Times is a pan, only briefly positive on Janney...
Sisterhood vs. Boss, on a New Battlefield
By BEN BRANTLEY Published: May 1, 2009
Give some credit to “9 to 5” — the overinflated whoopee cushion lodged at the Marquis Theater — for bucking this spring’s fashion trends. Can this gaudy, empty musical really be part of the same Broadway season that gave us the minimally decorated, maximally effective “Exit the King,” “God of Carnage,” “Next to Normal,” “Hair,” “Mary Stuart” and “Norman Conquests”?
Those shows strip down to modest sets (three of them use brick walls as backdrops) and, in many cases, small casts, the better to show off their considerable natural assets. But if ingenious austerity has replaced mindless opulence on main-stem stages, no one bothered to alert “9 to 5.”
Dolly Parton and Patricia Resnick’s musical adaptation of the 1980 movie about three women’s revenge on their sexist boss piles on the flashy accessories like a prerecession hedge funder run amok at Barney’s. Staged by Joe Mantello (who directed the fat fairy-tale cash cow “Wicked”), this show feels assembled by an emulous shopaholic who looked around at the tourist-drawing hits of the last decade and said: “I want some of that. And that. Ooh, and can I have that, too?”
The most essential recycled formula being used is one that has met with varying success on Broadway: Take a movie (or alternately, pop song book) with brand-name recognition, then exaggerate with wild, giant strokes whatever made it distinctive originally. In the case of “9 to 5,” this means turning up the volume on something that wasn’t exactly quiet to begin with.
Though released in 1980, the movie, directed by Colin Higgins from a script by Ms. Resnick, feels very much a 1970s artifact. It reflects a time when the feminist movement (or the idea of it) was starting to settle comfortably into suburbia. In portraying three dissimilar women who found sisterhood in bringing down their nasty male employer, the film brought a topical sexual awareness to the classic little-guy-beats-the-boss fantasy. But its jokes and routines were clunky even then, and only the eccentric charisma of Lily Tomlin and Ms. Parton makes it watchable now. (Jane Fonda, playing the most inhibited of the three, gave an unconvincingly inhibited performance.)
The musical “9 to 5,” which overmilks and overmikes tuneful songs by Ms. Parton (who wrote the movie’s popular title number, which is the opener here), is at least blessed with the presence of Allison Janney. This deliciously droll actress is known for playing exceedingly competent people (“The West Wing” on television, “Present Laughter” on Broadway) with much more than mere competence, and her game but dignified professionalism is the show’s biggest asset.
Ms. Janney, as might be predicted, plays the Tomlin role: Violet Newstead, a wry, undervalued office manager. Joining her in the show’s central triumvirate are Megan Hilty as the curvaceous hillbilly secretary Doralee Rhodes (the Parton part) and Stephanie J. Block as the confidence-challenged, newly divorced Judy Bernly (the Fonda character).
Ms. Hilty, who here resembles Loni Anderson more than Ms. Parton, still does Dolly credibly in her line readings and her singing, while Ms. Block is rather wooden in a thankless part. Marc Kudisch takes on the uncomfortable duties of cartoon dartboard as Franklin Hart Jr., the lascivious boss they all loathe.
But this show isn’t about its stars. It’s about turning its feminist revenge story into an occasion for lewd slapstick (which feels about as up-to-date as the 1940s burlesque revue “Hellzapoppin ”) and a mail-order catalog of big production numbers, filtered through that joyless aesthetic that pervaded the 1970s. The show lumbers through its two and a half hours in a blur of heavy moving scenery (by Scott Pask), animated projections (by Peter Nigrini and Peggy Eisenhaeur), sour-candy-color lighting (by Jules Fisher and Kenneth Posner) and costumes (by William Ivey Long) that reminds us that the Carter years were the nadir of 20th-century fashion
The comic sensibility certainly feels vintage, rather in the smirky mode of sitcoms like “Three’s Company.” The governing philosophy seems to be that it’s O.K. to leer if you wink at your own prurience. The opening sequence, which depicts people waking up to the title song, has a man in boxers strutting across the stage with a visible erection.
And while we’re meant to tut-tut when Hart salivates over the buxom Doralee, we are also meant to enjoy his enjoyment. Worse, we are encouraged to laugh when Hart finds himself staring into the less-than-perky bosoms of his sycophantic assistant, Roz Keith (the talented Kathy Fitzgerald).
