>> HASKINS: Coming up on
"Theater Talk"...
>> BALDWIN: We know where the
focus should be at all points.
And if you move a muscle and
it's not your turn, it ruins the
balance, and it ruins the
comedy.
>> HASKINS: Does Jerry Zaks ever
have to say, "You're pulling
focus!"?
>> BALDWIN: All the time!
>> HASKINS: This episode has
been adopted by Chappy and
Melissa Morris.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
>> HASKINS: From New York City,
this is "Theater Talk."
I'm Susan Haskins, and I'm
joined by my guest co-host,
Adam Feldman, theater critic and
editor of Time Out New York.
And Adam and I are here to talk
about "Hello, Dolly!"
>> FELDMAN: Yes, and with us
from the cast of "Hello, Dolly!"
are Kate Baldwin and
Gavin Creel, who, of course,
were in the original cast of
this revival.
And joining them, Charlie Stemp,
who has just stepped into it
this week as we are recording
this.
Welcome all of you.
>> HASKINS: In the role of
Barnaby.
>> FELDMAN: In the role of
Barnaby, Cornelius Hackl's
sidekick in the show, and --
>> CREEL: I'm Barnaby Tucker's
sidekick.
Let's just --
[ Laughter ]
>> FELDMAN: Fair point.
So, Charlie, here's my question.
You've only just arrived in the
show.
You've only been doing it for a
few days, I know, but how long
has it taken you so far to
prepare for it?
How long have you had to put
together this performance?
>> STEMP: Well, um, back in the
autumn, I kind of came over for
a couple of days and, like,
watched the show a few times and
had, like, a little practice of
certain things.
But, really, most of it's been
over the last, uh, week before
we started, really, kind of
getting it all together.
'Cause it's one thing going over
the script and going over, you
know, the dances, but it's very
different when you're in a room
with, you know, these lovely
people.
It's, obviously, a very
different atmosphere, so...
>> HASKINS: How did you come
into this production?
What's the process?
>> STEMP: The process, luckily,
for me, was I got a call from my
agent who said to me, "Do you
want to go to Broadway?", and I
said, "Absolutely, yeah."
And then -- And then, I, within
two or three weeks, the job was
booked, and now I'm here.
So, it's been a very quick and
crazy process.
>> HASKINS: So, you didn't
audition?
>> STEMP: No, oddly enough, I
didn't.
>> FELDMAN: Because, although
you are new to us here in
New York, my understanding is
that you have appeared and
starred in a number of West End
productions, including
"Half a Sixpence."
It sounds like a parody title...
>> STEMP: Yes.
>> FELDMAN: ...an American would
make of a West End musical.
But you starred in that, yes?
>> STEMP: Yes, I did.
Originally, the show was played
by a guy called Tommy Steele,
which is...
>> HASKINS: I'm old enough to
remember, yes.
>> STEMP: ...back in the '60s.
And he came to Broadway, so the
show actually came to Broadway
as well.
>> HASKINS: It was a huge hit,
yeah.
>> STEMP: Yes, huge hit.
And then it was a re-- kind of
revamp of an old show.
And it was just a lovely stint
in Chichester and then in
London.
And yeah, it finished, and as we
were finishing, I got the call
about coming to join you all
here in Broadway.
>> FELDMAN: But in between, you
did a holiday show.
>> STEMP: I did, yes.
I did a pantomime, which is a
very British thing that happens
in most of the theaters across
the country through the
Christmas period.
And I did one called
"Dick Whittington", which is
based on a young man trying to
rid London of rats.
>> HASKINS: Oh, that's a very
famous folk tale.
Now, Kate and Gavin, did you
have -- originally have to
audition for this production
when "Hello, Dolly!" was --
>> BALDWIN: I'm the only one who
had to audition.
I don't think you had to
audition, right?
>> CREEL: Well, I'd had a --
I had worked for our wonderful
producer, Scott Rudin, for three
and a half years in
"Book of Mormon", so I had a
really good relationship.
