Author: Chris Van Patten

"Ain’t It Awful, the Heat?"

I’ve not felt the urge to blog in this heat, but to seek refuge away from anything that emits heat. I have also been working a lot lately, which is great for the checking account but poor for my writing. I do get a vacation soon (when should I take it…and how shall I enjoy it?) so we’ll see what that brings…

So yeah, how about this ridiculous weather? I anticipate this sort of streak in mid-July, not now. So I’ve been going through thinking of all the ‘hot’ songs my mind can muster. So far in my heat-induced coma, I’ve thought of “Gonna Be Another Hot Day” from 110 in the Shade, “It’s Hot Up Here” from Sunday in the Park With George, “Ain’t It Awful, the Heat?” from Street Scene, “Too Darn Hot” from Kiss Me Kate. Any others that fit…?

Though we’ve known it for weeks, it’s now official: Deanna Dunagan plays her final performance as Violet Weston in August: Osage County this coming Sunday, June 15 (and then the Tonys!) so if you miss her performance, don’t come crying to me, you’ve had six months. Instead, enjoy Estelle Parsons – which should prove to be an interesting performance, I’ve no doubt. Rondi Reed, Jeff Perry and Francis Guinan are also departing the company. I’ll be there on the 15th to cheer them on – and also take my best friend to see them in it for an early birthday present.

But before I do that, it’s the Theatre World awards tomorrow with my regulars. I cannot wait. I’m off to cool down/melt/self-immolate. Whichever happens first.

Gwen Verdon & Chita Rivera: "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag"

From The Howard Cosell Show in 1975, we get Chicago as it should be performed. (Costumes…? For real??) Can you believe it’s almost eight years since we lost Gwen Verdon? Such a natural treasure. And how lucky are we that Chita Rivera is still performing? I’ve come to the conclusion that Ms. Rivera should receive a standing ovation any time she walks into a room. Enjoy this:

Here’s another one, plus interview with Mike Douglas and Hal Linden. The two ladies are nothing short of classy and gracious. I love how proud Gwen is of having a flop play, Children! Children! It ran 65 minutes with no intermission on its one and only performance. And Chita even talks about 1491, “marked down from 1776.” Then Jerry Orbach joins in too and performs “Razzle Dazzle.”

Musical Theatre Zen: The Barbara Cook Edition

One of my most indelible theatre memories is from the day Barbara Cook brought Mostly Sondheim to my town. (Can you imagine my surprise? Barbara Cook in my town?!) Anyway, I made a great to-do about it and had many of my friends come with me to see her in action. Cook is known for the way she inhabits a lyric. Her sound has darkened as she’s gotten older, but the tone is still exorbitantly clear and inviting. The atmosphere at a Barbara Cook concert is akin to visiting your favorite grandmother: intimacy, warmth and graciousness pouring out over the footlights.

There she was, one of the definitive musical theatre actresses of all time, interpreting the songs that Sondheim had written – and those he wished he had, at least in part. We had plenty of Harold Arlen, some a touch of Irving Berlin, and of course, the works of Sondheim himself. The highlight for me came toward the end of the concert when she discussed how three of the songs on the list were those which she originally sang in Candide and She Loves Me. The first, of course, being the death-defying coloratura aria “Glitter and Be Gay.” (“I ain’t gonna be singin’ that one tonight… I ain’t been a-goin’ to sing that for a loooong time.”)

The other two were “Tell Me I Look Nice,” a cute 5/4 number that was originally just before “Will He Like Me,” and of course, the one she recreated for us in concert, “Ice Cream.” This piece is one of the most impressive character songs I’ve ever heard, and is something of a signature for Cook. I can still recall the first time I heard the score to She Loves Me, one of my top three shows, and this was the song I played again and again. That night, four and a half years ago, I was nearer to Heaven than I could even realize at the time. And at the age of 75, her climactic high B natural rang out like freedom. Enjoy…

A Stream of Consciousness on "Inner Voices"

– The Zipper Factory Theatre is one of the more unique performance spaces I’ve seen in my life. Great is the confusion Roxie and I have upon entering the lobby. Or bar. (It’s both. This is a bit unusual and really cool). Looks like we’re waiting for the rave to begin. (Roxie: “Oh didn’t you read about that. I brought glowsticks.”)

– House opens. General admission. You can pick your own seating. In this case the minivan bench of your choice. (Whaaa?) The atmosphere is more that of an acting conservatory than say a theatre. Has that black box meets thrust stage quality about it.

– Victoria Clark is one of the most superlative talents on the NY stage.

– OMG. Victoria Clark is in a nightgown and playing a character at three distinctively different phases of her life. She’s incredibly genuine as an eleven year old pre-pubescent. The work is musically and dramatically fascinating. Probably the first thirty-minute, three-act play I’ve ever seen.

– Roxie and I are six feet away from Victoria Clark. I imagine it’s akin to what it’s like to be looking into the face of God.

– Tres Ninas is offering Victoria Clark a chance to play a fascinatingly self-destructive divorced alcoholic mother of two who has sex with someone half her age.

– OMFG. That was an orgasm. Strange feeling of deja vu hits…

– Catharsis. Supreme acting through song. Clark has a gift when it comes to subtext and giving a layered, complex performance. The woman to my right is an absolute emotional wreck. And rightly so. The audience gives her a Routledge (mid-show standing ovation). She exits. She is missed already. My neck hurts. It’s the damn van seat.