The dumpy Roz has a sequence in which she communes with her inner red hot mama while visions of a topless (female) dancer and a topless, pec-flexing Hart undulate behind her. This takes place in the women’s bathroom. Ms. Janney has a fantasy number in which she strides past a line of male employees at urinals. (And, yes, there’s the joke of her not shaking the hand of someone who has just zipped up.)
That’s part of a production centerpiece in which Violet imagines herself as a corporate star, with a backdrop of fawning male dancers and projected headlines, a nod to the “Roxie” showstopper from “Chicago.” But despite Ms. Janney’s authority (never mind that she can’t really sing), the sequence feels ersatz, an extended quotation with no voice of its own.
That’s true of much of the show. Its broad flirtation with tastelessness reminds you of how stylishly Mel Brooks played with brazen vulgarity in “The Producers.” And — oh, dear — there’s even a flying actor sequence à la “Billy Elliot” for the Act I curtain. The Walt Disney “Snow White”-style reverie by a stoned Violet, embroidered on from the movie, is mildly charming, but even it never finds an original groove.
Nor does Ms. Parton’s score, which includes some rockabilly raunch, rhythm-and-blues riffs, a likable song of self-explanation for Doralee (“Backwoods Barbie”) and a standard-issue anthem of empowerment called “Get Out and Stay Out,” which allows Ms. Block to do some “American Idol”-style belting.
The orchestrations infuse everything with instrumental layers that produce a 1970s dance-floor vibe and overwhelm the simpler charms of Ms. Parton’s melodies. Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography embodies the same sensibility, with jutting, strutting disco moves applied to everything, sometimes wittily and sometimes to sinister, robotic effect, suggesting a hybrid of “Saturday Night Fever” and the grim office melodrama “Machinal.”
Come to think of it, it’s been quite a year for the 1970s on Broadway, what with the R. D. Laingian “Equus” (in the revival starring Daniel Radcliffe) and the imported Old Vic production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Norman Conquests” trilogy. By the way, if you’re really interested in how the self-conscious sexual openness of that time transformed everyday lives, then “Conquests” is the ticket to buy.
Seen in conjunction with “9 to 5,” Mr. Ayckbourn’s comedies also offer an interesting lesson in the relativity of time in the theater. Though it takes seven hours to perform the three “Conquests” plays, it all seems to pass in a twinkling. At the intermission of “9 to 5,” I looked at my watch (at 9:30) and was surprised we hadn’t hit midnight.
9 TO 5: THE MUSICAL
Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton; book by Patricia Resnick, based on the 20th Century Fox film; directed by Joe Mantello; choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler; music direction and vocal arrangements by Stephen Oremus; sets by Scott Pask; costumes by William Ivey Long; lighting by Jules Fisher and Kenneth Posner; sound by John H. Shivers; imaging by Peter Nigrini and Peggy Eisenhauer; hair design by Paul Huntley and Edward J. Wilson; makeup by Angelina Avallone; technical supervisor, Neil A. Mazzella; production supervisor, William Joseph Barnes; associate director, Dave Solomon; associate choreographer, Rachel Bress; general management by Nina Lannan Associates; music coordinator, Michael Keller; orchestrator, Bruce Coughlin; additional orchestrations/incidental music arrangements by Mr. Oremus and Alex Lacamoire; dance music arrangements by Mr. Lacamoire; additional music arrangements by Kevin Stites and Charles duChateau; produced by Robert Greenblatt. Presented by Green State Productions, Richard Levi, John McColgan/Moya Doherty/Edgar Dobie, James L. Nederlander/Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, Jam Theatricals, Bud Martin, Michael Watt, the Weinstein Company/Sonia Friedman/Dede Harris, Norton Herrick/Matthew C. Blank/Joan Stein, Center Theater Group, Toni Dowgiallo and GFour Productions. At the Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, (212) 307-4100. Running time: 2 hours 35 minutes.
WITH: Allison Janney (Violet Newstead), Stephanie J. Block (Judy Bernly), Megan Hilty (Doralee Rhodes), Kathy Fitzgerald (Roz Keith), Andy Karl (Joe) and Marc Kudisch (Franklin Hart Jr.).
