#bandstand tour cast

[notafraidofstopping876]

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A post shared by Chaz Wolcott (@dancinchaz)

I AM SCREAMING

Long story short this is the story of Chaz Wolcott auditioning for Bandstand on Broadway and breaking a mirror

[the-river-rix]

💢 bandstand >:)

Oooo okay! I absolutely adore Bandstand but I have a few minor gripes

This only really applies to the papermill/Broadway productions (rip tour you could’ve gone far) but it’s always felt extremely strange to me that the entire cast is white (or at least looks white) except for one person like idk theater is such a diverse industry and black people both created swing and played a crucial role in WWII and like the voices of POC are especially important in the examination of the mistreatment of veterans especially after WWII (thinking about how commonly veterans of color were denied benefits or dishonorably discharged)

They had absolutely no reason to cut Jimmy’s coming out scene it’s not for time the scenes like a minute long and it adds so much meaning and nuance both to Jimmy’s character and his relationship with Donny/the rest of the band

This is very much personal to me and very biased but Nick and Wayne should’ve actually been gay it’d be easy you’d barely have to change anything like give me a quick kiss or an extra short scene outside their hotel room or something like that pleaseee

Also I understand why and it makes sense and like time restraints but I wish the show spent more time with all of the members of the Donny Nova Band not just Julia and Donny because they are such great characters with such unique experiences and perspectives like I’d happily sit down to a 3 hour show for it

I wish we got to see more of give me a solo from Jimmy about seeing the injustices of the world and fearing for his future as a queer man give me a duet between Nick and Wayne about struggling to consolidate their neuroticisms and traumas in order to live together give me a solo/sequence about Johnny grappling with his chronic pain and cognitive issues give me a solo from Davy about trying to forget the things he’s seen and steadily drinking more and more

Ty very much! I love yapping about them.

[jazzreloaded]

Play On! By Talawa Theatre @Belgrade Theatre 26 / 09/ 24

Review by Vidal Montgomery

The press night performance of Play On! - A Broadway Blues with a twist on "Twelfth Night" - was not undersold in terms of bums on seats ( because it was a full house, and based on this showing it deserves a full house everywhere it goes!), but in terms of spectacle; because for the near-three hours running time, it was thoroughly engaging, spectacularly entertaining and, despite dealing with some serious subject matters ( such as how a misogynistic Harlem resists change, made all the more relevant with the recent revelations around Music Moghul Sean Comb's recent indictment), it was joyful for the audience from start to end, evidenced by the raucous laughter, gasps and applause throughout.

The title "Play On!" may also refer to the four year development process to get a work of this magnitude and depth and craft and intimacy and nuance in front of a live audience; it is no mean feat that this splendid work of Ellingtonian excellence by Liam Godwin and Benjamin Burell is finally in front of an audience, and with a truly magnificent cast from top to bottom:

Although the dramaturgy obviously has its focal characters, the dancers / understudies / supporting cast acquit themselves equally well, and the audience is gifted with over a dozen amazing voices ( of which Lifford Shillingford was my personal favourite ), who perform comparably, shouldering the responsibility of energetic dance, tense drama and soulful song, and carrying the narrative along. This for me is the most captivating thing about this show. Tanya Edwards as Miss Mary and Llewellyn Jamal as Jester deliver stylish and soulful performances late on into the second act just I thought the show had probably reached its peak - boy was I wrong!

The core story of Play On! revolves around the day Duke Ellington loses his muse, and the lengths- and distance! - one lucky lady will go to to help him get it back; Earl Gregory, Koko Alexandra, Tsemaye Bob Egbe, and Cameron Bernard Jones play the four pillars of the love quadrangle that is "The Duke", his old flame ( lady Liv ) , his new muse ( Viola "Vyman" ) and Rev, the manager of the Cotton Club clutching at straws and clasping his hands in his hopes of keeping the four together as exemplars of Ellingtonian Excellence - and also keeping the show on the road...

Sadly the live band - directed by the unassuming Ashton Moore and delightfully driven by the delicate drumming of Empirical's own Shane Forbes - are not featured as characters in their own right - I am sure that later productions in the three month run will attend to this oversight.

Despite this, the mix of moods and blues and beats and grooves from the bandstand become the main character, and for me ( as a musician! ) this is the star of the show: Ellingtonian Classics like Mood Indigo, I got it Bad, It Don't mean a thing, Black Butterfly Rocks In My Bed and In a Mellow Tone are turned inside out and taken back from the trash heap of Abersold Appropriation,and are played in a way that suits the strengths of individual artists, and balances temperaments of their characters as a whole as they play moves towards reaches its climactic reveal; at this moment the only other disappointment was that the band was not as big as, say, the English Touring Opera's for the recent run of "The Rakes Progress" : With this amount of dramatic tension in the stage, and with the audience in the palm of the band's hands the Ellington Big band, really needs to be a BIG band.

