I’m in shock…
Toni Tennille, who is still married to The Captain, was born May 8, 1940 in Montgomery, Alabama…
I can’t believe she’s 71 !!!
Here is a video of their big hit….
Tag Archives: broadway
Arthur Laurents, Legendary Librettist, Playwright, Screenwriter and Director, Dies at 93 – Playbill.com
One of the giants of the American Musical Theatre has passed…
Rest well, Arthur Laurents. You’ve left us some great gifts…
I’ll even forgive you for allowing Patti Lupone’s Mama Rose in “Gypsy”, since you created that amazing character for so many other incredible performers.
Arthur Laurents, the irascible, enduring Man of the Theatre who wrote plays and screenplays and enjoyed a significant career as a director — but who made his lasting mark as the librettist to two landmark musicals, West Side Story and Gypsy — died May 5 at his Manhattan home after a short illness, his agent Jonathan Lomma confirmed. He was 93 years old, and died peacefully in his sleep.
And he directed the original La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway:
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Uncategorized
Happy Birthday, Holly Golightly….
And Sabrina Fairchild, Maid Marian, Eliza Dolittle, Princesss Ann, Sister Luke, Regina Lampert and Joanna Wallace ….
By that I mean, Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn. She would have been 82 years old today…
There will never be another actress like her…
One of the things that always struck me about her as an actress was how well she listened….
She wasn’t a scene-stealer, she just quietly made an indelible impression. You couldn’t take your eyes off her…
She was many things…Beautiful-inside and out. Stylish-and style setter. Elegant, yet down to earth…
She survived the horrors of World War II to conquer Broadway and Hollywood….
And walked away from the top of the box office to raise her children….
She came back as an occasional actress, but a full time goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations.
And she’ll alway live on film:
Filed under Entertainment, Movies
“Steel Magnolias” at Triad Stage
I just came in from seeing “Steel Magnolias” at Triad Stage here in Greensboro. And it was good.
I know Triad Stage and other Regional Theatres need to do crowd pleasers like “Steel Magnolias”. They bring in a large audience, that will hopefully come back again for other shows and help to build an audience for live theatre. Shows like this also bring in a lot of cash. But they also create an interesting experience for Season Ticket holders, like me, who would not have gone to see “Steel Magnolias” if it were not part of the Season. It gives us the chance revisit plays from our pasts. And sometimes these new visits surprise us.
As usual, at Triad Stage, the production values were wonderful and the acting was excellent- all that we expect from Triad Stage.
The problem, for me, was the play.
I’ve probably seen “Steel Magnolias” too many times, both on stage and film, but it has been several years since I’ve seen it. I’ve probably also heard the lines too many times, but in this production, there did seem to be some laugh lines that were missed.
And you know what? It just wasn’t as good a play as I remembered from seeing it years ago.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of heart in this show, some memorable characters and some funny lines. You can’t help but be drawn into the lives of and care about these upper middle class Louisiana women. But don’t look too closely at the play itself. The first scene, in particular, goes on way too long…
I was also surprised at how rooted “Steel Magnolias” was in the 1980’s and how dated it seemed now. Times have changed so much more than I realized since the times in which this play was set. I’m not sure the cultural references make sense to anyone under 40, but then that’s not “Steel Magnolias” audience.
And it was almost a full house on Easter Sunday.
If you love “Steel Magnolias”, go see this production. Especially if you’ve never seen it on stage and only know it from the movie. You won’t see a better production with so many fine actresses around here any time soon. It’s definitely a pleasant evening in the theatre and it received a standing ovation at the end of tonight’s show.
Just don’t be too surprised, either, if the magic just isn’t there. It’s not that they don’t try and succeed, on so many levels, at Triad Stage. It’s just that the play itself isn’t as good as I remembered it being all those years ago…
And that might be the adjustment that I’m struggling with…
Filed under Entertainment, Theatre
Happy Birthday, Barbra Streisand and Shirley MacLaine
Two icons were born today: Barbra Streisand is 69 and Virginia’s own Shirley MacLaine is 77….
Of course, I have to put up a couple of clips:
A little prime Streisand:
And a little MacLaine:
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Gay, Movies
The Problem With Gay Men Today : Salon.com Talks to Larry Kramer
Very interesting interview with Larry Kramer about the differences between the generations of Gay Men….
