Have You Ever Heard Such Craziness, Girls???????????????????????

                                My regulars need no introduction to the photo above.  That is the Original Cast of the 1975 musical, "A Chorus Line," with Donna McKechnie, in the center.  You all know how much I love and revere the show.  And how repulsive the 1985 film version, directed by Richard Attenborough, who should have known better, was.

                                 Now, get ready for this!

                                  Ryan Murphy wants to develop a series which would expand on the material of the show!  Is he kidding?

                                  First, all you need to know about the characters is in the show.  Michael Bennett was not fooling around when he created it.  How does Murphy think he can improve on Bennett. How dare he?

                                   What?  An episode devoted to each character?  Will Originals guest star?  If this gets off the ground--and I doubt it will--anyone who loves the show, or sees it for the first time, will have it ruined for them.  And that is criminal.

                                      I pray this does not happen.  Baayork, and John Breglio, get in there, and stop this nonsense while you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Keep "A Chorus Line" in its pure, theatrical form!

                                     But wait!  I offer you more craziness!

                                      Richard Linklater, an award winning director, whose filmed over time, "Boyhood," won the Academy Award as Best Picture of 2014, now wants to do the same thing with.....Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along."

                                      He has gathered a perfect trio as the leads--Ben Platt, as Charlie, Beanie Feldenstein, as Mary, and Blake Jenner, as Frank.  The problem is he needs to cast others, and--here is the real obstacle--it is to be shot, in real time, over a period of twenty years, so that the characters on screen actually do age.

                                       I admit, it is an interesting concept; better than Murphy's tinkering with "A Chorus Line".  But just how realistic is it?  I mean, can anyone, Linklater especially, be counted on to live that long, be healthy enough?  What about commitment to other projects; when is one supposed to pull out from whatever is being worked on to shoot a particular segment of 'Merrily.'?
Will the full score be used?  It better!  Will it have an ensemble, because, like in the  recent Off Broadway revival, without one, "Our Time" loses the heartbreak it should have.  The older I am, each time I hear it, the more it tears me apart!

                                        So, get this.  A story that moves backwards is to be shot chronologically, as though it were happening, then edited to go backwards.  I bet, if successful, a special DVD will play it chronologically.

                                           Awhile ago, I did a post, showing a video of a group in England filming the number, "Opening Doors."  Take a look at that!  Now, THERE is the makings of a film version of 'Merrily'.

                                            Lonny, Steve, Ann, all you cast members--stop this ridiculous thing from happening!

                                              Because, I am telling you, some of us may not live long enough to see it, and, without us, who will remember 'Merrily'?

                                                 And don't even get me started on Ivon Von Hove's "West Side Story!"

                                                 That is for another post, altogether!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!