Author: Chris Van Patten

A Nine Year Old Could’ve Written It..

In today’s NY Post, one of the most random things I’ve ever read…

I WROTE THE BOOK OF LOVE
9-YEAR-OLD REVEALS DATING SECRETS
By Jennifer Fermino

He’s only 9, but this pint-sized pickup artist already knows plenty about pleasing the ladies.

So much, in fact, that Alec Greven’s dating primer, “How to Talk to Girls” – which began as a handwritten, $3 pamphlet sold at his school book fair – hit the shelves nationwide last week.

The fourth-grader from Castle Rock, Colo., advises Lothario wannabes to stop showing off, go easy on the compliments to avoid looking desperate – and be wary of “pretty girls.”

“It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewelry,” he writes in Chapter Three.

“Pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil.”

He advises, “The best choice for most boys is a regular girl. Remember, some pretty girls are coldhearted when it comes to boys. Don’t let them get to you.”

Over a few Shirley Temples yesterday at Langan’s on West 47 Street, Alec said that he culled his wisdom by peeking at his peers at play.

“I saw a lot of boys that had trouble talking to girls,” Alec said.

As for his how-to, he concedes, “I never expected people to buy it like a regular book in a bookstore.”

But with classic plain-spoken advice – like “comb your hair and don’t wear sweats” – it’s no surprise his 46-page book was a hit with boys and girls of all ages.

He believes the best way to approach a girl is to keep it to a simple “hi.”

“If I say hi and you say hi back, we’re probably off to a good start,” he said.

As for his own love life, he said he is not dating anyone at the moment. “I’m a little too young,” he confessed.

In his book, published by HarperCollins, he suggests holding off on falling in love until at least middle school.

Dating – which he defines as going out to dinner without your parents – is for “kind of old” people, who are 15 or 16.

Officials at the Soaring Hawk Elementary School said he wrote the book – which was the runaway bestseller at its book fair – for kids, but believe anyone can find inspiration in it.

Alec’s mother, Erin Greven, credits her son’s beyond-his-years insight to his avid reading.

“He reads nonstop. At dinner, I say, ‘Put your book down,’ ” she said.

Alec – who just finished a children’s book on the Watergate scandal – said he wants to be a full-time writer when he grows up, with a weekend job in archaeology or paleontology.

"Kim’s Charleston"

It seems that every production of Show Boat has featured a different number in the eleven o’clock spot. At that point of the production, the period is the 1920s and Magnolia has retired gracefully to allow her daughter Kim to become the next big musical comedy star. In the original Broadway production, Norma Terris played both Magnolia and Kim, in which she presented “Kim’s Imitations,” in which she did impressions of popular people of the era, which itself was replaced by a reprise of “Why Do I Love You?” shortly after opening. For the London production in 1928, Kim (Edith Day) sang “Dance Away the Night.” The 1946 revival featured what was to be Jerome Kern’s final song “Nobody Else But Me” written specifically for Jan Clayton.

In 1993, Harold Prince took on the musical, with considerable revision done to the troublesome second act, including a new showcase for Kim, called “Kim’s Charleston,” a 20s-flavored dance piece featuring a period variation on “Why Do I Love You?” and featuring the Tony-winning choreography of Susan Stroman. Here is the Tony performance of the latest in the long evolution of Show Boat with Tammy Amerson as Kim, Elaine Stritch as Parthy and John McMartin as Cap’n Andy. Enjoy.

Patti LuPone’s "Gypsy" to be filmed?

Those purchasing tickets for the final performances of Gypsy have been receiving the following notice as per an article on Playbill:

“IMPORTANT NOTICE: This performance of ‘Gypsy’ may be filmed for future purposes. Please be advised that stationary and moving cameras may be placed throughout the theatre as we attempt to capture this historic production on film.”

Hm….

Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Mitzi Gaynor

Most of us remember Mitzi Gaynor from the film adaptation of South Pacific. That landmark adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage launched Mitzi into an unusual stardom. She was a product of the studio system, often relegated to supporting roles in musical films. However, South Pacific was a bona fide blockbuster. You would have thought that the success of the film would have catapulted her to the top of the lists for starring roles in film and on Broadway. But for whatever reason, that was not to be the case. After South Pacific, only made three more films.