And I had done "La Cage" with
Jerry, so I knew the team.
But I was very lucky to -- But
I would have gone in.
>> BALDWIN: I knew that you were
cast when I went in, and, uh...
>> HASKINS: Well, you had a very
competitive role.
I mean, I would think every
actress of your age group --
>> BALDWIN: Oh, they were all
there -- all my friends.
Yeah, all my friends were there.
We were, like, "Hey, hey, how
you doing?
Hey, how you doing?"
And I, honestly, looked at the
group of ladies, and I was like,
"I'm not gonna get this.
No way."
'Cause sometimes I play casting
director, and I think, "Ooh,
they'd be really good at this."
And I went in and I remember
that day because I had picked
out the wrong dress.
I thought I was picking the --
I'm a mother.
We were buying a house.
There was a lot of other things
going on in my life.
I was, like, "Yeah, I'll get the
green dress."
I didn't get the green dress.
I got the blue dress.
Blue dress was not the right
dress.
>> HASKINS: Why's that the
wrong dress?
>> BALDWIN: Because it had a
slit all the way up the side,
and I thought, "Oh, this is not
Irene Molloy at all.
What am I thinking?"
And I walked in and Jerry said,
"Hi. How are you?
You look great."
And I went, "Oh, okay, I think
that this is gonna work.
This is gonna work just fine."
And I read the scenes, and I did
the song, and they said, "Will
you wait outside for a little
bit?"
And I said, "Sure," and I went
and talked to my friend
Michelle Pak for a while.
And then I went back in and did
another scene, I think -- an
additional scene.
Got back on the subway, went
home, I got a call, "Hey, would
you like to do 'Hello, Dolly!'?"
>> HASKINS: [ Gasps ] That fast?
>> STEMP: That's so great!
>> HASKINS: You nailed it.
>> BALDWIN: It was really
extraordinary.
>> CREEL: I had really talented
friends who were called back for
callbacks and then they got
calls that said, "Oh, callbacks
are canceled.
They found someone."
And we didn't know who it was.
>> HASKINS: Wow.
>> STEMP: That's amazing!
>> BALDWIN: And then I texted
you.
I just said, "Hi."
[ Laughter ]
>> HASKINS: Bravo, bravo.
>> FELDMAN: So, when a new
person comes into the show, in
this case, Charlie, how much --
I mean, is there hazing?
Is there -- How much of...
[ Laughter ]
>> FELDMAN: Because often -- You
know, you've been doing the show
for eight or nine months or
longer.
>> CREEL: Yeah. Yeah, we
started -- we started rehearsals
a year ago, so nine months of
shows.
>> BALDWIN: Yeah.
>> FELDMAN: So, I mean, how much
time do you get to work
together?
I mean, you are already
performing at -- And but I
understand you have rehearsal
right after we tape this, so
you're still -- it's still an
on-going process.
What's the process of finding a
new performance within an
existing show like that?
And how much do you get to help
shape that?
>> CREEL: It's kind of a new
thing now of being in a show
that's successful and wonderful,
and then to say goodbye to
somebody you love very much --
or a few people that you love
very much.
>> HASKINS: Several people,
yeah.
>> CREEL: Yeah, we lost --
They're all in other Broadway
shows.
[ Laughter ]
>> HASKINS: You're losing that
little player -- Bette Midler.
>> CREEL: Yeah.
>> BALDWIN: Right, yeah.
>> CREEL: That spitfire.
>> BALDWIN: Yeah, we lost four
principals, right?
And so there are nine principals
in the show, so it was almost
half.
>> CREEL: Yeah.
>> BALDWIN: So, I remember the
very first day of going in to
rehearse with -- I don't even
think you were here yet.
>> STEMP: No.
>> BALDWIN: So, Michael was
filling in for you, but meeting
Molly and seeing Victor and
Bernadette for the first time
and going into that rehearsal
space and going, "Oh, wait a
minute.
