Chicago, Encores!

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

A little bootleg from the earliest days of this long-running revival:

 

[LaffingBear]

A little bootleg from the earliest days of this long-running revival:

Thanks, that was great to see. The only Reinking Neuwirth I ever saw was the Tony Awards

 

I saw it on Broadway 2000-2002... dont remember any cast members.

[Good Grief]

My Favorite Broadway presentation with Karen Ziemba and Bebe Neuwirth.

 

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

My Favorite Broadway presentation with Karen Ziemba and Bebe Neuwirth.

 

 

 

Ziemba is one of the great workhorse triple-threats of Broadway. She should be a lot more well known than she is.

[Good Grief]

Ziemba is one of the great workhorse triple-threats of Broadway. She should be a lot more well known than she is.

 

Yes! For sure.

[+ WilliamM]

I did see the original cast "Chicago" in 1976, but Chita Rivera was out. It was the only time I ever saw Gwen Verdon. So if it's O.K.. here is a tribute to Gwen:

 

 

[Good Grief]

I did see the original cast "Chicago" in 1976, but Chita Rivera was out. It was the only time I ever saw Gwen Verdon. So if it's O.K.. here is a tribute to Gwen:

 

Thanks so much for posting the Gwen Verdon retrospective - such an amazing Broadway star! Jealous you actually saw her on stage.

 

Found this scratchy video of the Mike Douglas Show with Miss Verdon and Miss Rivera performing "Nowadays"/"Hot Honey Rag." And discussing the show with Mike Douglas.

 

[+ WilliamM]

Thanks so much for posting the Gwen Verdon retrospective - such an amazing Broadway star! Jealous you actually saw her on stage.

 

Gwen was not at her best in "Chicago." Occasionally, it may be a mistake looking back and realizing I also saw Vivien Leigh in a musical. and not a significant play

[N13]

 

1963 Tovarich with Leigh and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Did not like the original production of "Chicago." It was ok but nothing special. I do think that the current production (still tight after all these years) is the best musical I have ever seen....and I have seen a lot! Reinking's direction gave the show to Neuworth until "The Hot Honey Rag" where she let loose. Breathtaking! First saw Reinking in "Over Here" (1975) where she was the ingenue. Predicted that she and the male ingenu would become big stars. He was John Travolta!

 

The first musical I saw was Gwen Verdon in "Redhead" (1960) which was an amazing way to start my Broadway spectatorship!

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Gwen was not at her best in "Chicago." Occasionally, it may be a mistake looking back and realizing I also saw Vivien Leigh in a musical. and not a significant play

 

No, she wasn't, but the show was basically a star vehicle, love-letter to her from Fosse. I fully believe her age at the time, as well as her ability to convey absolute heartbreak, worked perfectly for Roxie Hart. While I didn't see her live, I would have loved to.

 

Much like Sally Bowles in Cabaret, I don't think these two characters were ever really written for the talents that have (over) sung them. They're complex, sad characters who in-reality, wouldn't have a big, belty, beautiful voice with perfect vibrato.

 

Example... One of my very favorite people to play Sally, Jane Horrocks. I love this performance. Raw, real and invested:

 

[N13]

At the risk of being attacked by all of Lizard (ooops! excuse me, Liza) Minelli's screaming fans, I think the only reason she was so very good in "Cabaret" was because she accurately portrayed a not-so-talented cabaret performer. In retrospect, imho, the only times she was ever good were when she was directed by Fosse. "Liza With a Z" and "Cabaret."

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

At the risk of being attacked by all of Lizard (ooops! excuse me, Liza) Minelli's screaming fans, I think the only reason she was so very good in "Cabaret" was because she accurately portrayed a not-so-talented cabaret performer. In retrospect, imho, the only times she was ever good were when she was directed by Fosse. "Liza With a Z" and "Cabaret."

 

See, I feel the opposite about Minnelli. She was TOO talented of a singer to make Bowles all that believable. Too much Liza, not enough Sally.

[LaffingBear]

Im not entirely sure here.... I hope someone clarifies.

 

Ive never seen Cabaret or Sweet Charity on stage?

 

Werent the original scripts of both much darker, with sad outcomes? Both sanitized and lightened for the screen?

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Reinking's direction gave the show to Neuworth until "The Hot Honey Rag" where she let loose. Breathtaking!

 

Reinking choreographed the show, but it was Walter Bobbie who directed the revival.