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
The principal asset in "9 to 5: The Musical" is unquestionably the beloved screen property on which this eager-to-please adaptation is based. The popular 1980 fem-powerment farce about three renegade secretaries who turn the tables on their chauvinistic boss was driven by three iconic performances, and the women who step into those heels here do dandy work re-creating those characters with enough freshness to rise above mere imitation. If the material showcasing the trio is an uneven cut-and-paste job that struggles to recapture the movie's giddy estrogen rush, plenty of folks will nonetheless find this a nostalgic crowd-pleaser. The other big ace up the show's sleeve is Dolly Parton. Regrettably, the Tennessee sparrow isn't actually up there onstage, but she's creditably channeled by Megan Hilty in the Doralee role, from the boobs-and-bouffant look to the twangy vocals, downhome charm and disarming pluckiness.
As composer-lyricist of the country-flavored pop score, Parton is a significant presence as well, not just in the evergreen title tune but particularly in a handful of new songs. The wry self-validation of "Backwoods Barbie," the delicate optimism of "I Just Might," the upbeat resilience of "Shine Like the Sun" and take-charge attitude of "Change It" all reveal the songwriter's authentic personality, and "9 to 5" is at its most winning when these numbers focus attention squarely on the women battling for a fair deal in an unequal-opportunity environment.
However, other key creative elements are hit and miss. Patricia Resnick's book wisely conserves the movie's best jokes and sticks to the 1979 setting. But the antic plotting lacks flow, and the additions -- a love interest for lead steno-pool mutineer Violet (Allison Janney); hindsight digs at the era's innovations; a more forcefully articulated emancipation agenda to muscle up the ending -- are fairly pedestrian. It's hard not to assume the real heart of the script came from the film's director and co-screenwriter, the late comedy genius Colin Higgins, who gave us "Harold and Maude."
Director Joe Mantello and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler bring their own set of problems. Associations with Mantello's megahit "Wicked" may be unintended (both Hilty and Stephanie J. Block, who plays the Jane Fonda role, Judy, are alumnae witches), but "9 to 5" gets strident at times in remixing that show's girl-power formula. Block is stirring as she amps up into "Get Out and Stay Out," Judy's gutsy reclamation of pride and rejection of her wayward husband, but you almost expect her to grab her broom and defy gravity. Worse are the crude sight gags.
Blankenbuehler's "In the Heights" moves were an organic physical expression of those characters' desires. Here, his slinky dance idiom is out of sync with the comic tone. His fussy scene segues, coupled with the cumbersome hydraulic shifting of panels, pillars, desks and overhead lighting tracks in Scott Pask's busy office set, inhibit momentum and crowd the characters.
Maybe audiences want to see major movables onstage, but the show's most satisfying moments come when the hardware is stripped away and it's just the characters, backed by Peter Nigrini and Peggy Eisenhauer's period-evocative projection wall or bathed in Jules Fisher and Kenneth Posner's pastel-toned lighting. Less is often more here.
Pask's most playable set is the office of obnoxious boss Franklin Hart Jr. (Marc Kudisch), where he puts the moves on Doralee and her double Ds until she turns cowgirl on his ass. Kudisch is a hilarious and oddly lovable scoundrel as the "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" who fuels the women's revenge fantasies, and his comic chemistry with the irresistible Hilty is especially sharp. Block tends to recede in book scenes but aces the vocals.
Kathy Fitzgerald earns laughs as Franklin's besotted spy Roz; her "Heart to Hart" number is foiled by dubious staging (with dancers in Roz drag emerging from bathroom stalls), but her wistful "5 to 9" again shows the strengths of Parton's work in quieter mode.
The invaluable Janney juggles acerbity and warmth with flair in the Lily Tomlin role. She's no great singer but is frequently buffered by the superior pipes of her co-stars and handles solo duties with assurance and decent pitch. Violet's splashy "One of the Boys" is a knowingly cheesy late-'70s-style showstopper that recalls Lauren Bacall sashaying and barking through numbers in "Woman of the Year." More precisely, it conjures 1981 stalker pic "The Fan," with Bacall playing an actress in a doozy of a show called "Never Say Never," an unintentionally funny hymn to bad Broadway.
The pleasures of "9 to 5" are less guilty, but they're also less satisfying than they should be. The promising material and terrific performers are too often sold short by clumsy story-building, overwhelming sets and unfocused direction.
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
By MICHAEL KUCHWARA/AP Drama Critic Thursday, April 30, 2009 NEW YORK (AP) — Durn. You kinda want "9 to 5: The Musical" to be better than it is.
