GETTING INTO HARRY'S PJ'S

[Lankypeters]

The B'way run of PAJAMA GAME, starring Harry Connick, Jr., ends in a few weeks. The show returns next fall, but apparently without Harry. So who can step into Harry's PJ's???

 

John Travolta?

 

Nathan Lane?

 

Matthew Broderick?

 

Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane?

 

Alec Baldwin?

 

David Schwimmer (following his 100% talent-free appearance in THE CAINE MUTINY)?

 

One report (seriously now, guys) says maybe Peter Gallagher..

 

 

OR.......?

 

 

Lankypeters

[Guest showme43]

hummm, last pic i saw of alec baldwin, if he stepped into harry's pj they'd be torn asunder!!! :o

[Guest zipperzone]

Anyone "stepping into" Harry's PJs would be in for a delightful surprise - he's hung like a horse. Remember the huge basket he showed in his tight jeans in "Hope Floats"?

[TinyBubbles]

I think Harry has a little sugar in his tank. Back at the beginning of his career he was on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and did a FLAWLESS immitation of Judy Garland. Maybe its just me, but none of the straight guys I know care to do immitations of Judy.

[bostonman]

In all seriousness - having seen Alec Baldwin's recent foray into musical theatre (his atrociously underrehearsed, uncomfortable attempt at Billis in the recently televised concert version of South Pacific), I'd recommend he stay as far away from musicals as possible.

 

Nathan Lane would be funny as Hines or Prez, but absolutely wrong for Sid. (For that matter, I'm still not convinced that Connick is really right for Sid, either...)

 

Broderick should also be banned from the musical stage. Without Lane as a sidekick, I don't think he would have gotten such kudos for The Producers. And his Harold Hill in the Disnified version of Music Man was more Bueller than Hill (as was his Finch in H2$ - is Bueller all he's capable of nowadays?) Again, not a Sid, vocally or dramatically.

 

We agree on Schwimmer's true acting abilitites, given what I've heard about The Caine Fiasco. }(

 

Travolta? Perhaps. Can he sing well enough?

 

Peter Gallagher? YES! (And he certainly has the voice for the part.)

 

Having brought up that concert South Pacific, they absolutely SHOULD look at Reba McEntire for Babe (I believe Kelli O'Hara is leaving the show as well). She'd sing the hell out of the role! Granted, it'd be a very different take on the role, but that might be fun.

 

Meanwhile - have you heard that none other than Donny Osmond is going to be doing Gaston in the Broadway Beauty And The Beast?? Odd...

[Lankypeters]

I guess my attempt at mild humor, spoof, satire, call it what you will, flopped like Lestat. Except for the suggestion of Gallagher, I was joking when I proposed the other guys. I mean, if there's one thing just about everyone agrees upon (even the "straight" reviewers like John Lahr) it's that Harry is a knockout when he appears at the end in only pj bottoms. The guy apparently keeps a staff of trainers engaged full time. Can you imageine Nathan Lane, Broderick, Travolta shirtless?? Do you want to "picture this," as the song goes? Revolta! Mon dieu!!!!

 

What I wanted to get going was a silly list of ludicrous replacements. I'll be more blunt next time.

 

 

Lankypeters

[bostonman]

I had a feeling you were joking (the mention of "Lane AND Broderick" went there for sure), but I couldn't resist responding anyway...:9

 

(PS - the part about Donny Osmond is absolutely true, believe it or not!)

 

About Harry and his "trainers" - I've actually heard a number of opinions that his chest looks rather "fake" - though I can't imagine how he'd be able to "pad" himself in a live setting like that, so I doubt it.

 

The only problem with Gallagher stepping into the role is he's certainly not "star appeal" enough. Shame...

 

Even though I hear he's got himself a new TV series, and even though he's really too young for the role, they should get Matthew Morrison to play opposite his ol' co-star Kelli from Light In The Piazza (currently playing Babe)...I don't remember hearing ANY complaints about his shirtless moment at the end of Act I of Piazza...we could surely use a second look...:9

[Lankypeters]

>

>About Harry and his "trainers" - I've actually heard a number

>of opinions that his chest looks rather "fake" - though I

>can't imagine how he'd be able to "pad" himself in a live

>setting like that, so I doubt it.

>

Sun tanning salons are able to tan a body with "highlights" and "lowlights," which can also be done with body make-up, making a decent body look spectacular (as visitors to this site must surely realize when they salivate over someone's pics, only to find the reality not quite so buff.) Of course you've got to have basic goods to look even better.

 

Brent Barrett played the lead in the Encores! delightful production of "PJGame" and his chest looked absolutely luscious. He's sported in around in other appearances. He recently sat in front of me at the theater and from the way his shirt draped across his mantle, I'd guess his pecs are really pecs. He was otherwise terrific in the Encores show, but he's no draw for the folks to the west of the Hudson.