I'm in the minority here of the
people who've done it
previously."
They've all been rehearsing this
show together and have a version
of it, a wonderful version of
it that I now have to put myself
into.
>> HASKINS: Well, if they were
rehearsing together, who was
you?
>> BALDWIN: My understudy.
>> HASKINS: Ah, I see.
>> BALDWIN: Yeah, so there's
been sort of a mishmash of
covers and understudies because
Charlie was unavailable 'cause
he was doing "Dick Whittington".
So his understudy was in for a
while.
And in order not to exhaust us,
they would put in Leslie or
Kristen Beth, or, you know,
other people to sort of help the
new people learn what they were
doing.
So, it was really kind of -- It
must have been crazy for you,
too, to try to assimilate
performances 'cause everybody's
just a little bit different,
right?
>> STEMP: Yeah, yeah,
absolutely.
Going into it -- I always find
going into a cast that's kind of
already set up, you have to find
a great balance of trying to
bring what the previous person
brought to the part, but also
what you want to bring to the
part at the same time.
So, you know, these guys were so
wonderful at, you know, and so
is Jerry, at trying things, you
know, "Can I try this?" or, you
know, "Can I try saying it like
this?" or "Can I try coming in
from this side instead of this
side?"
You know, and everyone's so
welcoming, and I think that's
quite rare in a show that's had
a cast change.
'Cause normally, it's very much,
"Stand here.
This gets a laugh if you say it
like this."
>> FELDMAN: Well, how much
leeway do you have to add new
material or new sort of
specialty points for the things
that you do?
>> STEMP: We've done quite a bit
over the last couple of days.
>> CREEL: Charlie's a fantastic
dancer, and Taylor's a great
dancer, too, but they --
>> HASKINS: Taylor, who --
>> CREEL: Taylor Trensch who's
gonna be "Dear Evan Hansen".
>> FELDMAN: He's gonna dance
so well in "Dear Evan Hansen".
>> CREEL: I know, tours, jumps,
pirouettes --
>> BALDWIN: Wild sobbing, while
crying the whole time.
>> FELDMAN: Sobbing and dancing.
>> CREEL: But they wanted to
capitalize on Charlie's ability
in that and just try something
new, and it was really fun.
They switched a couple things in
dancing that song "Dancing."
And it's just -- It's neat to
see that the creative team and
the producers are up for not
setting something in stone and
allowing somebody new to have a
life, 'cause it just gives --
It gives -- I replaced in London
in "Mary Poppins," and being an
American coming into a British
company and being the only
person changing, which Charlie's
doing that way, you just sort of
assimilate.
And I just keep saying to
myself, when you ask like,
"What's it like?", it's not
anywhere near done yet.
We're gonna -- I'm like, "Just
to sit back and see" -- I want
to meet Charlie's energy and
understand what scenes are like
with Charlie because we're like
a team out there together, and I
had 10 months of performances --
nine months of actual
performances and four weeks of
previews -- with Taylor, and it
took us a while to find our
rhythm.
And then people would give you
compliments, and ugh, it's the
worst when they say, "Oh, my
God.
You have such amazing
chemistry."
You can't make chemistry.
You just have to, like, stay
open to it, for me, I think.
And with Charlie, it's, like, so
easy 'cause he's a lovely guy.
I don't know if you find with
Molly is lovely as well, but you
have a love affair with
Beanie...
>> BALDWIN: Totally, but I was
so excited the very first time
we had an audience because I saw
what Molly was doing.
>> HASKINS: Molly, your new
Minnie Fay.
>> BALDWIN: Molly Griggs, the
new Minnie Fay.
And the audience was responding
to her, and I was watching her
sort of process it, 'cause she
had done it in a rehearsal room
where everybody knows all the
jokes and, you know.
And everything was landing, and
there's this moment when we're
both sort of like shoved into a
little work room backstage where
there's just a little curtain,
you know, and we have to whisper
because you guys are onstage
now.