Not that you won't have fun at this stage version of the 1980 feminist revenge comedy that was a hit movie with an impossibly catchy title tune. It's a certified crowd-pleaser.
Dolly Parton, who wrote that persistent little film ditty, has supplied the entire score for the production that opened Thursday at Broadway's Marquis Theatre. You won't mistake Parton's words and music for the works of Stephen Sondheim, yet she has a simple, direct way with lyrics and a beguiling sense of melody whether it's country twang, gospel, rhythm 'n' blues, power ballad or sentimental love song.
But Parton hasn't been served well by her director Joe Mantello, who pushes the musical and book writer Patricia Resnick's overstuffed cartoon of a story at a furious pace. For much of the evening, everything is played in the key of frantic, as if the director were afraid to let the show slow down, catch its breath and let us really get to know the three women who kidnap their sexist pig of a boss.
And when the women are played by a talented trio of ladies such as Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty that's a shame.
Janney, the best known of the three because of her television gig on "The West Wing," is a formidable stage veteran although not in musical comedy. No matter. Her sardonic delivery, not her singing voice, is what counts for her role as the overqualified secretary who can't get into the managerial ranks. It's the part played in the movie by Lily Tomlin.
Hilty has the unenviable task of following Parton as perky blond Doralee, the countrified sexpot, who excites the libido of the company's main man, portrayed by Marc Kudisch. The singer also gets to warble a song called "Backwoods Barbie," which probably comes as close as anything in giving Parton's view of a woman who seems to be remarkably like herself.
Best of all is Block, as the neophyte office worker (the Jane Fonda part in themovie), who's newly liberated from her spouse and ready to begin life anew. Block delivers the evening's big anthem: "Get Out and Stay Out," directed at her husband who has dumped her for a 19-year-old. She gets to stop the show all by herself.
And we haven't even gotten to Kudisch, the chauvinistic boss who finds himself at the mercy of the avenging females. His performance is riotously on target, both physically and vocally. Kudisch possesses one of those rich, booming voices that lets you understand every lyric.
He's joined in the villainy department by the comic Kathy Fitzgerald, his loyal factotum who carries a serious crush for her boss.
Resnick's book is pretty faithful to her original screenplay, maybe too faithful in its cluttered attempt to make sure none of the movie's fans will feel cheated by having something from the film missing from the stage version. Yet a surprising number of the jokes misfire.
Andy Blankenbuehler's choreography seems to celebrate the late 1970s, not exactly disco but very "Saturday Night Fever," with arms and legs flailing. It works best in the musical's opening number, in which the cast is depicted getting ready for work as the title song throbs with ever-increasing urgency.
Physically, "9 to 5" is a big show, with designer Scott Pask's office settings fluidly moving on and off stage. And William Ivey Long's period costumes evoke some of the less hideous fashion choices of the '70s.
In the end, though, "9 to 5: The Musical" is a mixed bag. Savor it for Parton's songs and the three women who sing most of them. They make the case for the show being more than just another workday event.
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
By Simon Vozick-Levinson It's almost a surprise that Dolly Parton has never written music and lyrics for a Broadway musical before 9 to 5, adapted from the 1980 film in which she co-starred. There's always been a theatrical quality to her lengthy catalog of hits, each one a showstopper meant to be belted out to the last row of whatever venue she's playing. That said, 9 to 5 itself isn't as immediately obvious a fit for Broadway. The original film is a hilarious but dark satire of sexism in the workplace, laced with edgy jokes and outright subversion — a comedy classic, but how will it work as a mainstream musical?
Surprisingly well, it turns out. The Consolidated Industries office of Patricia Resnick's book is every bit as nasty a place as it was on film, its sexual harassment, pay inequality, and general employee misery preserved intact amidst a leaping ensemble of typists and suits. Resnick has also kept the film's slapstick violence and drug humor — yes, even the extended pot-fueled hallucination sequence. By refusing to sand down these edges for a Broadway audience, Resnick's book nails the same balancing act as its source material: 9 to 5 remains a laugh-out-loud treatment of very serious issues.
