raise an eyebrow) what film star worth anything will be available to start rehearsals just a few months later?
—-
Revisited the show last night: with Craig actually being able to sing now the show is on another level, “Another Hundred People” still the only weak point. By far the biggest applause goes to “getting married today” and “ladies who lunch”.
The audience was full of Americans.
Mark Rylance was also there and went backstage. Overheard him describing one of the songs as ‘the most important’ in musical theatre or something like that. Didn’t know he was a musical fan.
LuPone: “SHOCKED. Shocking”. Sooo funnnnnny. And the way she screams “WILL SOMEONE GET ME A DRINK” then goes deadpan “oh you have”. I can’t help but wonder if she IS Joanne and it makes it all better.
Sitting up close is a better experience - Craig actually cries tears at a couple of points (I love it). And you start to notice small details, such as when they are sitting outside a row of apartments each apartment is number 35.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#194Company London
Posted: 10/21/18 at 8:39am
Where did you see it the first time? I'll be in London later this week (unexpected trip) and nabbed a 15 pound restricted view ticket in the grand circle. I'll be back in London in December and got a 2nd row ticket with friends. I figured I'll concentrate more on their singing voices when I see it later this week on my own and then concentrate on more the facial expressions/acting/set when I see it again in December with friends!
The only production I've seen of Company in the theater was at Barrington stage when Aaron Tveit starred as Bobby. I've seen the film with Raul Esparza. I'm relatively new to Sondheim but out of all his shows this one pertains to my age group at the moment (I'm currently 35.)
JBC3
Broadway Star Joined: 4/9/17
#196Company London
Posted: 10/21/18 at 11:05amBy London standards, tickets are pricey. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain that during the run.
SomethingPeculiar
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/15/14
#197Company London
Posted: 10/21/18 at 12:06pm
JBC3 said: "By London standards, tickets are pricey. It will be interesting to see if they can sustain that during the run."
I would think the limited inventory from the initial short engagement has helped drive sales up til now. But these are stellar reviews and to me, it seems like the West End is less infatuated with stars and more interested in good work.
Why don't West End productions release their grosses like Broadway? I like the transparency of Broadway and Hollywood. On the rare occasion when a Bway producer breaks with that tradition, everyone gets upset (Young Frankenstein).
SomethingPeculiar
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/15/14
#198Company London
Posted: 10/25/18 at 10:21am
Matt Wolf has reviewed it for the NYTimes (and LOVED it).
He and Brantley both reviewed Follies last year (Matt in September, followed by Ben in November), so I still wouldn't be surprised if Brantley weighs in during his next London trip, whenever that may be.
#199Company London
Posted: 10/25/18 at 10:23am
That was a lovely rave! And I do hope Brantley chimes in eventually.
It’s heartbreaking that we won’t see it on Broadway this lackluster season.
