Few people know that when “The Will Rogers Follies” was readying itself for Broadway, John Denver was supposed to play Will Rogers. The role was originally written for him: The book (the script) and the music and the lyrics were sculpted to fight John Denver’s sense of humor and singing range.
Continue reading → The Irreparable Insult: John Denver Does Not Star on Broadway as Will Rogers
When I watched Forrest Gump navigating a boat and catching hundreds of pounds of fish, I never once thought to myself that it was completely unrealistic for Tom Hanks to portray a shrimp boat captain because he was not a shrimp boat captain. Nor did I have a problem with Gary Sinise as a lieutenant who lost his legs in Vietnam injury — even though I knew fully well that Gary’s legs were perfectly fine. Why, then, does Ramin Setoodeh of Newsweek insist that a gay man cannot convincingly play a straight character?
I had great love and admiration for composer Cy Coleman. We met on “The Will Rogers Follies” and we stayed in touch after that show was over until his untimely death from at massive heart attack in 2004 at the too-young age of 75.
There’s nothing like seeing The Blues live in performance and I was lucky enough to see the great Johnny Winter play a live set at B.B. King’s box of Blues on Broadway in New York City’s Times Square.
Continue reading → Johnny Winter Live at B.B. King's on Broadway
Several years ago, there was a major Broadway musical in crisis of being shuttered before even making it to the previews stage. The problem was not the story, or the plot, or the personalities involved. The problem boiled down to greed and money.
“The Miracle Worker” is making a revival run on Broadway this Winter and the unfortunate news is that the role of Helen Keller will not be played by a Deaf or Blind actress, but rather by Hearing child actress Abigail Breslin.
Several years ago, a Broadway musician told me in no uncertain terms, “the guitar is an imperfect instrument.”
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