What Did These Critics See In This "Death Of A Salesman" That I Did Not???????????????

                               The revival of Arhtur Miller's iconic play, which I saw weeks before, opened last night, and the critics went wild!  I can't believe it!  Laurie Metcalf deserves all the praise heaped upon her here, because I am telling you, darlings, her Linda is the engine running this show.

                                  And by the way, I stand by what I said here, weeks before!

                               Nathan Lane, I can only hope, has improved in the role since I saw him, though from this photo, I wonder.

                                But not a negative word about the staging, let alone placing it in the Winter Garden.  The newspapers went wild over Joe Mantello's conception, which I could not stand, and still have so many questions about.  There was a 'Times' article about him reading rough drafts of the Arthur Miller script(s), and learning things from them.  Fine, dear, you honored the text, but how about the visual conception?   I understand directors like using staging to reimagine the play but give us a clearer idea of what you are doing.

                                   Still, the text was honored, and I left emotionally drained.

                                   Nathan Lane is now the Toast Of Broadway, and now he wants to do fewer shows, and maybe retire after doing this role?   Oh, Nathan, hon, don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You signed on knowing it was a killer role, so do it.  No social life between shows, remember?  Ever since Beanie Feldstein threw her tantrum with "Funny Girl," especially after not getting a TONY nomination, actors have been catered to more than they should.  And for the record, though not on Broadway, I did a show where I had to do four performances a weekend and then work a regular job the rest of the week!  So, I am not just whistlin' "Dixie," darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Audiences want to see Nathan Lane, not a substitute.  Soon, we will have audiences flocking to only specified performances, while the star or stars' night off gets audiences harder to perform to, as they care less.

                                    For God's sake, Nathan, take a chill pill!  Rest on the show's dark day.

                                   And this retirement thing?  Just a ploy for attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Even if he does Miss Hannigan in "ANNIE," Nathan will not stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Is Who Should Be Hosting The TONY Awards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            As if it is not bad enough Hollywood has turned into a freak show, now my beloved Broadway is about to implode!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Yesterday, it was announced that something or someone called PINK--how dare one mock my signature color? --will host the TONY Awards.  At first, I thought the show was going to have everyone dressed in pink, which would be a lovely idea, but this musical wannabe, who will never host again after this year, I can promise you is another in a series of mistakes by the entertainment industry.  Like having Mariska Hargitay replace Daneil Radcliffe in "Every Brilliant Thing."

                                 The TONY Awards should not be pompous and pretentious, which is why I vote for Linda Richman and Liz Rosenberg.  I understand Liz has joined Linda at some of BARBRA's venues.  How about her hosting the TONYS?  Great idea, but are you kidding?

                                    Linda, with her coffee, and maybe a mention about her daughter, Robyn, will bring some talent and levity to the show, that this PINK thing does not have.  And Liz has the greatest sense of humor; calling Madonna a tramp and a "korva."  If anyone should know about Madonna, it is Liz Rosenberg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         You want to talk of tramps, darlings?????????  Even Liz and Madonna would be appalled at the way today's young girls dress!  Tramps!  Someone needs to teach them some class.  Madonna dresses better than these girls, although I would not recommend showing one's quinny as Madonna did in that sex book.  As a gay man, I could not bear to even LOOK at it!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            ANNA, could you provide a tutorial for today's young girls???????

                                           But really, these gals have talent, and that is what the TONY Awards celebrates.  Which reminds me, what the hell is going to be nominated for "Best New Musical?"  It seems all the big arrivals are revivals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             Like Lucy and Ethel in the Fine Arts Club, vote for Linda and Liz to host the TONY Awards!

                                               As Linda would say, "Talk amongst yourselves."

                                              We (Linda and I) will give you a topic---

                                               What the hell is wrong with Broadway???????????????

She Won't Be Mentioned In "The Devil Wears Prada 2," But These Patterns Are Interesting To Look At For Summer Wear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love discovering new designers, and Lauren Conrad is one I recently discovered.  Now, girls, I discovered her on a KOHL's Mom commercial, but it is not like I am telling you to shop at KOHL's.  I mean, a girl's could lose her reputation that way.  And that actress is SO annoying!

However, with the economy tanking, and all of us able to afford less, it would not surprise me if some of my girls have shopped surreptitiously at KOHL's.  It is one step above a thrift shop, though I understand, in the right locale, like Manhattan's Upper East Side, sometimes one can find amazing items at such shops.

Have I ever done this?  I will never tell!

The red dress is my favorite, as it is a color I am instantly drawn to.  Wearing it could make me feel like Donna McKechnie, and that is not bad at all.

But I also love the short summer frock with the parasol.  It can make me feel petite again, and girls, wouldn't we all want that?  I know I would feel so carefree and breezy in that outfit.

No, you will not hear Lauren's name mentioned in the 'Prada' sequel, but she does turn out some interesting work.  These items are worthy of attention, especially for young career girls just starting out.  How well I remember those days!

