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Wed 17 Sep, 2014 07:31 am
After the curtain came down on opening night, Ailes ran up to Cohen,
gushing about the performance.
“What do you think?”
“What do I think about what?”
“Do you think we got a hit? I think we got a hit.”
Cohen was incredulous. Based on disappointing advance ticket sales,
he had already announced to the cast that the show might close.
“Forget it, Roger. You’re opening with a closing notice up.”
The next morning, The New York Times delivered its verdict. John
Bennett Perry got a call from Ailes’s offi ce. “Don’t read the paper,” he was
told. In a savage review, Clive Barnes called the music “at its worst characterless,
and at its best— to use that chilling measure of air quality—
acceptable.”
The cast did not dispute Barnes’s assessment. “The second night of
the show, there were eight sailors and a doughnut,” Podell recalled.
In the last sentence of the passage, what does "eight sailors and a doughnut" mean? Is it an idiom or set phrase in English?
@JustinXujia,
I can't say I've ever heard it.
English/english spelling, though.
American/english would be donut.
@JustinXujia,
Not and idiom or a set phrase ... no. I'd venture to say that I've never heard it in my life. I think it's meant as a creative literary attempt at absurdist humor...indicating the stark emptiness of the theater indicated the show is a flop.
@Ragman,
Ragman wrote:
Not and idiom or a set phrase ... no. I'd venture to say that I've never heard it in my life. I think it's meant as a creative literary attempt at absurdist humor...indicating the stark emptiness of the theater indicated the show is a flop.
Seconding this on point sentiment. It's just a humorous metaphor created by the author.
I wonder though what kind of donut it was? Boston Creme? Chocolate glaze? French cruller?
I think "Eight Sailors and a Doughnut" is an indie rock band in Allston.
@JustinXujia,
Quote:In the last sentence of the passage, what does "eight sailors and a doughnut" mean? Is it an idiom or set phrase in English?
I think it's a metaphor used to describe what the cast of the show was like on the second night--like sailors on a sinking ship with a life preserver (which is sometimes referred to as a 'doughnut'). They knew the show was going under and would close, and, like sailors, they were prepared to abandon ship.
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