It certainly doesn't hurt to have the always excellent Allison Janney (The West Wing) starring as Violet Newstead, the head secretary role originated by Lily Tomlin. What Janney lacks in natural singing chops, she more than makes up for with her impeccable comic timing and genuine pathos. Megan Hilty (Wicked) does a passable Parton impression as the deceptively ditzy Doralee Rhodes, while Stephanie J. Block (The Boy From Oz) gets some decent laughs as the uptight Judy Bernly (originally played by Jane Fonda). Funniest of all might be Marc Kudisch (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Franklin Hart Jr., the truly detestable pig of a boss whom the three Consolidated secretaries stumble into kidnapping. Wearing a perfectly pitched permasmirk as he abuses his employees, Kudisch makes his character's comeuppance a pleasure to see.
Parton's new tunes, meanwhile, are just fine. None of them will likely be entering her greatest-hits canon any time soon, but they advance the musical's plot well enough. And it's tough to complain about any performance that includes not one but two renditions of 9 to 5's title song, still one of Parton's catchiest, cleverest compositions. Seeing the cast sing it out on stage is enough to make any aspiring pop songwriter pour him- or herself a strong cup of ambition. B+
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
Accessible 'Godot,' absurd '9 to 5' round out Broadway season
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY NEW YORK — It's been a busy and fairly eclectic spring on Broadway, so it seems fitting that the season should wind down with the two very different shows that opened Thursday night: a revival of the Samuel Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot and a new musical adaptation of the frothy feminist film romp 9 to 5. No 20th-century play has been more influential, or more avidly deconstructed, than Godot. Yet it's a measure of the challenges it poses that it hasn't been produced on Broadway in more than 50 years.
In the new Roundabout Theatre Company production (* * * ½ out of four) at Studio 54, Beckett's hobos Estragon and Vladimir — Gogo and Didi, as they call each other — are played by Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin, with John Goodman in a supporting role. But like the current revival of Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King, this Godot is noteworthy less for its cast members' marquee value than their ability to make the existential, universal questions posed by the text accessible to a mass audience.
Granted, Godot is the trickier work. Every aspect of Gogo and Didi's bleak existence and co-dependent isolation is, and has been, subject to endless interpretation. There is no real action, only interaction, with the characters waiting in no particular place for someone who will never arrive. At the end of two acts, all we're sure of is that they've made no progress.
Under Anthony Page's brisk but sensitive direction, Lane and Irwin mine the humor and pathos in this simple but richly symbolic dilemma. Watching Irwin's thoughtful, restless Didi and the sad clown that is Lane's needy Gogo clash with and cling to each other is like watching two boys in a sandbox, learning primal struggles that will never stop informing their lives. When a red-faced Lane recoils from Irwin, telling him, "Don't touch me," then in the next breath pleads, "Stay with me," the terse lines speak volumes about the need for and impossibility of human connection.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Broadway | Dolly Parton | Jane Fonda | Nathan Lane | Lily Tomlin | John Goodman | Allison Janney | Samuel Beckett | The Walt Disney Company | Joe Mantello | 20th century | Bill Irwin | Stephanie J. Block | John Glover Goodman and John Glover lend excellent support as Pozzo and Lucky, a blowhard and his miserable but oddly passive slave. Both men are, like Didi and Gogo — like all of us — prisoners of themselves. Santo Loquasto's scenic design and Jane Greenwood's costumes enhance the dim, ambiguous atmosphere: gray suits, gray rocks, a gray sky and a thin, sad tree that sprouts a few leaves in the second act.
We'll never know what the growth means — is it a false promise, an allusion, a glimmer of hope? — but Page and company ensure that we are profoundly entertained, and moved, as we wonder.
Those who prefer absurdity to absurdism will get some kicks out of 9 to 5 (* * ½), the latest musical lifted from a beloved screen chestnut. For those who haven't seen the movie, released nearly 30 years ago, it follows three working women driven to extreme measures by their boss, Mr. Hart, a lecherous, foul-mouthed capitalist pig — and those aren't even his most loathsome qualities.
The libretto, adapted by Patricia Resnick from her original screenplay, has a populist bent that, if timely, can take on a self-conscious earnestness. But she has also retained a flair for wry, cheeky humor that is well served by the cast — particularly Allison Janney, who deftly fills Lily Tomlin's shoes as long-suffering office manager Violet Newstead. Janney may not have a mellifluous singing voice, but her delectably tart delivery, of songs as well as dialogue, is one of the production's two strongest assets.
