All tagged John Lithgow

My Fair Lady: What Does the Perfect Cast Look Like?

This week we received some exciting news via Lincoln Center announcing that Bartlett Sher will be directing My Fair Lady for LCT’s Vivian Beaumont in 2018. My Fair Lady has not returned to the Broadway stage since Richard Chamberlain and Melissa Errico starred in a 1993 revival, and that production was not exactly embraced as definitive. Bartlett Sher is a master of staging in the Beaumont’s space, a luxuriously open thrust where the audience wraps around the playing area. He has mined many magical moments on this stage, probing the possibilities of the space with productions of The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, and The King and I. My Fair Lady is an elegant show, one of the wittiest and most-intellectual of Broadway musicals (based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion), featuring a lush and literate Lerner and Loewe score. How can we not be excited to see how Sher marries this sparkling property with the space where he works his best magic?

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Broadway Musical Time Machine: Looking Back at Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Of all of the musicals that I saw in the first decade of the 21st Century, the one that brought the most smiles to my face was the 2004 David Yazbek (music and lyrics) and Jeffrey Lane (book) comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Based on the popular film of the same name starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, seldom does a musical achieve such daffy joy while simultaneously being cunningly witty. The story of two con-men who scheme to steal an heiress’s fortune when she visits a resort town in the French Riviera has wicked humor, surprising plot twists, and a heaping helping of political incorrectness that make the show ribald and salacious fun.

Dream Casting Dolly

With Bette Midler preparing to sashay down a grand staircase at Harmonia Gardens as Dolly Gallagher Levi in the forthcoming, 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly!, there has been much speculation about who will play her supporting cast. With a wide range of terrific character actors out there, it is fun to assemble our dream casts to support Ms. Midler as she lends her big personality and voice to the matchmaker with a heart of gold and relentless spirit. This production will be something to look forward to.

It is important to remember that Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy and that it requires able-bodied comedic actors to pull off the farcical situations. What also needs to be kept in mind is that Bette Midler is a BIG star and that the production will need strong, larger-than-life performers to hold their own next to her dominating personality. Each character needs to be carefully cast with a unique, colorful individual who will shine in their own right. For my money, these are the people I'd love to see working with The Divine Miss M as she spins a web of comedy and romance.