Oh man, a David Merrick biopic would be AWESOME.

I would imagine that power exchange is involved for some—being made to spend time with a "disgusting" part of the body can be erotic for those who want to be dominated.

On the subject of roles in which we would like to see Benedict Cumberbatch some day—wouldn't he be a fantastic Henry Higgins in PYGMALION?

Can we have a moment of "Cleveland Heights is awesome and if only it were connected to a city where I could get a decent job I'd consider living there"?

Last I heard, he moved to (my home town!) of Cleveland Heights. Which is a wonderful place.

Regarding the 2005 revival—can we talk about how not at all right for the part and bored-sounding Patti LuPone is in it? Ugh.

Re: GYPSY—the part was written for Merman, and it's an astonishing performance. However, I slightly prefer Angela Lansbury's version from the early 1970's London production. It's terrifying. I'd recommend getting both, honestly.

Yeah, "Which is the best FOLLIES" is one of those Unanswerable Questions. My personal vote is the original for performances, the most recent revival for recording quality and sense of the play…but that's just today's answer.

I have been known to call "A Weekend In The Country" one of the great achievements of Western Civilization.

I don't know if I'd fight for it as "best" or "favorite", but God DAMN do I love "A Little Night Music".

I didn't realize anyone had given ANY consideration to "Starlight Express" in the past two decades.

I didn't get to see it on Broadway, but I saw the Chicago Shakespeare version that overlapped with it, and it was exceptional. I'm not sure what version of the book they used, but it was tremendous.

Bless you, Todd, both for a very sharp analysis of a great song and for putting a great song from a musical on the AV Club.

After having seen a full production of FOLLIES, I understand why people get obsessed. The book's weak, but it is overwhelming when done well. No recording really gets that across, though the recent revival gets closest.

Or Angela Lansbury.

Our girl is totally a goofball when she feels like it, but usually quite calm. She manages regal sometimes. One woman who worked at the vet yesterday said ours was the least shy and most outgoing greyhound she had ever met.

We have a retired racing greyhound, and she is quite outgoing and playful—she doesn't really have the Bowie/Swinton extraterrestrial reserve. But for some of that breed, those would be perfect names.

I'm very disappointed by this, because the backstage fights between LeBeouf and Baldwin would have been AMAZING. Unless they already happened. I look forward to finding out the full story behind the press release, though.

From what I understand, the Method, in the Strasberg sense, hasn't really been popular for a good 30 years. But it stuck as shorthand for "pretentious and insufferable actor", so people still use it. But I've never met an actor who unironically described him or herself as Method.

I don't know anyone who makes their living solely as a dramaturg. They either are teachers or are also Literary Managers (running a regional theatre's new play programs as a whole). I don't think that people who are full time turgs/script doctors exist. And if they do, someone get me that job, please.