Saturday, May 21, 2016

Something Appealing, Nothing Appalling!


 Hugh Jackman in his Broadway debut
in The Boy From Oz...2003.
Liz Smith of the Daily News was agog:
"He can sing, he can dance, he can change clothes on stage with sizzle, 
he can flirt, he can fling, he can slide across pianos...
you'll never forgive yourself if you miss Hugh Jackman, superstar!" 
 I can hardly listen to some of the 80s style music
in this show, but I'll make an exception.
Cuz Hugh!
 Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz
(what's with the 3 names?)
in The Last Five Years.
Below, the fantastic set
(yes, those are chairs affixed to the circular background)
by Beowulf Borrit.

 We'll hear Ruth Kobart (above with Frank McHugh)
sing "Dirty Old Man" from 
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.
Ruth did everything from How To Succeed,
(below with the "office staff"), and Annie,
to movies (Dirty Harry, the bus driver! Sister Act I and II)
television sitcoms and opera.
Her Broadway debut was in the chorus of 
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Pipe Dream,
and understudied the lead.
She said of one of her first performances:
"I had a big voice and a big body ... I came out on stage and shouted my head off, and believe it or not, I found my way."




Me and My Girl,
first produced in the West End in 1937
(above photo from the original production)
starring Lupino Lane and Teddie St. Denis.
In the 1980s, Stephen Fry and Noel Gay's son
(Noel was the composer of the original)
updated it, and cast Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson
as the stars.


Above, Robert and Frank Thornton
(of Are You Being Served?)
in rehearsal.

On Broadway, Maryann Plunkett took over the role of Sally,
and Robert stayed on.
Both won Tonys for their performances. 

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