 

And that reminds me (at the risk of starting another thread), Ben Brantley in the Sun. TIMES bemoans the dearth/death of good musicals on BWAY. One cause he doesn't consider is that over half the BWAY audience now comes from out of town. Just look at those fat folk waddling around Times Square at 7:50 on any given night on their way to see TARZAN or THE WEDDING SINGER.

[Lankypeters]

PS -- I mean no offense to the many readers/posters of taste and intelligence who visit (and don't) visit this site and who visit NYC. As Rick and Derek know, there are men of good taste (and men who taste good) everywhere you go.

 

But there has been a depressing dumbing down of American culture in the past several years. How else to explain George and Laura Bush? Watching "Thank You for Smoking" last week, I wondered what ever happened to satire and anti-establishment humor, so prevalent in our culture during Vietnam/Watergate eras, which we now seem determined to revisit. As Robert Redford observes, everyone is watching "American Idol."

 

But I digess......

 

Lankypeters

[Lankypeters]

>

>But I digess......

 

and I digress, too. speaking of dumbing down.....

>

>Lankypeters

 

 

Lankypeters

[bostonman]

>I wondered what ever happened to satire and anti-establishment

>humor, so prevalent in our culture during Vietnam/Watergate

>eras...

 

Well, in terms of Broadway, we recently had Urinetown, and still have Avenue Q - both good examples of edgy satire...especially in the latter, with lyrics like "George Bush is only for now"...;-)

 

BTW - I was musical director for the first (and award-winning) Boston production of Urinetown this past season...our actor who played Mr. McQueen (the yes man to the corrupt Caldwell B. Cladwell) decided to give him a "Dubya"-like voice...it was VERY funny to hear him spout off government-speak phrases like "finding lasting solutions" and "our decision is firm" with more than a winking hint of our current regime leader's vocal mannerisms...:9

 

Meanwhile, I wouldn't exactly label the musical version of Wicked as overly satirical or moralistic, but there's definitely something to be said for the portrayal of the Wizard as a leader who is both blithely ineffectual and unashamedely evil...

 

I agree that Brent Barrett is a hottie, lol. They also need to get something new for Brian D'Arcy James to star in...yum...:9

[Lankypeters]

>> with lyrics like "George

>Bush is only for now"...;-)

>

If only that lyric, written during W's first term, had been prescient......

 

 

Lankypeters

[Guest verymarried]

Just saw musicals Billy Elliott and Mary Poppins in London with my family. I'm no theater expert but I thought both were amazing. Elliott has a subject of interest to this website and is a beautiful play with Elton John music. Poppins was surprisingly entertaining. I know this one is coming to Broadway soon but not sure about Billy Elliott. I'd kind of like to see Ryan Philippe do a shirtless musical, though I probably misspelled his name.

[Guest zipperzone]

>I'd kind of

>like to see Ryan Philippe do a shirtless musical, though I

>probably misspelled his name.

 

My current pick for the shirtless musical star would be Eric Balfour of "Six Feet Under" and "Conviction" And as he seems to be an exhibitionist as well, the possibilities are endless.

[NASAguy]

Does anyone have some pics of Harry shirtless, from the show or otherwise? I saw some a long time ago and thought he looked great but I cannot seem to find them anymore. I was hoping this thread would have included some photos. Thanks guys

[+ Cock Eyed Optimist]

I had heard that he never did appear shirtless in the show. At the end of the show, every other male star appeared in the bottoms of the PJ set, and the female star in the tops. Is it true that Harry appeared at the end in the bottoms and a "wife beater" on top?

[elikimball]

Harry appears shirtless in the finale of the show. He dons a wife-beater for the curtain calls 60 seconds later. He is ripped!!!!

[+ deej]

One of the reviews said he looked "like a Chelsea rent boy". Let your minds wander.....

 

The Today show had footage of him in hip waders and a wife beater when he was assisting in a rescue in New Orleans post-Katrina. Katie Couric almost lost it.

[swallows22]

What is a wife beater? Thanks.

[Guest zipperzone]

>What is a wife beater? Thanks.

 

You're putting us on, right?

[Guest zipperzone]

>What is a wife beater? Thanks.

 

You're putting us on, right?

[bigguyinpasadena]

Swallows-a wifebeater is US("urban")slang for an athletic undershirt.

Zip-not everyone on this board is from the US nor hip to all lingo.

I would bet you a dozen donughts that swallows22 could throw some slang from his country that we in the US would never figure out :+

[bigguyinpasadena]

Swallows-a wifebeater is US("urban")slang for an athletic undershirt.

Zip-not everyone on this board is from the US nor hip to all lingo.

I would bet you a dozen donughts that swallows22 could throw some slang from his country that we in the US would never figure out :+

[+ deej]

>What is a wife beater? Thanks.

 

See the shirt featured here: http://www.wife-beaters.com

[+ deej]

>What is a wife beater? Thanks.

 

See the shirt featured here: http://www.wife-beaters.com