As it was, on the night Kaz Hamilton and Alexander Polack acquited themselves very well, making a myriad of moods that were both historically authentic and stylistically de jour. And the commitment to shared seat of Chris Hyde / Josh Vadivello on Double bass ( NO electric big band era please! ) brings gravitas authenticity and sensuality to the greatest american songbook in a way that only a Double Bass can. This show is all about that bass!

Having recently sat through the often turgid and salacious KAOS, a reworking of the mythology of Orpheus and Euridice, ( which was not a patch on Marcel Camus Seminal 1950's classic ) and also attended the afforementioned reworking of Igor Stravinsky's "Rake's Progress" ( often not my sense of humour, albeit markedly less turgid and salacious than Charlie Covell's Netflix Production ) I was far from convinced that , per se, " A reworking of Twelfth Night " was going to as vivacious, contemporary , and nourishing to the soul as it turned out to be. But on this occasion I was rewarded for my bravery ( And by "bravery" I mean only braving the inclement British weather ) , and I will forever regard Play On! as somewhat of a late birthday present - ( or maybe early Christmas gift? )

Ironically, whilst sipping free Prosecco and listening to a(nother) jazz function band in the reception area after the show , I had the good fortune to speak with one the trustees of the Talawa Theatre and we discussed how important it may be to not label Play On! as ( simply ) a "jazz show", because of how many people may miss out on an amazing contemporary socially and culturally relevant human experience, simply because they do not know or have not yet been sold the depth and breadth of the jazz canon.

But Play On! is "Jazz Hands" in safe hands. And I can say with confidence that Talawa Theatre have a winner on their hands; it is Black Joy. And "Black Joy" may turn out to be a better euphemism for the vibrancy we expect "Jazz" to bring to us. Congratulations on the fully immersive experience that Director Michael Buffong brought to the Belgrade Theatre tonight.

PS: As with many theatre shows, the stupidly difficult train schedule doesn't really support the 2+ hour format, but I can only say that on this occasion it was worth missing our last train to catch the "A Train" one more time...

Talawa’s Black Joy season presents:

Play On!

A new Jazz musical

Based on Shakespeare’s

“Twelfth Night”

Conceived by Sheldon Epps

Book by Cheryl L.West

Music by Duke Ellington

Produced by Talawa Theatre Company and The Belgrade Theatre

Co-produced with Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Old Vic, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Wiltshire Creative

Artwork by Feast Creative

For the full programme, click or scan the image below:

[joyfulsoda]

The Donny Nova Band, featuring Julia Trojan!

Also featuring my headcanon designs for them. I feel weird drawing theater fan art most of the time (especially true with Bandstand) because to me, the characters just feel like... I dunno. Like, I look at them, and my brain goes "That's Just a Person". I single Bandstand out specifically because the acting is so damn natural in the show that it's REALLY difficult for me to look at the cast as characters.

So I've remedied the situation. By taking traits from both the Bway and National Tour versions of each of the characters, I was able to make versions of the characters that I feel comfortable doodling and thinking about. Rotating in my head. You know, the works. Anyways, enjoy the blorbos, and also have this background/foreground-less version for more accurate skintones/colors.

[kholran]

Thanks for tagging me @awaldosiaday

Put my favorite playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs.

1. No One Mourns the Wicked - Wicked OBC recording

2. Damn It, Janet - The Rocky Horror Show New Broadway Cast recording

3. Todokanai Ai to Shitteita no ni Osaekirezu ni Aishitsuzuketa... - Gackt

4. Her G*psy Heart - Linda Eder

5. Welcome Home - Bandstand OBC recording

6. Beggars At the Feast - Les Miserables 2013 Toronto Cast

7. Manhattan - Anthony Warlow

8. Yesterday - Leona Lewis

9. Who Am I - Les Miserables 2012 US Tour Cast

10. Tale As Old As Time - Beauty and the Beast original movie

Genre playlist? Never heard of it.

I tag: @amidalogicdive @hils79 @eirenical @elvencantation @talays-portkey(only if you want to of course!)

[toiletpotato]

Here are some that I know of, I have sorted them into available legally and available illegally.

Available legally:

Kinky Boots (West End cast)

Allegiance (with Lea Salonga, Telly Leung, George Takei, and Katie Rose Clarke!)