Remember--being short on cash does not mean you have to look cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Girls, Wait Till You Hear This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                              The first time I heard the song "What Did I Have? (I Don't Have Now)" was when Eydie Gorme did a cover of it, belting her heart out.  For many it became the definitive rendering of that, and being the last of the belters, I have been singing it Eydie's way for years.

                              But first let me get back to "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever," one of the most ignored musicals, along with "RAGS."

                                 David and I saw a Broadway revival of it in 2011 that introduced to us a young lady named Jessie Mueller, who for several years thereafter, was the Toast Of Broadway.  Alas, Jessie, where are you now, when so needed???????????

                                   But the musical had been dramatically reconfigured so that homosexuality played a part in it, and when Harry Connick Jr. on stage wax so afraid to kiss David Turner, it became a laugh fest.  Except when Jessie was on.

                                     ENCORES has done this show with Kristin Chenowith, and the Irish Repertory Theater has done it with Melissa Erico.  I would have liked to have seen it with her. 

                                        But, like 'Merrily,' has anyone gotten this show right?  The cast album is gorgeous, and Barbara Harris gives the song I mentioned a beautiful vulnerability that makes it achingly heartbreaking.

                                          The cast album is a master class in how this show should be done right.

                                       Here is Barbara singing it the way it should be sung!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Darlings, if only Broadway was this again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, It Is Not Too Early To Start Thinking Abot Summer Wear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                                       Summer will be here before we know it, so it may be a good idea to examine our closets for summer prospects.  When it comes to fashion, who knew better than the decade of the Fifties, and these models are just scrumptious.  My personal favorite is the yellow color patterned dress in the middle.

                                         The warmest season of the year is no excuse to let shirts hang, not comb your hair, or wear unattractive foot ware.  Or worse, going barefoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            I mean, I still love the green dress Scarlett wore to the Twelve Oaks barbecue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             That might not work today.  But the blue one at the top sort of replicates it for a more comfortable design.  Summer is about being comfortable but not losing one's fashion sense.

                                               So, let us start thinking about this, girls!!!!!!!!!!  Right away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What Was Once The Place To Be Has Become A Visual Metaphor For A Rapidly Vanishing America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            If you were a suburban kid, as I was, the shopping mall, or any ones near you, were places to be.  The escalators, the toys, books and records departments, fashions--these were places kids like me loved going to because it was a chance to see beyond the sheltered world we were then enclosed into.  Oh, I know I am sounding like a mall rat--which I was before I galvanized myself into this blog and high fashion--but the malls were just such fun.  And some even had movie theaters, so if one desired to see a movie, one did not have to travel far.

                              Alas, this photo reminds me of so much.  How the America I grew up in is slowly vanishing, as it does for each generation. How it recalls to me the Sondheim musical "FOLLIES," my favorite of his works, whose 55th Anniversary was this past April 4, just five days ago.  Sorry I missed it, darlings, but it was also Holy Saturday.  I forgot but was brought back to the event by the photo.

                            Abandoned amusement park photos are fascinating, what with their colorful sadness.  Yet they still have a beauty to them.  Abandoned mall photos, while macabre, are just plain sad.

                            Sometimes going forward forces others to forego cherished memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Becky Has NOTHING To Do With Thackeray Or GB Shaw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Darlings, how many parties have we been to where an individual or group is conversing with us, and mentally we just don't care, and say, inside our heads, "Why don't you just get the hell out of here?"

                                     The answer is many.  And Gina Gionfriddo's play "Becky Shaw" leaves the audience, like party guests, captive among people they would rather not be with.

                                       Let's start with the playwright.  Gina Gionfriddo.  Sounds like she should be working behind the counter at a pizza parlor.  As for her writing, she cannot seem to decide if what she is going for is "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?," "Fatal Attraction," or "Promising Young Woman."  What emerges is two hours of histrionics blending all three and not succeeding very well at any of them.

                                         Thank God for Linda Emond, who livens things up.  When she speaks, she knows how, and what could be rantings have some dramatic meaning.  Too bad the rest of the cast does not follow her example.  And Lauren Patten, who plays Emond's daughter, Suzanna is supposed to be going for a doctorate in psychology at NYU?  If she can't reign it in long enough for normal conversation, then she should drop the program and go into something else, because it is clear she will not make it as a psychologist.

                                           The other characters are not much better, and while they do follow through on what they are supposed to do, Gionfriddo and director Trip Cullman might just as well have told the cast unitedly, "Just go out there, and scream the playwright's grievances to the audience".  But are they her grievances. Are Suzanna and Becky stand-ins for the author?  Does anybody care?  I certainly did not.

                                               Yet the audience seemed to be lapping it up.  Has the theater become so expensive that audiences will applaud at the most mediocre material?  The answer is yes; I have seen applause at far worst.  

                                              "Becky Shaw" is to be avoided.  For those having children or grandchildren--their school play would be more theatrically satisfying than this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  Raspberries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!