bostonman

Actually, just to clarify - you meant Sept 25 - the season doesn't start until the 23rd lol. For those of us unable to get into NYC, I will safely assume at least one of those 3 performances (maybe more) will be broadcast on Sirius XM - I'm impatiently awaiting the broadcast schedule...which should be made public soon...I hope... Although - I've always been a bit ambivalent about Domingo The Baritone - even though I give him props for reinventing himself, I have to admit that I'd much rather hear a true baritone in roles such as this. But I'm sure I'll be listening - just because I really treasure the availability of all the live Met broadcasts made possible now. (The Saturday schedule starts in December as always, but Sirius XM does broadcasts on selected weeknights all season long - and I wonder if they might also do some of the new Sunday matinees this year as well.)

I haven't watched the film in years - my choice. Never felt comfortable with either Streisand or Michael Crawford in that film. Wonderful cinematography, but so miscast. Except for the fact that the show was, at one point, believe it or not, to be called Dolly - A Damn Exasperating Woman (I'm not making this up, you know...) - and that's definitely how Streisand played the part, IMO. By coincidence, I saw the tour this afternoon in Boston, with Betty Buckley as Dolly. Really really fun, and a very respectably enjoyable production - by which I mean the tone of it all was just right - it wasn't overstaged or overchoreographed as I feel so many revivals tend to be nowadays - the piece had life and breath and the comedy all worked as it should - Jerry Zaks just trusted what works about the script and score, and it was refreshing to see that. I could complain that Herman's gorgeous ballads like "Ribbons Down My Back" and "It Only Takes A Moment" were too sped up for my taste - but I get the sensibility that they wanted the show to keep moving along. Whatever. But Buckley was really perfect - again, not overplayed but still very much her own take on the role - and Lewis J. Stadlen was also a perfectly cantankerous (but also charming) Vandergelder. He's famous for his Groucho impression as well, and I felt I heard a hint of it now and then. Which was kinda fun. I've seen (and done) Hello Dolly a few times with non-stars playing the lead - but I do feel there's something extra special about seeing a famous diva playing the role. And Buckley brought all of her star quality to the role today.

I'm not sure when I'm going to have the chance to see the show, though I definitely plan to. I'm not a big fan of facial hair, but I do love tall guys, so I'll be glad to see more of the 6'7" frame. Funny - a similar "distraction" the other night, seeing a very good production of Noises Off on Cape Cod. The extraordinary craziness of the comedy, when done right (and it was) defies distraction - but there was one actor who was costumed to show off his very very nice biceps quite a lot of time - and I have to say my eyes were often drawn to them when I should have been following other characters...still, I'm not really complaining.

Yes, 1964. And you're probably right about the publicity - which surely would have been Merrick's angle as well.

I would of course, first and foremost, thank you for your service in Vietnam. That can never be said enough. I would just tend to think that, no matter her popularity and perhaps her closeness to Johnson, that a star is not the one responsible for such a big tour - the producer has to be the one engineering that, even if the idea came from her. (I also tend to trust Richard Skipper who wrote the cited article - I don't know him personally but he's a very respected name in the biz and I doubt he would make things up.) Merrick was the ultimate sleazebag showman, lol - for all the great shows he produced, he was also shameless. I can certainly see him trying to strong-arm Johnson into sanctioning the tour. Whatever the case, it was indeed a dangerous thing to attempt - but if it brought joy to the troops, I think it was right to do.

They were all amazingly brave to be there, and like others famous for entertaining the troops of any war, true undeniable heroes. But - I see a very different account of the event in this write-up (http://www.callondolly.com/mary-martin/) which seems to intimate that Merrick demanded of Johnson that they tour Vietnam, not that Johnson asked Martin at all. Merrick reminding Johnson that he borrowed his campaign song ("Hello, Lyndon!") from the show's score.

Not quite. What I meant was that as it's being discussed now, a number of people on the site are saying this was something that has been known for years.

It’s called Opera-L

From comments I've seen on another opera chat site, people have known about this for decades. I had never heard anything, but I'm saddened that he has been at this, seemingly, for a long time.

This exactly.