 

I personally think it's always been Roxie's show if the actress is a strong triple threat. It was written that way, for Gwen. Her monologues are fantastic and if you've got someone who understands the movement, it can be a brilliant performance. This video of Reinking doing Me And My Baby is awesome:

 

 

As much as I enjoyed her performance, I still think Sandy Duncan and Ruthie Henshall were my two favorites.

[edjames]

Gwen was not at her best in "Chicago."

Oh how I hate to disagree but Gwen was fantastic in the original Broadway version of Chicago! I saw the show several times.

Prior to beginning rehearsals, Bob had a heart attack and took a few months off delaying the production. Gwen had some time on her hands and wanting to get back into the groove accepted a short run of "Damn Yankees." She reunited with Ray Ralston. It was a terrific show, despite the schlep to Westbury LI on the LIRR!

Chita, too, had time on her hands and put together a cabaret act with Kander/Ebb. It ran at the Grand Finale on the upper west side of Manhattan.

Gwen came for opening night. Gwen was one of the loveliest performers I have ever met.

Chita, who is also one of the most beloved and fun Broadway stars, provided me with one of her house seats for a performance of Chicago. You can imagine my surprise when I sat dan and found out that my seatmate was none other than Janet Leigh...who played Rosie (Chita's role) in the film version of Bye, Bye Birdie.

[N13]

Just to clarify.....Gwen was fantastic, as was Chita, in the original Chicago. It was the production that didn't work for me. Gwen was a hometown girl and one of the kindest, most gentle people I have ever met.

[+ WilliamM]

@edjames and @N13, I saw Chicago in March 1976 at a Wednesday matinee when Chita Rivera was out. I know the musical had a good reputation when it opened 9 months earlier -- it was impossible to buy a ticket when Liza Minnelli briefly replaced Gwen Verdon.

 

Perhaps if I have seen the musical with Chita and Gwen, I would have much better memories of that afternoon.

[bostonman]

Im not entirely sure here.... I hope someone clarifies.

 

Ive never seen Cabaret or Sweet Charity on stage?

 

Weren't the original scripts of both much darker, with sad outcomes? Both sanitized and lightened for the screen?

 

In terms of Cabaret, the film is very different than the stage play - darker in some ways, and more sexually frank in some ways. (The Christopher Isherwood character - Cliff in the show, Brian in the film - is admittedly bisexual in the film, he was straight in the original Broadway production, though revivals have changed that.) The film got rid of all the "book" songs, leaving only the songs actually sung in the Kit Kat Klub (aside from "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" which becomes a veritable Hitler Youth anthem instead of being sung by the waiters in the club, after hours, in the stage show). Though, "Married" is heard in German on a gramophone record, and many if not all of the other show songs are hidden in the underscoring. One thing the film does retain is the "warped mirror" concept of the original set, which is seen particularly at the beginning and end of the film. And of course Joel Grey repeats his role as the MC.

 

I think that the film of Sweet Charity, aside from the usual kinds of "improvements" often made when shows are adapted for film, is pretty close to the tone of the stage show. But the show was toned down from its original film source, Fellini's Nights of Cabiria. Fellini's Cabiria is a prostitute - Charity is "merely" a dance hall hostess.

[N13]

Two of the Broadway productions that I saw in previews were "Sweet Charity" and "Cabaret." I thought both of them would close within weeks of their openings. Charity had a great first act and then fell apart in the second act and Cabaret was a mess except for the music. My opinions proved not to be the popular ones when the shows opened to successful runs. The movie "Cabaret" was, as bostonman says, a completely different interpretation and deserved all of the awards it received. Charity as a movie was not a pretty sight although some of the musical numbers were good. The film was overblown and flat as has been the problem with a number of shows that became movies. "A Chorus Line" comes immediately to mind.

 

On the other hand there have been shows I loved that did not do well and had brief runs on Broadway such as "70 Girls 70" and "Darling of the Day."

[+ WilliamM]

At the risk of being attacked by all of Lizard (ooops! excuse me, Liza) Minelli's screaming fans, I think the only reason she was so very good in "Cabaret" was because she accurately portrayed a not-so-talented cabaret performer

 

Yes, I have been disappointed by Liza Minnelli several times also. I was wrong about her. I saw Liza at an outdoor concert in Boston in 1993.

Somehow everything came together that night. She did so many encores there was nothing left but "The Man That Got Away."