Miss Saigon (with Eva Noblezada)

Funny Girl (West End cast)

Into the Woods (West End cast)

42nd Street (West End cast)

The Wind in the Willows (West End cast)

Diana the Musical (on Netflix)

Cats

Billy Elliot

Fame

Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour (with Tim Minchin, not John Legend)

Godspell in Concert

Holiday Inn

Hetty Feather

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (with Audra McDonald)

Mr Saturday Night (with Billy Crystal and Shoshana Bean)

She Loves Me (with Jane Krakowski and Laura Benanti)

21 Chump Street (on YouTube, uploaded by the company that made it, with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lindsay Mendez, and Anthony Ramos)

Aladdin, a Musical Spectacular (NOT the Broadway show, a stage adaptation of the movie made for Disney Parks, on YouTube)

Tangled the Musical (made for Disney Cruise Line, available on the Disney Parks YouTube channel)

Oklahoma! (with Hugh Jackman, coming to cinemas sometime soon)

... and more!

A lot of these are available on Digital Theatre+ or BroadwayHD. Digital Theatre+ can be accessed through an educational institution's library or account, they have a lot of (but less) the musicals that are also available on BroadwayHD, so if you cannot afford another streaming service, they're a good option provided you are actively a student. BroadwayHD is like any other streaming service, but for theatre, I think it is on the cheaper end and they do a week-long free trial.

Available illegally:

Miss Saigon (the same one mentioned above)

Shrek the Musical (used to be available on Netflix but they took it off ☹️)

Everybody's Talking About Jamie (was released legally in the UK, but not in the US)

Waitress (non-union tour cast)

Rent (with Renee Elise Goldsberry)

Miss Saigon (with Lea Salonga)

Cabaret (with Alan Cumming as the Emcee)

Sunday in the Park with George (with Bernadette Peters)

Oklahoma! (BBC Proms concert version)

Rocky Horror Show

Bandstand

Kinky Boots (same production as is available legally)

... and more!

----

There are also a lot of Made for TV versions of musicals that do lean more into feeling like a movie, such as Bye Bye Birdie with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams (currently on BroadwayHD, YouTube, Freevee, Pluto, Tubi- legally!! The latter four are free), Once Upon a Mattress with Carol Burnett as the Queen (used to be on Disney+- now it isn't, but you can rent it from Redbox!). I would be remiss to not mention the "Live!" musicals that many TV channels used to do regularly a few years ago, they're more pro shot than movie musical, but not a pro shot in the most classical sense. They feel less like a movie than the Made for TV movies. Some would include The Wiz Live, Hairspray Live, Peter Pan Live, The Sound of Music Live, Rent Live, Grease Live, Jesus Christ Superstar Live, and A Christmas Story Live. They used to be available on the respective channels' streaming service (ex. all the NBC ones used to be on Peacock) but at least for NBC, there is no legal way to watch them now unless you already bought the DVD. Grease Live is on Paramount+, so at least one is available legally.

---

Eek, sorry for going on a bit of a ramble- I'm very passionate about theatre being accessible to folks and I tried to only provide detail about exactly where to find these if said location was legal, I hope that's okay!

After all the talk of slime tutorials on here, I have been reminded of the general consensus that there should be more professional recordings of shows. So I would like to ask what shows actually do have proshots?

As for proshots that come to my mind now, I know Hamilton and Legally Blonde have somewhat well known proshots, Heathers got one not too long ago, and quite a few classics have recordings that were aired on PBS way back when (PBS ought to do that more often these days). I also think Cats has one and Les Mis and Phantom have those staged concerts that kind of fit the bill.

Hmm, good question! First, what counts as a proshot? 🤔 Are we only talking films of staged shows, and not movies/adaptations? So, for example, the Producers movie wouldn't be considered a proshot even though it's got the two Broadway stars and was overall quite faithful to the show? And are we not talking something like Encanto Live?

The ones I can think of offhand not on your list are Spongebob Squarepants, Newsies, By Jeeves, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat, whatever else ALW released during the pandemic to watch that I don't recall, and Into the Woods. If we're talking concerts, there's Sweeney Todd and Chess.

After that, I'd have to start cheating by looking up PBS's Great Performances episode list or things like Live from Lincoln Center.

Anyone got any other recs?

Note: As a personal ask, as y'all answer this please don't get too in depth on where you might find these to watch these days. This blog is meant to be about musical recommendations, not piracy recs. And it's nice to support theater with actual money when you can.

[lostinsprace]

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[seeinganewlight]

bandstandbway The band's all here! | #BandstandTour rehearsal shots: @jeremydanielphoto

[onion-abandoned]

davy!!!!! my man!!!!!

