Thank you Glenn for your great reminisces of Moose Murders. I have forwarded
it to two of my closest friends, one of the co-writers of Dumb & Dumber, and
another an actor. I know they will appreciate your remembrance of Moose
greatly. We have talked about the show on several occasions.
BTW, I also found this rather amusing info on what critic Frank Rich's night
was like while seeing Moose Murders. Think you'll like it.
Frank Rich, then the theater critic for the New York Times remembers that he,
out of habit, had tried not to listen to the gossip in advance of seeing Moose
Murders. “The only thing I remember knowing about it — that you couldn’t avoid
— was it was supposed to be a comeback for Eve Arden, who was a beloved actress
of my youth,” Rich says. He, along with his friend the playwright Wendy
Wasserstein, attended a press performance prior to opening night. Unfortunately
for Moose Murders, Rich was seated near a man covered in his own vomit. “One
thing that I remember, besides the smell, was how empty the house was. Usually
with shows where even the management might know they’re doomed, they fill it
with supporters and they give out free tickets,” Rich says. “I didn’t know it
at the time, but they couldn’t even give tickets away by normal means. They
were giving them out to whoever — mental patients or homeless people. That’s
how desperate they were.” When the odor became too strong, Rich and Wasserstein
moved to the back of the theater. There were plenty of seats there.
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 12:13:04 PM PST, Glenn Taranto
<[email protected]> wrote:
Larry -
Yes, it's true. I saw the show twice. After seeing the show the first time with
Eve Arden in the lead I wanted to go back and see Holland Taylor, and of
course, to see if the show was as bad as it was the two weeks before. As I
recall when Arden left the show they took some time off to put Taylor in.
My memory may be a little fuzzy after all these years but I definitely remember
three things that happened.
One, Eve Arden had a little trouble with her lines.
Two, There was a point when she came out and tried to light a cigarette with a
lighter the audience already knew didn't work from the scene before. The
actress tried and tried to get it to work to no avail. Then moments later poor
Eve Arden comes out and picks up the lighter and the audience was way ahead of
her.
Third, The little girl, who was supposed to be an ersatz Shirley Temple, was a
very annoying character. She was being chased by the killer late in the show
and someone in the audience yelled out, "Get her! Kill her!" which brought more
laughter than any part of the show.
When I went to the opening, knowing it was going to close that night, I tore my
ticket and showed the stub to the ticket taker telling him I'd already been in.
I wanted to keep the whole ticket as a souvenir.
The first time I went I had Even Arden sign the playbill. On opening night I
waited by the stage door again and got the whole cast to sign another one. If I
ever put them on eBay the starting price is 5,000! LOL!
As to Frank Rich's review...
Many years later, on separate occasions, I ran into two of the actors, Jack
Dabdoub and, after a taping of Two and a Half Men, Holland Taylor. They both
said the same thing when I said I saw the show, only Holland Taylor's reaction
was a bit more, shall we say, "pointed".
"If everyone who ever told me they saw Moose Murders actually saw it it would
still be running!"
GT
On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 11:27 AM Larry Brooks
<[email protected]> wrote:
You saw Moose Murders? TWICE? OMG I soooooooo envy you. I have read about it
over the decades; this legendary play sounded like the most mindboggling show
ever to hit the Great White Way. When one comes across something like that,
which truly defied description, you know you're in the presence of some sort of
genius, however twisted it may be.
I remember coming across chief theater critic Frank Rich's review in the New
York Times, and Glenn - this applies directly to you:
FROM now on, there will always be two groups of theatergoers in this world:
those who have seen ''Moose Murders,'' and those who have not. Those of us who
have witnessed the play that opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theater last night
will undoubtedly hold periodic reunions, in the noble tradition of survivors of
the Titanic. Tears and booze will flow in equal measure, and there will be a
prize awarded to the bearer of the most outstanding antlers. As for those
theatergoers who miss ''Moose Murders'' - well, they just don't rate. A visit
to ''Moose Murders'' is what will separate the connoisseurs of Broadway
disaster from mere dilettantes for many moons to come.
Here is how he described the second half of Act I:
The wealthy Hedda Holloway, the lodge's new owner, arrives with her husband,
Sidney, a heavily bandaged quadriplegic who is confined to a wheelchair and who
is accurately described as ''that fetid roll of gauze.'' Sidney's attendant,
Nurse Dagmar, wears revealing black satin, barks in Nazi-ese and likes to leave
her patient out in the rain. The Holloway children include Stinky, a
drug-crazed hippie who wants to sleep with his mother, and Gay, a little girl
in a party dress. Told that her father will always be ''a vegetable,'' Gay
turns up her nose and replies, ''Like a lima bean? Gross me out!'' She then
breaks into a tap dance.
Glenn, you were a witness to history and I truly envy you.
Larry Brooks
P.S. You can read all of Mr Rich's crazed review at
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/23/theater/stage-moose-murders-a-brand-of-whodunit.html
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 11:03:46 AM PST, Glenn Taranto
<[email protected]> wrote:
Break a leg Doug!
I saw nearly 500 Broadway shows when I lived in New York. All the greats, near
greats and famous floperoos like Moose Murders! Twice! Once with Eve Arden and
opening/closing night with Holland Taylor.
There's nothing like that moment when the lights dim and the orchestra hits
that first note.
May Parade run longer than Phantom!
Glenn
On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 10:12 AM Douglas B Taylor <[email protected]>
wrote:
I'm very proud to say that my wife and I are investors bringing this important
show back to Broadway.
Tickets on sale today. Previews begin Feb 11, opening night March 16.
Catch early and often!
https://people.com/theater/ben-platt-return-to-broadway-in-parade-watch-exclusive-first-look-micaela-diamond/
Regards
Doug
sent via mobile device
From: MoPo List <[email protected]> on behalf of Douglas B Taylor
<[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 1:11:52 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [MOPO] Broadway - not movies, but... I'm very proud to say that my
wage and I are investors bringing this important show back to Broadway.
Tickets on sale today. Previews begin Feb 11, opening night March 16.
Catch early and often!
https://people.com/theater/ben-platt-return-to-broadway-in-parade-watch-exclusive-first-look-micaela-diamond/
Regards
Doug
sent via mobile device
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