I was like, "You are killing it!
This is so exciting!", and I saw
her get excited and thrilled for
the first time, you know,
Broadway debut and stuff that
she had been working on in the
room but didn't know if it would
land or not, and it did.
>> HASKINS: And then there it
was.
>> CREEL: Yeah. It's magic.
>> BALDWIN: It's such a thrill
to watch that happen.
>> HASKINS: I want to ask you --
We have to get you to rehearsal,
so we don't have all that much
time left.
But I had the good luck of
seeing your production, your
initial production with
Bette Midler twice.
And the second time, I timed how
long it was between the end of
Act I and when Dolly reemerges,
and I believe it was 45 minutes.
It's a long time, and you were
carrying.
You come back from the
intermission, and then it's your
show for a good, long time.
And I wonder two things --
There's that energy there, but
I also wonder, she's putting on
her costume, but what -- Is that
built into the show, that big
time?
>> CREEL: Not to take new
writing to task, but...
>> HASKINS: No, no.
>> CREEL: ...there's more shows
now that have the actor onstage
for 90% -- We were talking about
this with "Half a Sixpence" --
where they're out there for a
long time.
They're singing so many songs.
When I saw it in "Millie" when
Sutton was like, "Oh, my gosh,"
you know.
It's more of a new thing to
have -- I think the old shows,
really, really well crafted,
gives -- There's two sets of
supporting characters in our
show, and that's not necessarily
just because we want to see more
stories -- which we do and it's
exciting and it's the source
material -- but it gives you
opportunities.
Thornton Wilder wrote, you know,
"Whoever's playing Dolly Levi or
whatever," it gives time for you
to -- It's great to reconnect
with cast, take a breather, get
offstage.
I mean, little Taylor out there
in "Dear Evan Hansen," I don't
think he leaves the stage.
I just go, "How do they do
that?"
>> HASKINS: But they give Dolly
plenty of, you know, some
good time, and then you shine.
You're out there --
>> CREEL: Well, we try.
>> FELDMAN: I guess I don't know
if you can answer this question,
but when you're in a show like
this that is marketed and built
around a star performance -- an
over-the-title star performance
that everyone is very excited to
see -- are you allowed to sort
of go all out in all of your
scenes, or is there some sense
of calibration within the
production about how much you
can do and how much focus you
can be perceived as taking?
>> BALDWIN: Well, the hat shop
scene, which, if you've seen the
show, you know is a farce,
right, is very specifically
and minutely calibrated so that
we know where the focus should
be at all points, and if you
move a muscle and it's not your
turn, it ruins the balance, and
it ruins the comedy.
And if you want to have your
team work well together and have
the laughs come as they should,
you have to know when it's your
turn and when it's your turn to
listen and watch.
>> HASKINS: Does Jerry Zaks ever
have to say, "You're pulling
focus!"?
>> BALDWIN: All the time!
>> CREEL: But that's the
thing -- you listen to that man
in situations like that, trust
him 180%.
He knows how to do it and you're
just part of it.
I'm gonna say real quickly,
she's a genius, 'cause I spend
so much time -- Watch her
tonight.
I watch Kate watching, and she's
completely invested, completely
honest, but also exactly sending
the energy.
It's coming out of her directly
to where it needs to go.
It's a master class.
>> BALDWIN: Well, no, no.
Oh, well, thank you.
Thank you very much.
You're very, very sweet.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it is that thing of, like,
directing the audience's focus,
too.
This person's doing this bit,
now you need to watch this in
order to have that.
And David Hyde Pierce was so
good at that.
I feel like I learned so much
just by watching David.
>> HASKINS: Oh, I'll bet.
>> BALDWIN: Because he was a
master at telling you where to
look, too.
And so that's why it's so fun to
have Victor and Bernadette come
in and to have them and Charlie
and Molly, too, and to have
them as a part of that.
And you see the craft of it.
You see Jerry's craft, and you
see the craft of
Thornton Wilder, and that hat
shop scene is...awesome.
>> FELDMAN: What's the big
difference?
What would you say is the
fundamental difference between
the performances so far?
>> HASKINS: Of Bette and
Bernadette, and leave out the
word "fabulous" or anything
like that.
What's the difference?
>> Feldman: I know it's only
been a week.
>> CREEL: I do have to say, we
were spoiled rotten with
Donna Murphy of understanding
what it was to shift gears
between two brilliant
performances.
So, we were ready to accept
because of Donna's amazing
contribution to the show.
So, I was ready for it.
And Bernadette --
Bernadette isn't doing --
She's just honest and pure.
>> BALDWIN: And full and giving
you every color you want, you
know.
It's all in there, and that's
what a role like Dolly Levi
allows you to do, right?
But she brings all of everything
you love about her to the
forefront.
>> HASKINS: Right, and we have
to tip our hats to Jerry Herman.
>> CREEL: Oh, my gosh.
>> BALDWIN: Absolutely.
And Michael Stewart.
>> HASKINS: And to you,
Charlie Stemp, for coming across
the ocean to grace us with your
first American performance in
"Hello, Dolly!"
Barnaby Tucker.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Kate Baldwin, and
welcome back to "Theater Talk."
>> BALDWIN: Thank you.
>> HASKINS: Thank you,
Gavin Creel.
You, welcome back to
"Theater Talk."
We had you in "Hair" so long
ago.
And congratulations on your Tony
nomination, and congratulations
on your Tony Award for
"Hello, Dolly!"
>> CREEL: Thank you.
>> HASKINS: Bravo to you all.
What a pleasure.
Now get to your rehearsal.
I don't want Jerry Zaks mad at
me.
>> CREEL: Thank you.
>> HASKINS: Thank you,
Adam Feldman.
You were divine.
>> FELDMAN: Pleasure to be here.
[ "Hello, Dolly!" plays ]
♪♪
♪♪
>> HASKINS: I'm back here with
Jesse Green, co-chief drama
critic of The New York Times to
discuss what's coming
off-Broadway in the
winter/spring 2018 season, and
we are back with
Patrick Pacheco, NY1,
L.A. Times, and that great
book, "100 Years of
The American Theatre Wing,"
Michael Musto of NewNowNext.com,
Elisabeth Vincentelli of
The New Yorker,
The New York Times, and
"Three on the Aisle,"
Adam Feldman of
Time Out New York and the
president of the New York
Drama Critics' Circle, and
Jesse Green again, co-chief
drama critic of
The New York Times.
What's coming to off-Broadway
that we're excited about?
>> GREEN: Well, we were talking
in the last show about --
I think you, Elisabeth, talked
about, "Wouldn't it be great if
Denzel Washington, instead of
coming back in another classic
on Broadway, came back in some
brand-new show by one of these
young writers."
>> VINCENTELLI: Or not so young,
but alive.
[ Laughter ]
>> GREEN: So, where that really
is more likely to happen, albeit
without Denzel Washington, is
off-Broadway, and there's a lot
of great stuff happening this
season.
>> HASKINS: So, Patrick, you
want to talk about "Hangmen,"
which is written by someone who
may very well win the Oscar this
year.
>> PACHECO: Again, another
Oscar.
That's Martin McDonagh, of
course, and it's his new play
that's coming from
Great Britain, from London.
And it is about what it says.
It's "Hangmen".
This is when they did hang
people in the U.K. until about
1963.
I think it's set in the early
'60s when Harold Wilson, the
prime minister, banned hanging
and capital punishment.
And this is kind of a typical
melodramatic, violent, crazy
drama that got very good reviews
and very funny, of course
because it's black comedy --
Martin McDonagh's speciality,
which we saw in his film
"Three Billboards Outside of
Ebbing, Missouri."
>> GREEN: And it's playing at
the Atlantic Theater even as we
speak, probably, and with rumors
of a Broadway transfer.
>> PACHECO: Totally sold out,
almost, the minute it was
announced.
But it's hot, and really looking
forward to this one.
>> GREEN: Why don't we just sort
of go around and begin by
asking...
>> HASKINS: Yeah, give a pick.
>> GREEN: ...something that each
of you is particularly looking
forward to?
>> MUSTO: "Jerry Springer: The
Opera."
I saw, like, a presentation
years ago.
It was raunchy and funny and
also took some of the characters
seriously and had a couple of
great knockout songs, so I
actually liked it.
>> GREEN: I haven't seen it and
I'm terrifically eager to see
it.
It is, in fact, in the first
act, basically a replication of
a fantasy version of an episode
of "The Jerry Springer Show."
And then at the end of the first
act -- I won't give it away, but
in the second act, he's sort of
fighting with the Devil.
>> VINCENTELLI: Well, I was
actually also going to say
"Jerry Springer."
But I'll pick something else.
I'm really looking forward to a
show called
"Returning to Reims," which is
gonna be at St. Ann's Warehouse
in February, kind of a long run
for them, and it's directed by
Thomas Ostermeier, who did a
fantastic "Richard III" last
fall, and it stars Nina Hoss,
who's one of Germany's premier
actresses.
>> GREEN: And was just in...
>> VINCENTELLI: She was in
"Homeland."
She was playing the agent Astrid
on "Homeland."
And the play's a German
production, but they're doing it
in English.
It's a very interesting play,
and she brings a lot of her own
personal life in it.
She talks about her real father
in it, and the way they bring it
up is very clever and very well
done.
>> HASKINS: So she wrote it as
well as stars in?
>> VINCENTELLI: Well, it's based
on a memoir, on a French memoir
which has no part for a woman in
it.
>> HASKINS: Uh-huh.
>> VINCENTELLI: And she wanted
to do it, so they came up with
this very interesting concept to
give her a part in the show.
It's very -- It's actually -- It
doesn't feel forced at all.
It's very well done.
And then it kind of goes away a
little bit from the book in the
second half of the show.
It's just a really -- I saw a
video of the Manchester -- It
premiered in Manchester, so
they're kind of bringing it
over.
I think it will really resonate
with people in the Trump era, I
would say, and a lot of the
themes also will be familiar to
people who have read
"Hillbilly Elegy."
So, if you know that book, it
really is going to -- It's
really about what happened to
families.
>> HASKINS: Yeah, how lousy
things are here now for people.
>> VINCENTELLI: So it's a very
thought-provoking show.
I'm looking forward to it.
>> GREEN: Adam.
>> FELDMAN: Well, in addition to
those already cited, I'm
excited -- Soho Rep, which was
kicked out of its headquarters
in Soho a couple years ago and
has been struggling to find a
new place, is actually moving
back into that same complex, and
the first play that they're
doing there is something called
"Is God Is."
And it's described as an
Afro-Punk Western, and I'm very
curious as to what that can
mean, and the play won --
You know, when
Philip Seymour Hoffman died,
they established a very
lucrative playwriting prize in
his name.
And this is the one that won
that -- This is the playwright
who won that prize in 2016, the
second time that it was given.
The first time was "The Wolves."
And so that seems like a pretty
good record so far.
And I'm very curious about how
this play is gonna come about.
Also, a play called
"The Amateurs," which is --
>> GREEN: Oh, that was mine!
No, go ahead.
>> FELDMAN: But it's
Jordan Harrison's new play, and
he wrote "Marjorie Prime," and
it has what looks to me like an
extremely promising cast, and
at least, at the beginning, it
seems to be about a troupe of
actors in the 14th century
struggling to deal with the
realities of the Black Plague,
although I think it goes in
other directions from there.
>> GREEN: That's at the
Vineyard.
How about you, Sue?
>> HASKINS: I am looking
forward to "Our Lady of 121st
Street" by Stephen Adly Guirgis
at the Signature Theatre.
It's his season, but this is
going to be directed by
Phylicia Rashad, and, to me, the
combination of
Stephen Adly Guirgis and
Phylicia Rashad, I cannot even
comprehend it.
And so I'm dying to see it.
She is a very elegant, austere
presence to me, and he is the
most down-to-earth person in the
world.
>> GREEN: So it's a stylistic
contrast.
>> HASKINS: It's a stylistic
combination, which is going to
be fascinating.
>> VINCENTELLI: Didn't she
replace --
>> GREEN: Yes. Yes.
>> VINCENTELLI: Wasn't there,
like, a kind of last minute...
>> GREEN: Yes, and I don't
remember who or why.
Let's make something up, shall
we?
>> FELDMAN: She replaced
Bernadette Peters.
[ Laughter ]
She did "Into the Woods".
Bernadette is in
"Hello, Dolly!", and she was
unavailable for the direction.
>> HASKINS: One of the great
actress-theater people of our
era.
>> GREEN: And I'm interested in
all these shows that we've
mentioned, but I want to point
out there's a nice combination
of two plays, one called "KINGS"
and one called "queens."
"KINGS" is at the
Public Theater.
It's a new play by
Sarah Burgess, who wrote
"Dry Powder" a couple years
ago, Tommy Kail directed, and
was, I think, her first play and
was quite a good first play and
I'm really eager to see this
second one.
>> HASKINS: And he's directing
this one, too.
>> GREEN: Exactly.
>> VINCENTELLI: This one also
has a promising cast.
>> GREEN: But -- And, as all
plays do, has a promising cast,
and then "queens", which I'm
terrifically excited about at
Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3
space at the Claire Tow, is a
play by Martina -- Is it Maiok?
Do we know how to say her last
name?
>> FELDMAN: I think it's
"Mai-oak."
>> GREEN: Martina Maiok, who
wrote last season's play
"Cost of Living", which we were
talking about earlier, which was
a terrific play about two people
with disabilities and two people
who care for them.
Oh, it went in very unexpected
directions with that story and
previously had a great play
called "Ironbound", and this
one -- I've now forgotten even
what the plot description was.
Sometimes off-Broadway, all you
need is the name of the
playwright and sometimes the
name of the theater.
>> PACHECO: Or the actors.
Like "Relevance" with
Jayne Houdyshell and
Pascale Armand.
>> HASKINS: Ahh.
>> GREEN: And do we know what --
We know a little bit about --
>> PACHECO: It's a generational
conflict.
You can fill in --
>> Green: She's a great lady.
She's a great writer or
something.
>> VINCENTELLI: I think she's
kind of an older, established
feminist.
>> GREEN: That's it.
>> VINCENTELLI: And then we
have, I'm gonna say in quotes, a
"social justice warrior."
>> GREEN: Right.
>> VINCENTELLI: Like younger
campus --
>> MUSTO: We're hearing about a
lot of original plays here,
which is not something we heard
last week when we talked about
Broadway.
>> HASKINS: Well, exactly.
>> GREEN: That's the point.
>> MUSTO: And some of these will
filter their way to Broadway,
I'm sure.
>> HASKINS: But every --
Broadway, for better or for
worse, virtually 100% known
entities in some way or the
other.
Whereas this, we're -- we're
curious.
>> VINCENTELLI: I mean, it's
gonna filter.
I believe that "Lobby Hero" and
"Pretty Woman" -- that is their
Broadway premiere.
>> GREEN: Yes.
>> VINCENTELLI: So, you know,
it'll take maybe --
>> PACHECO: 30 years.
>> VINCENTELLI: Hopefully
won't take 20 years --
>> GREEN: Well, I think
"Hangmen" will be on Broadway
before the end of this year.
You know, we're going to be
seeing it off-Broadway.