[jenesequoia]

T H E  W H O M S T TH E WH AT AAAAA AAHHHHHHHHHH

so are we just not talking abt the bandstand tour cast

[kickuptheband]

Bandstand’s 1NT cast social media

Zack Zaromatidis (Donny) --- instagram Jennifer Elizabeth Smith (Julia) --- instagram Roxy York (Mrs Adams) --- instagram Rob Clove (Jimmy) --- instagram Benjamin Powell (Davy) --- instagram Scott Bell (Nick) --- instagram Louis Jannuzzi III (Wayne)  --- instagram Jonmichael Tarleton (Johnny)  --- instagram

Shaunice Alexander --- instagram Beth Anderson  --- instagram Milena J. Comeau  --- instagram Ryan P.Cyr  --- instagram Michael Hardenberg  --- instagram Andre Malcolm  --- instagram Kaitlyn Mayse  --- instagram, twitter Matthew Mucha  --- instagram Mallory Nolting  --- instagram Taylor Okey  --- instagram  Cameron Turner  --- instagram

Michael Bingham (swing)  --- instagram Sarah Dearstyne (swing)  --- instagram, twitter Katie Pohlman (swing)  --- instagram Oz Shoshan (swing)  --- instagram

[wtfrace]

hey people who haven’t seen a single broadway or even west end show due to either location or money— you’re valid!! you’re still just as much of a broadway fan. having seen shows live & stage-doored and etc is NOT a requirement to love a musical. and anyone who tells you otherwise takes their ability to see them for granted.

[seajacksons]

i cant believe im seeing bandstand, a musical based with ww2 veterans, on the 78th anniversary of pearl harbor

[emrysmerlyn]

Sometimes I just think about Andrew Rannels performance in Falsettos and how desperately good it was.

[imintoomanyfandomss]

List of bootlegs i have i’m willing to trade:

Six:

- Hampton court audio:

Aragon: Jaye’j, Boleyn: Millie O’Connell, Seymour: Natalie May Paris, Cleves: Lexi Mcintosh, Howard: Aimie Atkinson, Parr: Maiya

- West End Bootleg

Aragon: Jaye’j, Boleyn: Courtney Bowman, Seymour: Natalie May Paris, Cleves: Lexi, Howard: Sophie Isaacs, Parr: Danielle Steers

- Australian cast

Rent:

- Hope mill theatre

A new brain:

- 1998

Amelie:

- Broadway

Pippin:

-Pro shot

The Prom:

- Broadway

Grease:

- Us tour

Come From Away:

- Broadway

Dear Evan Hansen:

- OBC

- Jordan Fisher (Evan)

&Juliet

- Original west end cast

- Zara (juliet), tom (romeo), alex ( may)

Others i have but unknown cast:

- Angels in America

- A Bronx Tale

- A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder

- Aida

- Alice by Heart

- Alleigiance

- American Idiot

- Anastasia

- Annie

- Anything goes

- Bandstand

- Bare

- Beautiful

- Billy Elliot

- Be more chill

- Bonnie and Clyde

- Book of Mormon

- Cabaret

- Catch me if you can

- CATCF

- Cinderella

- Evita

- Falsettos

- Fiddler on the roof

- Frozen

- Fun Home

- Godspell

- Hadestown

- Hairspray

- Hamilton

- Heathers

- Hedwig

- Hello Dolly

- Hunchback

- If/Then

- In the heights

- Into the woods

- Jersey Boys

Let me know if you like to trade!! Interested in pretty woman, &juliet, grease (west end), frozen (west end) (aus), etaj (layton williams)!!

[liveandbreathemusicals]

As hard as it is sometimes to critique your favorite shows I feel like this needs to be talked about.

Anyone who’s taken two looks at my blog can probably tell that I love the musical Bandstand. It is my all time favorite show and means so much to me and I have so much love for it.

However I have grown more and more disappointed lately in the casting. This isn’t to say the cast isn’t incredible, but there are very few POC in the original Broadway cast, as well as the tour. And that’s a problem.

The main reason this is a bigger issue as opposed to other shows that have predominantly white casts is one specific detail of Bandstand. And that is it’s music.

Swing music originated in the Black community in the early 1920s. (And just like everything the black community has created) White people initially shunned it and deemed it “inappropriate” and “inferior”, until they decided they liked it and took all the credit. There are too many trends to name that have roots in the black community that have been erased and reclaimed by white people. So seeing a show like Bandstand that has such a heavy influence of swing music and dance, have an almost completely white cast is very disappointing.

Articles that explain more:

https://dance-america.com/swing-dance-history-83.html

https://www.pushblack.us/news/often-erased-black-roots-jazz-and-swing