Marc Kudisch's divinely dastardly Hart is the other. If there were a Tony Award for best sport, Kudisch would be a leading contender; his villain is bound, lassoed, shot and poisoned — and that's just in a Disney-themed hallucination sequence that's one of director Joe Mantello's more inspired touches.
Some of the goofiness feels more gratuitous, though Dolly Parton's original songs tend to be quite forthright. Predictably, the country icon — who co-starred with Tomlin and Jane Fonda in the movie — has injected plenty of twang into the score. But there are also ballads that wouldn't be out of place in most contemporary, pop-influenced musicals and nods to Tin Pan Alley and '70s funk.
The tunes are served with dutiful virtuosity by Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block, who respectively play blond bombshell Doralee Rhodes, Hart's sweet-but-tough secretary (Parton's old role), and Judy Bernly, a meek housewife forced to seek employment when her husband dumps her (Fonda's part).
At a recent preview, Block nearly stopped the show with a song called Get Out and Stay Out— directed at her ex, though she would have pleased the crowd equally belting it out to Hart. If seeing Y-chromosome-addled cartoon characters get their due is your idea of an empowering experience, or at least a good time, 9 to 5 has your number.
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
R2684, may I just say how much I appreciate you on this thread? It's so nice to have someone knowledgeable and passionate about the theatre to chat with. Of course, I appreciate several others on this board, too, but I just had to say that. I thought I'd have to wait until tomorrow morning to ready the Times review of this....but you have it already! (How do you do that??)
Anyway, I've been chomping at the bit to read the review for this since I have tickets for it next month. All I can say after reading this is.....YEESH! I sure hope I didn't waste my money! This is a dreadful review and does not bode well for "9 to 5"'s longevity, does it? I was shocked that the only positive thing Brantley had to say was about Allison Janney, reputedly the show's weakest link based on the little scuttlebutt I've heard about the show. (Although, I confess Janney's presence in the show was the motivating factor for my buying tickets to this - I adored her work in TWW and thought it would be neat to see her on stage).
How badly does this review hurt 9 to 5's chances of getting nominated for Best Musical by the Tonys next week? Up to now, it seems everyone has pretty much assumed that it's assured a spot. But after reading this, I really think the door has been opened for either Rock of Ages or [tos] to sneak in and grab a nom. What do you think?
Thanks for the nice words! (The Times review is actually available on the site - it's just hidden - you have to go into the Theater section and click on the name of the show itself. They won't post it on the front page until tomorrow.)
As you can see, Brantley clearly disliked it more than most other critics. I do believe that his review matters more than all the others combined, but I don't think it kills the show. It's a name-brand and will probably have a pretty good run. Will it recoup? Not so sure.
In terms of the Tonys, I'm inclined to think it will still be nominated (the Drama Desk noms help) but it's certainly looking less likely than before. We're sure that "Billy" and "Normal" are in, so it's going to come down to two of the following
9 to 5 Shrek [title of show] Rock of Ages
for the remaining slots. Now it might seem pretty obvious that the two best musicals in that group are [title of show] and "Rock of Ages". That may happen. I think at least one of those two are in.
What I don't think will happen is both "9 to 5" and "Shrek" getting nominated. No room for two big-budget disappoints on a list of 4.
I guess the safe thing to do would be to pick one show from the first group and one from the second. Or, if you've got guts, go with the first two.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: R2684,
Posts: 2803 | Location: New York, New York | Registered: August 08, 2003
I agree with you that I don't think the Tony voters will endorse two big, splashy, mainstream musicals that didn't live up to expectations. I must tell you, though, that I've got a copy of the Shrek score, and I love it! I have no idea what the show is like as I haven't seen it, but several of the songs get stuck in my head, and I find myself listening to that soundtrack rather often. And it seems to have a lot of subtle adult humor in the lyrics but also an important message of positive reinforcement to kids who feel like outcasts or misfits.
I'm actually thinking Shrek will now be nominated over 9 to 5...and I LOVED the score from [tos] (again, didn't see it), so I'm hoping the Tony voters have long memories and nominate it. I have yet to post my nomination predictions, but I'll do that in a few days.
I don't think there's any way all three ladies from 9 to 5 will be nominated. Two at the most...and maybe just Janney. Though will the Tony voters actually nominate someone who is widely known to have a poor singing voice for a Lead Actress of a MUSICAL??? Tony voters have passed over big names before in favor of legit theatre actors...which leads me to believe that Block or Hilty will get noms over Janney. What do you think?
