The casts of THE LION KING, BRING IT ON, and NEWSIES absolutely brought the house down, especially THE LION KING.
The tribute to Fred Ebb was fantastic. The alumni of CURTAINS teared up performing as a company again. It was very touching.
The cast of REBECCA THE MUSICAL also performed, poking fun at their producer then singing a number from the show. So sad that some of those performers are still looking for work.
Seth Rudetsky is such a great personality. He had the entire house cracking up several times. Brava!
The most touching moment of the entire afternoon, however, goes to Judith Light for reading two paragraphs of text. Judith Light was there merely to initiate a moment of silence for those we lost to AIDS, however what the audience received instead was an acting class on how to perform a monologue. What is normally spoken as "reading from a card" was instead a heartfelt persuasion of emotion.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
My favorite segment was the "Misfits" bit by the MARY POPPINS cast, absolutely hilarious. Amazing dance moves by THE LION KING cast and the National Touring Company dancers. My only demur: the program listed the very talented Christine Pedi and the NEWSICAL folk, but they didn't appear. Maybe at tomorrow's show?
Judith IS Light! The sweet Jill Paice wept through the CURTAINS/Ebb piece.
It MOST be noted that Fred Ebb left residuals from his shows to BCEFA and they have amounted to over 6 Million since his parting, I worship his contribution, and he tells a great dirty joke, thanks to Deb Monk.
CHICAGO's tribute to Fosse was exciting also. And Seth rocked! Billy Maagnusson!
Jill Paice was a part of the Curtains reunion? I was really hoping for that! So excited to see what they do, I really loved that show! Can't wait to go to this tomorrow! It's gonna be my first Gypsy of the Year!
Shows I've seen last semester: Baby It's You [9/2], Anything Goes [9/2], Anything Goes [9/3], Death Takes A Holiday [9/3],
Anything Goes [9/11 - Laura Osnes last show], Anything Goes [9/17 - twice], Anything Goes [9/18], Phantom of the Opera [9/30], Anything Goes [10/1], Anything Goes [10/8], Kiki Baby [10/8], Anything Goes [10/9], Mary Poppins [10/9 -Laura Michelle Kelly's last show], The Addams Family [11/22], Godspell [11/23], Bonnie & Clyde [11/23], Radio City Rockettes [11/24], Bonnie & Clyde [11/25], Bonnie & Clyde [12/3], White Christmas [12/3 - at Papermill Playhouse], Anything Goes [12/7], Bonnie & Clyde [12/ 10], Anything Goes [12/10], Memphis [12/17], Bonnie & Clyde [12/17], Bonnie & Clyde [12/21 - twice] SHOWS I'VE SEEN IN 2012: Relatively Speaking [1/21], Follies [1/21], On A Clear Day You Can See Forever [1/22], Anything Goes [1/27], Tokio Confidential [2/10], Tokio Confidential [2/11], How I Learned to Drive [2/11], Carrie [2/12], Merrily We Roll Along [2/12], Tokio Confidential [2/17], Carrie [2/18], Other Desert Cities [2/18], Tokio Confidential [2/19 last show]
I LOVE living close to the city! :D
~*~Darci Caitlin Faye~*~
OUTSTANDING! This was my first Gypsy of the Year and I wasn't sure what to expect. I thoroughly enjoyed the show - my favorites were the Newsies skit (I want to adopt those mini Newsies!), Misfits and the song by the Once PAs. I was not a huge Seth Rudetsky fan going in but found him very funny and engaging. I wish I could have gone again today.
I'm so glad I ended up going. I about threw myself off the balcony with excitement during SIng Sing Sing. The Lion King company was beautiful. BTW, I've been joking about War Whores since the show opened. Too funny.
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
I love Gypsy of the Year so much! Such a great chance to see so many talented dancers shine. The opening number particularly evoked that for me. Such a feeling of both history and joy. Gypsy always makes me both laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. This year, as always, Judith Light had me in tears from the moment she started. I admired the Lion King number, but I loved Bring It On and the Mary Poppins misfit shows. And I really felt for the Rebecca cast. Seth Rudetsky is a great host.
There aren't enough kudos in the world for what Fred Ebb has done and what he's enabled BC/EFA to do.
Sorry that I don't echo the sentiments of previous posts here. I found this yrs event a mess!
Clearly Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids & The Actors Fund is continuing to raise the money with their causes - but the heart & soul & directorial eloquence was seriously lacking this yr. Shows are hardly producing the presentations that "Wow" us or cleverly making us laugh our butts off - so they are giving more stage time to Seth who is boring us with his childhood & so out of new material that he is now playing us bad cassette tapes & trying to replace commitment with speed of talk so that you can't understand a quarter of what he says. Seriously, why did Chaplin, Roundabout shows, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grace, Jersey Boys, Nice Work, Phantom, Spider Man, War Horse, or Who's Afraid...not raise well enough to be mentioned AND not present anything?
Great that BC/EFA & Actors Fund is sharing some of its capital with SANDY victims - but it does water down their cause somewhat? Better yet they refocus on AIDS education what with the high rates of infection among barebacking young men?
They attempted to honor Fred Ebb whose legacy provided over a million this season/yr - but even with Chita & John Kander in attendance, all they could muster up in terms of TRIBUTE was a # from CURTAINS with adding some CHICAGO members - prefaced with David Hyde Pierce mumbling something about not wanting to remember the show. Geez!
The only presenters that seemed to have any presence was Judith Light (whose moment of silence was marred on Tues. by someones cell in the orch.)& Chita. The younger ones just try to replace serious lack with attempts at humor that fall flat. What DID work were the ANNIES, the NEWSIES #, the BRING IT ON #, the MAMA MIA # & Christine Pedi's impersonations of the vets that should actually BE in the show. MARY POPPINS # got about half way there & LION KING won the presentation portion of the contest by doing their high energy Alvin Ailey wannabe number that I wouldn't say was custom designed for this show but something that they will use elsewhere. CHICAGO's presentation just seemed a bad choice of material when something Fred Ebb would have been the way to go.
I was clearly disappointed because I once considered this show one of the best things in town & now I see that there is no guarantee there because it is all reliant on the communities investment of heart, humor & cause - & I think these orgs, this annual fund drive, & this annual show needs serious refluffing.
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joined:5/12/03
Posted: 12/3/12 at 08:59pm
--Aristotle