She was convinced to perform in Las Vegas, where she proved an overwhelming success. One thing led to another, and from her overwhelming success in Vegas she was asked to perform the Oscar-nominated song “Georgy Girl” at the Academy awards in 1967. Gaynor hadn’t seen the film Georgy Girl nor had she ever heard the song, but they staged it elaborately with spectacular choreography and costumes by Bob Mackie. The resulting performance brought about one of the longest standing ovations in Academy award history.

The buzz generated by this one-time performance was enough for television executives to give her a variety special of her own. Produced by her husband and manager, and as she will quickly attest, the real love of her life, Jack Bean, the shows aired once a year for ten years. Ms. Gaynor had Bob Mackie and his eye-poppings designs, as well as the frequent direction and choreography of Tony Charmoli (who choreographed Woman of the Year on Broadway), plus the help of noted choreographers Peter Gennaro, Bob Sidney and Danny Daniels. She was also able to get as many stars as there were in the heavens to make appearances, most notable in her one special Mitzi…and 100 Guys, which saw the likes of Bob Hope (performing a softshoe), Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Mike Connors, Jim Nabors, Andy Griffith Tom Bosley, Michael Landon (in a comic duet of “Delovely”) and a slew of others appear. When asked on WLIW about how she got all of them to appear, her simple answer was “We asked and they said yes!” Each year brought a different theme – and her one-hour specials turned out to be landslide winners in the ratings.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of South Pacific and the 40th anniversary of her first special, the simply titled Mitzi, a new DVD documentary has been released by City Lights Home Entertainment called Mitzi Gaynor: The Razzle-Dazzle Years, an introspective into the television specials with extensive footage of the shows as well as indepth memories from Ms. Gaynor herself, as well as Rex Reed, Kristin Chenoweth, Carl Reiner, Bob Mackie, Tony Charmoli and Kelli O’Hara. Ms. Gaynor herself is nothing short of gracious and humble, having a sense of humor about herself but also quick to give credit to everyone around her.

Looking at her perform throughout these specials, I can’t help but think of the variety of musical theatre roles she could have played in NY. From the lavishness of her specials, the first show that pops into my head is Mame. But I could also see her performing in Sweet Charity or Chicago as well. (Many of her costumes gave the censors agita, because they were rather coyly suggestive, especially during the ’70s, even though you really can’t see anything. After all, Mitzi is first and foremost a lady). Broadway’s loss was certainly television’s gain here.

Included on the DVD are several complete performances from her specials, including “Mitzi & Friends Salute Sondheim’s Company, with Jerry Orbach, Ted Knight, Suzanne Pleshette, Jane Withers and Cliff Norton performing “The Little Things You Do Together” set at a sophisticated dinner party in NY. Seeing the phenomenal Pleshette (yes she sings, in a baritone shades of Stritch and Bacall) here leads me to wonder if anyone ever thought of casting her as Joanne in Company. There are also some sketches, an outtake from the documentary about her appearance on the show the night the Beatles were on and a featurette with Mitzi and Bob Mackie discussing the costumes.

The performance footage seen on this documentary and in the bonus features has not been seen since the specials aired between 1968 and 1978. However, it would have been fun to see her showstopping performance at the Academy Awards on here, but I guess rights weren’t available.

Mitzi is anecdotal and warm, a complete delight to hear with many interesting stories about the people with whom she worked and an uncanny knack for impersonation. (And like I said, undeniably gracious and humble). It’s definitely worth taking a look as its probably in the listings for your local public broadcasting station (they are getting their pledge on!)

Hyacinth wants a part in "The Boy Friend"

One of Patricia Routledge’s most inspired moments as social climber Hyacinth Bucket on the Britcom Keeping Up Appearances. Emmet, the next door neighbor who she constantly “sings at,” is director of the local amateur opera company, who is putting on a production of The Boy Friend. Deliciously oblivious Hyacinth, who fancies herself a great musician and singer, drops some far-from-subtle hints that she wants a part. Hilarity ensues.

Quote of the Day: August in London

“Vulnerable, angry and thoroughly transfixing, [Amy] Morton has forged one of the great theatrical performances of the modern era. Like the rest of this remarkable show, it stares out from the stage with surety and terror.”

