Revival on Broadway needed.
This is such a great movie and a great musical theater piece. And Hugh Jackman should play Harold Hill. I would mortgage my house to see that.
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Please, you should be aware that this piece has been revived on B'way several times over the years and once (DISASTROUSLY) on TV. The only revival that has actually "worked" to any degree of success was in 2000 or 2001 (not sure of the exact dates) with Craig Bierko in the male lead & Luker as the female lead. Bierko's performance basically 'channeled' Preston's performance. The difficulty has ALWAYS been finding the actor to play the male lead. Broderick's performance in the TV version is almost 'cringe-worthy' but there were lots of other things wrong with that revival. As one person said, speaking of the lead male role, how can you cast a revival of perfection (referring to Preston's performance).
A revival with Dick VanDyke around about the 80's sometime was another failure.
Yes, the TV version was awful. I was not aware of the Broadway revivals. Yes, Preston was perfect. But, I do believe that they need to bring these wonderful shows back to B'Way every so often (with bankable stars) so that other generations can enjoy them. they are a national treasure.
I went to see "How to Succeed in Business..." (with my girls, age 20 and 23) and had a terrific time. Because of Nick Jonas, a lot of young girls were in the audience, being exposed to American Musical Theater.
Some would say that Morse's portrayal was perfection and why bother doing it again?
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That's the point- they've tried revivals of this piece several times and (this is the most important thing) haven't made a profit, they usually didn't even pay off the backers. So unless a non-profit like Roundabout want's to try to fund a couple of EXTREMELY bankable stars (like Foster & Grey in "Anything Goes" a couple of years ago) & they find a piece where the rights aren't exorbitant, it doesn't get done. The costs on Brd'way these days are so huge, that only large corporate backing gets things done. A production must have TALENTED, charismatic leads with NAMES to draw people in and get large backing in the first place. Big, talented stars don't like to commit to long runs- they're very hard to do successfully. The Golden Age is long gone. That's just a fact of life .
shareI saw the revival which ran for close to 2 years. Lost a ton of business after 9/11 and closed with about another dozen shows. I truly enjoyed it but I agree that nobody played Hill like Preston. Rebecca Luker was perfect though. Ruth Williamson as the mayor's wife a hoot.
"Great theater makes you smile. Outstanding theater may make you weep."