Tag: Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

Peter Filichia in his 11/12/08 column:

Funny; on Tuesday, I wrote a negative review of High School Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, and three readers contacted me to complain. “Don’t you see that such a show is getting kids to go to the theater?” they asked. Yes, but at what cost? Is it really worth it to give kids inferior material just to get them into a playhouse? All that seems to be happening is that we’re getting more and more lousy work aimed at indiscriminating kids.

Quote of the Day: Elizabeth Ashley

Stage legend Elizabeth Ashley, currently in previews at the Booth Theatre for the Broadway premiere of Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate, was interviewed by Broadway.com.

In your memoir, you expressed ambivalence about your talent. Has that changed? Can you embrace the fact that you are an outstanding stage actress?

I think I’m good at my job. Because I look at it as labor. Life is a series of tasks, and ideally we find the tasks to which we are well suited. I understand what my task is on the stage. It’s not “look at me,” it is to serve the playwright and tell a story. I see myself as being part of something really ancient: Let me tell you my story, and if I do it well, maybe you’ll know a little more about being alive than you did before you heard my story. It seems to me that we are smugglers, and I’m a pretty good smuggler of ideas. I like that. But I am only at best a tool of the playwright. The ship is the playwright, the director is the captain of that ship and I am a damned good first mate.

Quote of the Day: ‘At Large’ Elsewhere…

From Peter Filichia’s Diary on 10.10.08:

Kevin Daly did Encores! a favor by casting Darling of the Day for them. Now all that Encores! has to do is do the show. Daly wisely chose David Hyde Pierce as Priam Farll, Victoria Clark as Alice Challice, Judy Kaye as Lady Vale, and Gavin Lee as Alfie. I’m interested; aren’t you? Hope the powers-that-be at City Center are listening.

[quote of the day]

“Lots of folks have asked ‘How you guys doing?’ or ‘How do you feel?’ and the answer is, a lot of different emotions. When our ‘pep rally’ date was first announced (we prefer to call it a pep rally…closing night sounds too final), we were super sad for like 48 hours. We cried, got angry, sad (sangry)…all of it. However, pretty quickly on came this wave of creative energy and excitement about all the possibilities for the future of [tos]. Truth is, Jeff and I succeeded the day we wrote down the first words of this show. Anytime anyone breaks through and starts to create something they love, they have succeeded. [title of show] is about not being afraid to dream out loud. Our dream was to tell this story on a Broadway stage, and with courageous producers and investors and blood sweat and tears from all the folks in our [tos] family, that dream is happening. While this [tos] chapter at the Lyceum is done on the 12th, I know that this journey is far from over. One of our awesome [tos]ser fans sent us this Louis L’Amour quote that says: ‘There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.’ I love that. So we’re hitting pause this Sunday and then next up…maybe [tos] in some other cities and then back to New York (we want to have to get tuxes and dresses for the Broadway prom…also known as the Tony Awards!), plus a [tos] TV show, and we’re still keen on a [tos] blimp and theme park, too!”

Hunter Bell to Playbill.com – 10/10/08

Quote of the Day: The Theatre Blogger’s Creed

The Theatre Blogger’s Creed
From Sister SarahB, with Father Kevin:

I believe in Rodgers & Hammerstein, the almighty, creator of musical theatre heaven. I believe in Stephen Sondheim, their only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the composer and born of the Divas. He suffered under the critics, was crucified, died, and was buried. At the Tony Awards he rose again. He ascended into theatre heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Fathers. He will come again with a revival and will judge the living and the dead ticket buyers. I believe in the original cast recording, the holy revival cast recording, the Tony Award, the forgiveness of critics, the proliferation of the Divas, and the eleven o’clock number. As it was at the overture and shall be at the exit music, bliss without end. Amen.

Happy "August: Osage County" Day!

Mayor Bloomberg has officially proclaimed today “August: Osage County Day” in NYC in honor of its 300th performance, being accorded to today’s matinee.

As per the proclamation, the play has “yielded tremendous cultural and economic benefits for” New York City and has “reaffirmed New York’s proud heritage of welcoming the world’s boldest, most powerful works of art.”

However, the powers that be are cheating a little. According to the tally at ibdb.com today’s matinee is the show’s 282nd, meaning they are counting the 18 previews. There is a reason there is an official opening night. Or is there anymore? Oh well. I’m just truth-telling… 😉

Also here is a great profile on the great Amy Morton who is still giving NY audiences her powerhouse performance as Barbara Weston Fordham in the acclaimed hit (but only for a little while longer, folks. Soon the original cast will be off to London for its UK premiere at the National in the fall).

The quote of the day, from Ms. Morton:

“It’s like when you open up Long Day’s Journey Into Night or some great American play, and you see the original cast listing, and you go, ‘Wow, that must have been something.’ I get to have my name in there! I’m never going to get a part like this again in my life. I mean this in the most positive way: It’s all downhill from here.”

Quote of the Day

Here’s one of the best ideas I’ve heard in a long time:

‘Virtually every theater makes a pre-show announcement about turning off cell phones, beepers and watch alarms. Soon after, the audience delivers the first laugh of the night, after a disembodied voice tells them to unwrap their candies now.

But here, at Ohio Light Opera in Wooster, there’s an announcement I’ve never heard, but one that hits the spot: “And please don’t talk during the overture.”’

Peter Filichia’s blog on the Ohio Light Opera’s production of Marinka

Quote of the Day, plus a Book Recommendation

“It hits me: Life should be like musicals: along with the sentimental ballads and the sadness hiding in the shadows, laughs, lots of laughs, and dancing always. I think I understand that now.

You can write the pain (God knows there’s enough of it), or you can let loose with the joy.

Why did I remember half this stuff? Because it’s a memoir, pal.

But it’s not. It’s a musical comedy.”

– Charles Strouse, from his memoir Put on a Happy Face

If you’re itching for something to read, I highly suggest Mr. Strouse’s memoir. I got it last night and finished it early this afternoon: it’s engaging, honest and always entertaining (and occasionally dishy). There are many other amusing anecdotes and quotes, but you have to read the book in order to get some of those (Arthur Laurents, how could you? oh wait… we remember).

You get his perspective on the many shows of his career, from his summer revues at Green Mansions all the way up to Marty (which according to a photo caption in the book recorded a cast album last year with John C. Reilly and Carolee Carmello) and The Night They Invaded Minsky’s (which will be mounted in LA at the Ahmanson in late 2009, with Bob Martin as the new librettist). Lots of colorful characters along the way. Mr. Strouse seems like a very congenial, approachable gentleman who has supplied us with several standards of the canon like Bye Bye Birdie and Annie, hits like Applause and Golden Boy, but also with several misfires, such as Rags, Annie 2, Bring Back Birdie, to name a few. I knew he and his frequent collaborator Lee Adams wrote the iconic “Those Were the Days” for All in the Family. What I didn’t know was that the presentation with Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor was Strouse’s idea (stemming from a lack of budget and a nostalgic homage to his own parents). The only complaint? I wish the book were more in depth.