– Chris Jones, in his review of the London transfer of August: Osage County in the Chicago Tribune’s Theatre Loop

“You know you’re in for a lively evening when a play about a family reunion includes a fight director among the team. And how satisfying that he’s called Chuck, too.”

– Christopher Hart in the Sunday Times

“Maybe Letts invites comparisons, a tad too obviously, with other canonical greats: Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee. But what’s really joyous is his emergent Chekhovian talent for weaving a broad tapestry, depicting a whole extended household. He combines that with pin-sharp detailing which rings painfully true. Amy Morton’s Barbara is unforgettable, howling with grief, then distractedly brushing her hair.”

– Kate Bassett in the Independent

“Watching manipulative, mischievous Dunagan, or bruised, angry Morton or brassy Rondi Reed or any of Anna Shapiro’s terrific ensemble, you ruefully ask an obvious question. Could a British cast bring such commitment and conviction to this subversive take on Oklahoma!? Surely not.”

– Benedict Nightingale in the Times

A Helluva Town

Here’s the round-up on all my recent adventures into NY…

Dividing the Estate 11/20 – I love an opening night show. Who doesn’t? You are there for the official first performance. Regardless of whether or not the show is a success, you were there for the performance that will put it into the annals of Broadway history books. Electric, starry and a chance to really dress it up too. The play, by Horton Foote, offers fascinating characters and intriguing ideas, but the result is rather middling. It felt more to me like a revival of a pre-Miller work, with its rather archaic plot machinations and contrivances. That’s not to belittle the ideas behind the work: those complicated familial associations with property and money that cloud all else. Stellar cast. Elizabeth Ashley is a hoot as the aging matriarch, Penny Fuller is the epitome of honesty in her performance (and she looks two decades younger than she is) and Hallie Foote (the playwright’s daughter and definitive interpreter) all but walks away with her study of avarice and solipcism. (Did her vocal inflection remind anyone else of Kim Stanley’s voice over narration at the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird? Incidentally, Horton Foote won an Oscar for the screenplay). I don’t know if I’ve ever been so angry at a character, yet simultaneously in total admiration of the performance behind it. Not even the ladies who’ve played Violet Weston have had that effect. Gerald McRaney makes his Broadway debut as the ne’er-do-well brother (who drinks…) and Arthur French provides a memorable supporting turn as the ancient servant who refuses to retire. Comparisons to the titan August: Osage County are inevitable, but this is really as Noah put it, August lite. The opening crowd gave 92 year old Foote a standing ovation. Runs through January 4th at the Booth. Required viewing for the three leading ladies, but especially Ms. Foote.

On the Town 11/23 – The classic Broadway debut of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green hasn’t fared well with time. The film version eliminated almost the entire score (far too sophisticated and raunchy for studio executives) and Broadway revisals in 1971 and 1998 were failures. Thanks to Encores! we got the chance to hear Bernstein’s first stage score as part of the innumerable festivities celebrating his 90th birthday. The show started with the National Anthem, a replication of the original 1944 production which opened during the last year of the Second World War (timely then, and sadly enough, timely now). Instantaneously, the entire audience stood. People started to sing a little bit, quietly to themselves, and infectiously more and more people started to join in with the volume increasing until the entire City Center audience was singing full volume for the final phrase. One of those beautiful communal moments that has such a beautiful effect on a person. As for the show: those orchestrations, those dance arrangements, those Comden and Green lyrics, their cartoonish but endearing book. All loads of musical comedy fun. Tony Yazbeck is a star on the rise: those looks, that voice and the sincerity of his acting. Did I mention he dances like an heir to Gene Kelly? (You know, why didn’t Roundabout cast him as Joey?) Christian Borle and Justin Bohon provided stellar support as Ozzie and Chip. Jennifer Laura Thompson is one hell of a funny soprano. Leslie Kritzer belted the hell out of the score, but her comedy was a bit forced. And then there was Andrea Martin, an absolute riot from start to finish as Madame Dilly, the perpetually soused instructor at Carnegie Hall who tore up the scenery in her few scenes (with her help, my beloved “Carnegie Hall Pavane” stopped the show). Roxie and I made our usual pilgrimage to the Park Cafe, but there was no sign of Rifke or Mireleh. Next up from the Encores! crew is a rare revival of Kern & Hammerstein’s Music in the Air in February.