Amen. It's funny - I've really always wanted sex to be simply about bodies, emotions, sensations, sharing, etc, but not objects. So when a guy has to pull out a bottle and sniff from it to enjoy sex, I just don't relate. I'm also not a drug user at all. I'm not really judgmental about others' substance use as long as they're in control of it, but I don't like it having to involve me. I had a hookup experience once with a guy who, mid-play, suddenly got up and said he needed a cigarette. And he went off to have one. I found that very rude, and rather galling that his nic fit was more crucial than the fun we were having. When he came back, I was dressed, I made the most gracious apology that I could, and let him go. (Now, to be honest, if he had needed a cigarette AFTER, it wouldn't have been so bad. It was the abrupt way he had to interrupt the sex for the sake of that.)

Funny - I was actually going to mention that before. My general experience with guys who feel they just have to use those poppers is that then they can't get it up. So what exactly is the point of using them during sex anyway?

I knew of the Napoleon Club when I came to Boston for college in the early 80's. I didn't go because I was told it was an older crowd and I felt I might not fit in, even though I would have been much more at home in a piano bar club than in the dance clubs, which have never been my thing. But, I did do the dance clubs at times because they were there, lol. Buddies and The 1270 were the big Boston clubs back then. I also remember when a club called Campus opened in Cambridge. I tend to think that Club Cafe is the new Napoleon's lol - though it isn't really an exclusively "gay" club at all anymore. But they do have a piano bar. A friend of mine used to play and sing there a lot, until he moved to Florida a few years ago. The food in the restaurant section used to be way overpriced - I haven't eaten there in a while so I don't know how it is now. I also remember when they first opened their back room (no, not THAT kind of back room lol) and named it "Club Cabaret," as at the time the cabaret scene in Boston was quite the thing. I haven't been to a true gay bar (dance club or otherwise) in years. To be honest, I wasn't ever truly comfortable with that scene to begin with - but in my youth, that's what everyone did...

I've posted before about my having seen the show in Boston - but not sure I related the ticket debacle part lol. A friend was visiting Boston for a weekend last summer, and he asked me if I'd like to see the show. I hadn't gone yet and it was a very nice excuse to finally see it, lol. He said he'd take care of getting the tickets and I said I'd be happy to reimburse him for mine. Now, I knew they'd be expensive, but... ...he went to some random online site (not Ticketmaster) and wound up getting scammed for much more money than he should have. When he told me how much the tickets were, I felt very awkward. (But he also makes more money than I do, lol.) He graciously offered to only have me reimburse him for what I felt I could afford, which was extremely nice of him. We did enjoy the show. But I will admit that the seats we had (balcony, off to the side - everything still visible, but not the best seats) were definitely not worth the amount he paid. I recommended Ticketmaster (or going directly there from the show's website) the next time.

I've never tried them, but I've been around them and absolutely hate the smell of them in the room. One of the most un-sexy things I've ever encountered.

It is. But checking again, it seems to be down again. Clearly they're having some trouble.

Yup - seems to be back.

Perhaps lol. But it wasn't just your post - 2 of you referred to "Janice." So I thought it was slightly more appropriate. In any case, let's move on from that.

Janis Joplin, btw. Not Janice. I know, I know...but I think it's important. Much in the same way that it's not Jimmy Hendricks, or Bob Dillon, or even Barbara Streisand.

I saw this documentary last night and really enjoyed it. And yes, the Hendrix "Star Spangled Banner" is historic and cathartic. The commentary on it in the doc was great as well.

Just checked - it does seem to be down, at least as I post this.

The part that gets me most is "what you are comfortable spending." This feels more hustler than escort, and I tend to think that the client loses in all cases. Too bad - I love his look. I still have this suspicion that the ad may not be legit. But if it's really him, and he's already in the porn industry, etc, and he acts like this, that's really too bad.

Agreed completely. I did give it some thought but finally decided that no, I can't throw away my money like that. This particular guy does seem to target exactly stuff that I crave, in a very very tempting manner - but, there are plenty of things I would love to have in life but can't afford, and this guy is one of them. Ah, well...

Well, of course - that's why I started this thread. To perhaps keep myself from making one of those bad decisions lol.

Yeah, I know. Not quite the professional attitude we'd always hope for, huh? But sometimes the rational mind is no match for our hormones...and that's what he's probably counting on. If that's actually even him.