Hard as it is to believe, this generation really grew up in a different, safer, more accepting time …
Those of us who are older had a very different experience- and they have no idea what it was like during the AIDS Crisis or growing up when it was still, as Lord Alfred Douglas said, “The love that dare not speak its name”.
And Gay Men, like most Americans, don’t really care about or want to know their history….
Larry Kramer’s ground breaking play from the outbreak of the AIDS crisis opens on Broadway this week….
From Salon.com interview with Thomas Rogers:
Rogers: I saw a preview of the play last night with a friend. I think many of the ideas in the play will seem exotic and a little dated to a lot of young gay men.
Kramer: Like what?
Rogers: Like the idea of promiscuity as a political statement and that it would be treasonous or controversial for gay men to tell other gay men not to have sex, or to have sex with a condom. What do you think young people should take away from the play?
Kramer: It’s our history. We’re gay. This was part of our history. This was the most horrible thing the gay population ever lived through. And yet it also represented — later on, with ACT UP, and the getting of AIDS drugs — the most spectacular achievement the gay population ever had. We gays did that.
I don’t know why so many gay men don’t want to know their history. I don’t know why they turned their back on the older generation as if they don’t want to have anything to do with them. I would like us to get beyond that.
Rogers: But do you really think that lack of interest in history is particular to this generation?
Kramer: You tell me.
Rogers: Well, I’m 27, and I know that my formative images of gay life had nothing to do with AIDS. Ellen came out of the closet when I was in junior high and “Will & Grace” made gayness seem like a consumer identity more than anything else. Gayness wasn’t really linked with sickness is my mind, and so those early AIDS battles, I think, seem very alien to a lot of young people’s experiences.
Kramer: I don’t know. I could understand what you’re saying. Sometimes when I go to schools, kids say that they’re taught to be non-confrontational or non-participatory now, almost like it’s not cool to have opinions and express them, which is sad. I hope we’re coming out of all that.
MORE: The problem with gay men today – Interviews – Salon.com.
Filed under Gay, History, Uncategorized
Judy Garland: Over the Rainbow, and Then Some!
In recognition of her Carnegie Hall Concert 50 years ago tonight, there’s a lot of new interest in Judy Garland.
Here is a great article from this month’s Vanity Fair:
In December 1959, Judy Garland, only 37 but with a quarter-century of hard living behind her, lay near death in New York’s Doctors Hospital. Alcohol and pills were the culprits. When in reasonably good health, Garland, who stood an inch under five feet, weighed 100 pounds. Now she weighed 180. Her tiny frame was grotesquely swollen with fluid and her liver severely compromised. Her eyes were glazed; her memory was failing; her body was shutting down. Walking by Garland’s hospital room, a close friend overheard a clutch of doctors discussing her condition. One of them turned to the friend. “I have to tell you the truth,” the doctor said. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”
She made it. “She had the constitution of an army,” Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft says. “She just knew she had to keep going.” But three weeks later, after 20 quarts of fluid had been drained from her body, her lead physician told Garland, “For the rest of your life, all your physical activity must be curtailed. You are a permanent semi-invalid.… It goes without saying that under no circumstances can you ever work again.”
Garland fell back onto her pillows. “Whoopee!” she cried, weakly.
50 Years Ago Tonight: Judy at Carnegie Hall
Judy Garland’s legendary Carnegie Hall Concert was 50 years ago tonight…
There is a new documentary about the night, “Stay All Night” currently in production.
Here is a another clip about that night:
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Movies
Happy Birthday, Patti Lupone
Broadway’s original Evita is 62 today….
Here are a couple of clips of her at her best….
Here she is in her first Tony Award winning performance in “Evita 32 years ago…
I won’t post her second Tony Award winning performance as Moma Rose in “Gypsy” because I just hated her performance….
She was on a total ego trip in that show….It was over the top and out of control.
But I have also seen her in concert and found her quite charming…
But here is a taste of her in better form today…
Say what you will, the woman sure knows how to own the stage….
Filed under Broadway, Uncategorized
Lost in the 21st Century 