Jonathan Tunick & Barbara Cook at Birdland 11/24 – This joyous evening came about thanks to Sarah, who had an extra ticket. I’d never been to Birdland and it turns out that it’s one of the most enjoyably intimate spaces I’ve ever been in. A total throwback to those nightclubs you see in the 40s and 50s movies. The only thing missing, the two of us agreed, was a dance floor. The prices are right and the food and drinks were fantastic. Tunick leads the Broadway Moonlighters, a fantastic brassy band made up of players from Broadway shows. They gave us a fantastic evening of entertainment with arrangements of “Strike Up the Band,” “Lazy Afternoon,” the overture for Merrily We Roll Along, two original pieces by Tunick “Buffet Luncheon” and “Pumpkin Lane” (which he named after an exit on the Taconic State Parkway). Midway through the set, they introduced their girl singer: Ms. Barbara Cook who sang a few choice favorites and this inestimable treasure provided us with a few vocal selections, including Gershwin’s “Nashville Nightingale,” “Sooner or Later” (not the Sondheim, but from Song of the South), and a lovely rendition of “Autumn in New York.” The evening wrapped up with a sing-a-long rendition of “Let it Snow!” and several encores, capped with “Lullaby of Birdland.” We were among some of the greats of the NY scene. Priscilla Lopez, Kelly Bishop, Margaret Colin, Ron Raines, Marni Nixon, Alice Playten were some of the stars out on the town. I had the pleasure of meeting the effervescent Kate Baldwin, one of the loveliest singing actresses in town (who will be on an upcoming SVU so be on the lookout!) and my candidate to play Ellen Roe in Donnybrook! should Encores take the initiative. I also got to meet Harvey Evans, a perfect gentleman and one of the nicest people in show business. The party didn’t end there: we went to Angus’ for a nightcap and further good times with good friends.

Road Show 11/29 – I have never had the privilege of seeing a new Sondheim show until now. Although it’s not entirely new,  the show, a labor of love (quite possibly an obsession) for Sondheim, was work-shopped as Wise Guys (dir: Sam Mendes; Nathan Lane & Victor Garber) in 1999, played regional engagements as Bounce (dir: Harold Prince; Richard Kind & Howard McGillin) in 2003 has finally made its way into New York as Road Show (dir: John Doyle; Alexander Gemignani & Michael Cerveris) in 2008. The musical, about the Mizner brothers, has been given a dark, conceptual staging here at the Public that was rather unengaging, unemotional and ultimately rather uninteresting. The show has been scaled back considerably with a unit set, intermissionless hour and forty minute running time. Gemignani and Cerveris provide excellent performances, carrying the evening. Doyle’s directorial choices bothered me, particularly his favorite: two actors talking to each other while facing front. However, the costumes by Ann Hould-Ward are incredibly clever, especially having the opportunity to see the work up close as the actor’s collected for BC/EFA. The score sounds like a Sondheim piece, those discordant synocopated vamps and his usual lyrical wordplay (though I think here his composition outshone his text); but aside from “You” and “The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened,” (what a song!) there wasn’t too much that stood out. As I walked away two musical lines were trapped in my head: “Everybody’s Got the Right” from Assassins and the line “Ooh your song’s derivative” from “Die, Vampire, Die” out of [tos]. (Watch Road Show be declared a masterpiece in ten or twenty years and watch us naysayers changing our critical tunes). Newcomer Claybourne Elder was an endearing well-sung presence as Addison’s lover Hollis. Alma Cuervo, William Parry and Anne L. Nathan did the best with what they were given, which wasn’t much. I went into this knowing the divisive opinions on the show and the mixed critical response, however, I was hoping beyond hope that I would enjoy the play, but overall Road Show just isn’t that compelling. The day wasn’t a total disappointment: I got to roam much of Manhattan with my very good friend Chris Lavin (Follies enthusiast and a discerning and observational writer who needs a blog of his own – I know you’re reading this Chris, and I mean it). Visited a new favorite haunt, the Drama Book Shop and was lucky to just have a wonderful day in NYC. Let it be said, while I didn’t care for the show (I quipped to several friends that I had just seen Road Kill), he loved it. And you know what that means, kids. Sondheim definitely has a new show in town.