>> FELDMAN: Sometimes it takes
years to get off-Bro--
"Jerry Springer", you know, has
taken, you know, all these years
to get -- for more than 10 years
to get off-Broadway.
>> HASKINS: Now, why was that?
Why was that?
>> FELDMAN: Uh, well, it played
in London, there was talk of a
transfer, and then the timing
was wrong.
>> VINCENTELLI: Well, I saw --
>> FELDMAN: They did a 2008
Carnegie Hall --
>> VINCENTELLI: I saw it at
Carnegie Hall with Harvey Keitel
who was terrible.
>> HASKINS: Well, be that as it
may, what was the problem with
bringing the show?
>> PACHECO: It was finances.
They lost their investor.
>> HASKINS: Now, someone said to
me that it was so very lewd that
maybe that was the problem.
>> GREEN: There was a scandal in
England brought on by the
conservative, religious folks,
you know, but --
>> FELDMAN: It -- It was sued
for blasphemy.
>> GREEN: So maybe that scared
off some people, I don't know.
>> VINCENTELLI: I mean, it --
it -- I seem to remember it
being so mild compared to the --
>> FELDMAN: It's not that mild.
I mean, it's -- I just listened
to it again 'cause we were
writing a piece about it, and
it's -- it's challenging.
You know, I can see why people
would take offense.
>> GREEN: But as much as --
Well, I don't want to cut off a
discussion of new plays
off-Broadway in case you have
another one that you --
>> PACHECO: No, it was just
"Relevance".
Anything that Jane Houdyshell is
in is good in my book.
>> GREEN: But there's also often
at BAM and at St. Ann's we're
seeing, you know, new
interpretations of things we may
already know, and there's a
couple of those I'm looking
forward to, also.
There's a Caryl Churchill play
called "Light Shining in
Buckinghamshire".
Oh, somebody say that English
town for me, please.
"Buckinghamshire"?
"Buckumsure"?
>> VINCENTELLI: "Buckumsure."
>> GREEN: "Buckumsure."
Uh, at New York Theatre
Workshop, which was done here
quite a number of years ago.
I did not see it.
I feel like I'm a
Caryl Churchill completist, so I
really want to catch it.
>> HASKINS: Even the one with
the hats?
>> GREEN: I-I will watch
anything.
>> FELDMAN: I love that one.
Far away, that's one of my
favorites of all time.
>> PACHECO: Yeah, I agree with
Adam.
>> GREEN: And there's a --
Anthony Sher is doing
"King Lear".
>> VINCENTELLI: Oh, my God.
Okay, really, are you excited
about that?
Because I saw that announcement,
and I was thinking, "Jesus,
why?"
>> GREEN: Well, I wish it
weren't "King Lear", but I'd
like to see Anthony Sher.
>> HASKINS: He's pretty good.
>> FELDMAN: "Lear's" a pretty
good play.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and
say...
>> GREEN: Well, would you go for
Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville
in "Long Day's Journey Into
Night" if I can't interest you
in -- Okay.
>> VINCENTELLI: No, no, yeah,
sure.
I mean, sure.
>> GREEN: Well, how about the
Go-Go's musical?
Can I interest you in that?
>> VINCENTELLI: Okay, now, now
we're talking.
>> HASKINS: And on that note --
On that note, I want to thank
you all again --
Patrick Pacheco, Michael Musto,
Elisabeth Vincentelli,
Adam Feldman, and my co-host,
Jesse Green, co-chief drama
critic, theater critic, all
theater critic of
The New York Times.
Thank you, everyone, and I look
forward to seeing you all again.
Four of you are my co-hosts now.
You'll be here.
We'll see you next week.
♪♪
Our thanks to the Friends of
"Theater Talk" for their
significant contribution to this
production.
"Theater Talk" is made possible
in part by...
♪♪
♪♪
>> ANNOUNCER: We welcome your
questions or comments
for "Theater Talk."
Thank you.
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