– The woman in front of us looks like Liz Smith. Is that her?

– What the hell is this girl wearing? Okay. This is the girl from Spring Awakening. It’s Alice Unwrapped. There’s a vamp. I’m already bored. Bring back Vicki.

– So the girl is one of those delusionally weird teens who prides herself on being different. Her dad is in Iraq. This cannot be ending well.

– Dad is missing. Mom goes depressive. Daughter goes delusional. Younger sister sounds like an irritating know-it-all who deserves to be slapped.

– The composer really enjoys Bill Finn.

– This is starting to get tedious. Do we really need thirty minutes to cover what probably should be a ten-minute one-act?

– I would love to hear Victoria Clark’s take on the “Duet for One” from 1600. And see her play Alice Challice in Darling of the Day. She can do anything.

– Jennifer Damiano seems like she needs more time in acting school. Or she should be in the house for Victoria Clark to see how you tell a story, create a complex character and captivate an audience all by your lonesome. Then again, Clark also teaches… hmm…

– Is Bill Finn aware of this?

– Okay, so the little girl is the one who’s mind is still with it. I’m starting to think this story would be more interesting if it came from her perspective. Or the mom’s. Anyone but this girl.

– More vamping.

– I think Bill Finn should sue…

– Okay. She takes off the vest. An interesting concept is marred by poor writing and poor execution. Polite applause. Slight headache. I guess that’s what a thirty minute rip-off of “Passover” from Elegies will do to you.

– Bring back Vicki Clark. Is that Liz Smith? I still can’t tell.

– Ohh. Here’s Barbara Walsh. It’s A Thousand Words Come to Mind. I’m captivated from the way she puts down her handbag.

– Oh my. Mom is dying. This isn’t going to end well either.

– I’ve never seen Barbara Walsh perform before. Now I want to see everything she does from here on out.

– She manages to be quite affecting in disclosing the nature of her relationship with her mother. All the while revealing oh so much about herself in the process. Now that is effective acting.

– Ooh. This has a literary angle. The mom tells her daughter she was the inspiration for a character in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain. Mom starts to learn of her mother for the first time in her life.

– Um.. Mom is dying. Someone in the upper decks shrieks with laughter. Let the awkward times roll… Walsh blazed on unfazed. We turn back to Walsh, fazed.

– Borders? What the hell? Sorry. Bizarre loyalty to B&N.

– Barbara Walsh should be the next Vera in Mame. Her ability to be wry and dry is succinct. But she is also so damn touching. Damiano should stick around for this master class too. I have a sudden desire to see Walsh and Clark work opposite each other. And I want to see Walsh play Charlotte in A Little Night Music.

– The mom has died. Time for the denouement. We discover that she was a frustrated writer who never realized her dreams. Daughter understands her now more than ever. They’ve finally connected.

– The letter from Philip Roth. Exactly the satisfactory touch the audience wanted. Many sighs from all over.

– My neck pain has spread into a tension headache. All from that awkward seating. Time to go.

– No, it isn’t Liz Smith.

Carol Channing on Sesame Street

Well, I had hoped to put up the infamous Leslie Uggams “June is Bustin’ Out All Over” interpretation in honor of the first day of this wondrous month. Alas, it has been pulled from the ranks on youtube, and virtually everywhere else on the internet.

So here’s something even more bizarre: Carol mackin’ it to a snake.

Nicholas Tamagna, Countertenor

Nick is an old friend of mine from high school whom all of us admired for his gifted ability with music. Whether it be instrumental or vocal, the range of his talent seemed to know no bounds and he went off to college to study music and then specifically, opera. I’ve been lucky enough to know Nick and to have worked with him on several occasions, academically and otherwise. We appeared together in high school in Funny Girl and Carousel (he was our Nick Arnstein & Billy Bigelow). I also worked on his incredibly amusing concept album – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – the Musical; his final project for AP English. I would actually love to hear the latter, it’s been eight years since I last gave it a spin. He also was one of the most accessible and gracious people I’ve ever known, with a considerable sense of humor and the most unique infectious laugh I think I’ve ever heard in my life. All around, a really great friend.

Anyway, he’s just launched his updated website which introduces him for the first time as a countertenor. The countertenor is a male singer who can sing in the alto/mezzo-soprano range (some of the more flexible and rare venture up into soprano territory), either by use of a good falsetto or a ridiculous extension of the tenor range. He’s trained at UNCG, the Manhattan School of Music and most recently at Hunter College. A lot of years, kids, a lot of years. I wish him all the best.

Nicholas Tamagna, Countertenor

Harvey Korman (1927-2008)

For fans of television, he’ll always be fondly remembered for the hilarious contributions he made on The Carol Burnett Show. For film fans, there was his tenure as a Mel Brooks favorite, most notably as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles.

Korman was a comic legend who left our world today at the age of 81. He had been suffering for several months as a result of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. His wide-ranging comic ability helped get him started on TV in bit parts, eventually landing on The Danny Kaye Show. He also was the voice of the Great Gazoo on The Flintstones (I never knew that!)

It was working with Carol Burnett that he would achieve his most lasting legacy. Her variety show ran from 1967-1978 and was among the most popular TV shows of the decade. Korman’s work as a comic foil was immense, most notably opposite the hilarious Tim Conway, who had the unstoppable ability to crack up the cast (but most especially Korman) in their scene work.

Here’s one of them:

And some bloopers: