Finian’s back on Broadway

Last night, I decided to take in the first preview to cheer on the incandescent Kate Baldwin as she becomes Broadway’s newest leading lady. I won’t go into specific detail, since it was only the first performance and it’s still a work in progress, but anyone who saw Finian’s Rainbow at the Encores! should consider checking out the Broadway production at the St James Theatre. The orchestra has been moved into the pit, plus there is new scenery, costumes and lighting. The powers that be have restored a smidgen of the book and Christopher Fitzgerald and David Schramm (Roy from Wings!) have joined the company. They’ve had the time to go through tightening and fixing what couldn’t be done over the week allotted for rehearsal at the City Center.

Before the house lights went down for the overture, Warren Carlyle, the director and choreographer welcomed the audience and told us that we would be seeing an understudy that evening and asked us to cheer her on. Alina Faye, the actress who normally dances the role of Susan the Silent, was out with pneumonia. Stepping into her shoes was Leslie Donna Flesner, who was appearing on Broadway for the first time and only learned the part the day before. The role of Susan requires her to dance the entire show (including her dialogue) and culminates in the haunting second act “Dance of the Crock” where she dances to the accompaniment of a sole harmonica. Carlyle begged us to lend her our love and support. Flesner, with very little time to prepare, danced exquisitely. I’m sure if attention wasn’t called to the fact, there would have been folks in the audience who wouldn’t have realized she was the understudy – she was that extraordinary in an unexpectedly auspicious debut.

How nice to see a vintage musical of the Golden Age sparing no expense in utilizing the original orchestrations and dance arrangements (in this case, Robert Russell Bennett, Don Walker and the unsung heroine of all the popular favorites of the 40s and 50s, Trude Rittman). As I mentioned, the orchestra is in the pit, the first time I have seen that with an Encores production – with 26 players including the harp and two French horns! It’s also a joy to see Tony winner Jim Norton having the time of his life on stage in a musical, and to welcome the unceasingly divine Terri White back to Broadway after a twenty year absence. When Ms. White tears into “Necessity,” her rich contralto resonates like a shock wave, electrifying the audience and once again proving why she is and always has been an audience favorite. If Encores! should ever decide to revive Hallelujah, Baby! they must cast White in the Lillian Hayman role so she can bring down the City Center with “I Don’t Know Where She Got It.”

Post-show, SarahB and I stopped by for an aperitif or two at our beloved Angus. In fact, Angus himself seated us and we settled in for a pleasant evening as the casts of Finian’s and Superior Donuts hung out, and we joined the latter (!) in a chorus of “Edelweiss.” Plus, various literary figures and a certain star of Glee stopped by with his significant other. It was irrepressible night as “who’s who” of the New York scene seemed to be out and about, proving why it’s the place to be. I was the Max Detweiler to Sarah’s Baroness Schraeder.

Meanwhile, Finian’s Rainbow is back in its first Broadway revival since a week long run at the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre in 1960 (where the original production played). Interesting to note, all three Broadway revivals of the show have originated from the City Center. The show is now in previews, with an opening night set for October 29.

The throne of Denmark is desecrated by a bastard!

Or so I kept thinking as I watched the current revival of Hamlet, the second consecutive import from London’s Donmar Warehouse to play the Broadhurst Theatre. The first was last season’s well-received Mary Stuart (from which I’ve paraphrased for the title). While there is a different director and creative team behind Hamlet, there are elements in the scenography that are just too eerily reminiscent of the former play. The costumes are contemporized to complement a moody charcoal grey set set (complete with brick wall), except in lieu of Brooks Brothers suits, it was more Banana Republic meets Doctor Zhivago chic. Plus, certain key monologues were underscored by that same creepy synthesizer. It felt that at any moment, Harriet Walter and Janet McTeer would show up to throw Hamlet and his hot mess of a Royal Court out on its ear.

The play is performed frequently (this is the 66th known production on Broadway), has been filmed several times and is often taught in high school and college. Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark is visited by the ghost of his father, who implicates that Hamlet’s uncle murdered him to gain the throne. Hamlet has been despondent over the death of his father, but pushed further into his dejection when his mother marries his uncle less than two months later. What follows is one of the most analyzed and dissected revenge studies in literature.

There is one reason for this particular revival and that is Jude Law. The film star and this production is making its third and final stop, after successfully playing in London and Elsinore, its original cast mostly intact. Mr. Law doesn’t offer the bookish introspect one tends to expect. His indecision to enact revenge against his murderous uncle is calculated out of his rage. Law is unexpectedly dynamic as the eponymous character, and most unexpectedly, he’s often quite funny. However, when his anger gets the best of him, he is at his most terrifying and cruel, particularly when he dismisses Ophelia with scorn and has a chat with dear old Mom about marrying Uncle Claudius.

He also has the matter of those soliloquies to tackle: seven in total. The character of Hamlet is one of the most psychologically complex in drama, with actions and words that not only bewilder the people around him but often the audience as well. It is through those soliloquies that the audience comes closest to understanding the tragic hero. He offers what is probably Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquy, “To be or not to be,” but for as sumptuously as it was staged in the midst of an understated snow storm, and poignantly delivered by Mr. Law, it is overshadowed by his stunning execution of the previous soliloquy “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I.”

Not all of the production is up to par. There is excellent staging with inventive visual images from director Michael Grandage, whose spare direction focuses on the text and makes it quite easy for newcomers to Hamlet and/or Shakespeare in general to understand what is going on. When it is Mr. Law and Mr. Grandage at work, the play works best. However, the production is marred by woefully uneven casting. As an ensemble, the actors are just not on the same plane as the star. Some fared better than others: Geraldine James grew on me as Gertrude as the evening progressed, scoring impressively in the bedroom scene as well as showing a reticence toward her new husband after seeing the effect she has had on her son. Ron Cook was amusing, but little else as Polonius. Peter Cook makes a better impression as the Player King than as the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Kevin R. McNally barely registered as an endlessly remorseful and endlessly boring Claudius. Gugu Mbatha-Raw isn’t up to the demands of the part of Ophelia, with an ineffectual mad scene that seemed to be in another play entirely. The play starts to sag whenever Law isn’t onstage (which admittedly isn’t often), and clocking in at well over three hours, there are times when you realize the play’s length.

One of my problems however, was with some members of the audience. I tend not to be an elitist snob about such things, but I was annoyed by some audience members who snickered and giggled endlessly at every line or phrase that has become a colloquialism. I found myself being taken out of the play several times as a result. It doesn’t help that there are so many of the them. But then again, I guess that’s a testament to what is arguably the greatest play ever written in the English language. One of the real joys of any production is to hear those words – it’s a transcendent work. This revival is a strictly limited engagement and I’m sure will be a hot ticket due to the movie star drawing power of Mr. Law. This Hamlet departs Elsinore December 6. However, if you miss this one, I’m sure revival number 67 won’t be too far behind.

The Loss of the Mark Hellinger Theater


It’s hard for me to fathom what the theatrical world was like twenty years ago, long before Broadway shows started using twitter and Facebook for publicity. A time when the American musical was considered near-extinct and the British imports were in vogue. News was broadcast on radio or television. Or you’d wait for the morning (or evening) papers. You didn’t have All That Chat available to get an instant account of a first preview, or the latest information from out of town. It was a time when friends called other friends to dish about what they had seen as opposed to posting it anonymously on message boards. Times Square was still a few years away from Mayor Giuliani’s clean-up. Twenty years ago, I was six years old and didn’t know what Broadway was, let alone where it was. It was during this time that the crown jewel of Broadway houses, the Mark Hellinger Theater, was in the first year of its lease to the Times Square Church.

Tonight I discovered by chance that as an alumni of my college, I could still access their library databases, one of which included the archive of the New York Times from 1851-2006. The search results contained scanned images of the original articles as they appeared in print, often with accompanying photographs. The collection is concise; you can pretty much find anything you want to know. So I started having a look around and checked out some a few musicals I find interesting.

Some of the titles in my search were Coco, Illya Darling, Dear World, and of course, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As I was looking through these articles, which cover everything from first announcement to closing notice, I realized that most of the shows I was researching were musicals that played the legendary Hellinger up on W 51st Street.

Last November, a few theater bloggers and I made a pilgrimage to the theater where we were awestruck at the beauty of its interior – with its opulent ceilings and proscenium, as well as its jaw-dropping two-tiered lobby. The theater famously housed the world premiere of Casablanca in 1942 and its most recognized legitimate tenant was the original production of My Fair Lady in 1956. The theater is classified as a landmark by the City of New York, a designation which was instituted for most buildings in the area as a direct result of outrage over the demolition of the Morosco, Bijou and original Helen Hayes Theaters in the early 1980s. In case you’re curious, they were razed to make way for the gargantuan Marriott Marquis Hotel.

So into this database I entered the terms “Mark Hellinger” and “Times Square Church” and found several articles detailing the transition of the theater from the Nederlander Organization to the TSC.

According to a news item by Mervyn Rothstein on February 9, 1989, the theatre was to be leased to the TSC for $1 million per year for five years. The announcement came while the Peter Allen musical Legs Diamond, the latest in a string of failures at the venue, was still running (or rather, limping). The TSC was to start occupying the theater once that musical closed (the show announced its notice a week later, shuttering on February 19).

James M. Nederlander, chairman of the Nederlander Organization is quoted in the article, defending the decision:

“There’s no shows being produced. We have to keep the theaters filled. We’ve got the Gershwin with nothing in it. We’ll have the Nederlander [the previous space occupied by TSC] as well. We don’t have anything on the horizon to put in the theater.”

“We want to keep the theater as a legitimate theater. It’s a short-term lease – five years is short term for me. It’ll pass before you know it. If someone comes up with a show at the end of the term we’ll put the theater back in. It’s just a question of product. If I had a show, the show would have gone in. In show business, you have to take the first booking.”

Rocco Landesman, of Jujamcyn, expressed surprise, but understood and appreciated the economics behind the decision, adding that if he were offered that deal, he would have likely accepted. Independent producer James B. Freydberg; however, expressed considerable outrage at the move,

“It certainly makes it clear to me that they’re in the real-estate business and not the theater business. As a producer, I would like to feel that the theater owners are really in the theater business first. It’s also really not looking into the future. If Cats is to continue to play, and Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera, and with Aspects of Love and Miss Saigon coming, there are going to be fewer large musical theaters available. And if one of the larger and better houses is going to be locked away for five years, it shows very little insight into the future of the theater.”

The next article I encountered from May 24, 1989, discussed the difficulties the Nederlander organization was having filling its many New York theaters, with the powers that be (Mr. Nederlander and Arthur Rubin) resorting to filling the Gershwin Theater, Broadway’s largest house, with concerts by major celebrities like Barry Manilow and Patti LaBelle. In the difficult economic times, the group was losing a lot of money investing in failures, while the rival Shubert organization seemed to have booked all of the major, long-running British megamusicals in their best houses.

By this point, the TSC had taken up residency in the Hellinger, while many other of the Nederlander Theaters such as the Lunt-Fontanne, Neil Simon, New Amsterdam, Palace, Brooks Atkinson, Harris and the eponymous Nederlander were all dark or undergoing construction. (The Harris Theater on 42nd Street never reopened and was demolished to make way for Madame Tussaud’s). In an article that ran the following week, it was announced that things were so desperate for the Nederlanders that they were considering a deal to convert the Lunt-Fontanne into a cineplex. At the end of this article (dated June 1), Mr. Nederlander denies that the Nederlander Theater was to become a discotheque saying, “The deal fell through.”

Rothstein reports on January 10, 1990 about the postponement of Miss Saigon to spring 1991 by impresario Cameron Mackintosh. The producer felt that there was no appropriate theater available for the show, and is quoted as saying, “It’s a fairly open secret I’ve been hoping to go into the Mark Hellinger Theater. I think now that’s unlikely.” There would have been an 18 month wait as a 52-story hotel was being erected over the space, which involved ripping out the original dressing rooms. The wait was not something conducive to Mr. Mackintosh’s plan. The piece also states that he tried to buy the theater, “I think anybody and their wife would like to purchase the Hellinger. But the Nederlanders made it quite clear they’re not interested in selling, and I don’t blame them.” The article ends with a rumor that Les Miserables would transfer out of the Broadway Theater into another Shubert house to make room for Miss Saigon (Les Miz moved to the Imperial that October, where it ran for over twelve years).

The Mark Hellinger Theater was sold to the TSC sometime in fall 1991, according an article in the Times on December 7, 1991. No details of the sale were officially announced, but it was estimated that the Hellinger was worth between $15 and 18 million. This time, vice-president Rubin went on the record,

“I’m a theater person and I hate to see any theater go. It’s a question of economics. We can’t fill the theaters we have, and the city has not given us tax abatements when the theaters are dark.”

The pastor of TSC, Rev. Donald Wilkerson only told the newspaper that “The theater is landmarked and it will remain the same.” In fact, having been inside and seeing the work that has been done, the interior has been painstakingly maintained in all its original splendor.

Alex Witchel had offered more information about the sale, including James Nederlander’s statement on the matter as well as the journalist’s own opinion on the matter in her December 13, 1991 “On Stage and Off” column.

Mr. Nederlander said, “It’s a sign of the times. The church had three more years on their lease and there are no productions around now to fill the theater. We have enough musical houses – a surplus, as far as we’re concerned. If you haven’t got anything to put in it, what can you do?”

Ms. Witchel asks the question, “Why not sell the theater to legimate theater operators?” as opposed to the outside TSC, adding that Mr. Nederlander admitted that at one time or another Michael Bennett, Cameron Mackintosh and the Jujamcyn organization had all expressed interest in purchasing the theater, but “that the price was never right.” As per the article, the final sale was priced somewhere around $17 million. Rocco Landesman makes yet another appearance in the saga, offering that the price they received was more than most theater operators could afford, adding one pearl of wisdom: “What this proves is that landmarking a building doesn’t save a theater.” Nederlander compared the treatment of theaters in NYC to those in London, which receive tax abatements when the houses are empty. Witchel goes on to mention that Mr. Nederlander’s woes continued with the total failure of Nick & Nora, which not only turned off the lights at another one of their houses, but also cost Mr. Nederlander his $1.5 million investment.

Hindsight really is 20/20, isn’t it? If the Nederlanders hadn’t sold off the house, they would have had another large-scale venue which would have been perfect for the Nederlander housed productions of Show Boat and Sunset Boulevard. Hell, while I’m speculating, it would have been a formidable place to house the original production of Ragtime as well as many other significant musicals. But the TSC remains firmly ensconced in the Mark Hellinger Theater; a thriving religious community that has several thousand worshippers each week. Offices have been established and a great deal of the church’s money has been spent to accommodate the landmark statutes.

Will the Mark Hellinger Theater ever be restored as a legitimate theater? The easy answer is no. The TSC has been settled in for over twenty years and unless they were seeking to upgrade to an even larger venue, it makes very little sense for them to go anywhere. However, I like to hold onto a glimmer of hope that one day we might get the space back. Meaning no disrespect to those who worship and the powers that be at the TSC, but St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a church, the Mark Hellinger is not. It’s my quixotic wish that at some point in my lifetime the theater will be restored to legitimacy as a Broadway house.

It’s ironic that now, in what is the worst economic crisis the country has seen since the Great Depression, that there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of plays and musicals filling up the theaters in Midtown. So if you’re ever in New York, and have some time to kill in the area, I highly suggest taking a walk up to 51st and Broadway to have a look inside. When you do, you’ll understand why I mourn the loss of this indelible part of our theatrical history.

Eartha Kitt Makes an Entrance

Which might be one of the grossest understatements I’ve ever made. In 1978, the late, great Eartha Kitt made a comeback on Broadway in Geoffrey Holder’s revision of Kismet retitled Timbuktu! The new musical adapted the book and score of the original, transporting the setting from Baghdad to the eponymous African oasis. Kitt took on the role of Shaleem-La-Lume, originated in the earlier musical by dramatic soprano sexpot Joan Diener, and was given a brand new song (since “Not Since Nineveh” is topical to Baghdad) called “In the Beginning, Woman.” In the new song, she sensuously dispels the Biblical myth of whom God created first. The revision played the Mark Hellinger Theatre for 221 performances in 1978, costarring Melba Moore and Gilbert Price, before going out on national tour. Unfortunately, no cast album was produced. Though playing a supporting role, Kitt took top billing and walked away with the show and a Tony nomination for Lead Actress in a Musical. She got a star entrance so opulent and grand, it brought down the house every night. And now here it is, enjoy:

Broadway Commercials, Part 1

Would you have paid to see the shows based on these commercials? I think the audience testimonial about Cyd Charisse in Grand Hotel is my favorite. More to come!

Evita:


Grand Hotel & The Will Rogers Follies:

Grind:

The King and I:

Fiddler on the Roof:

Ballroom:

Nine:

Big River:

Carrie:

Nick & Nora:

Offstage Whispers

From the January 1976 Playbill of Pacific Overtures, I found this amusing featurette written by Walter Vatter and wanted to give you a glimpse into the theatre of the period.

Clive Barnes on Carol Channing: “Who wouldn’t like her? It’s the only time in your life you enjoy being hit by a car with its headlights on!”

Elizabeth Ashley on Tennessee Williams: “Usually an actress looks at a script and thinks, how am I going to wrap my mouth around this junk. Not so with Tennessee.”

Rita Moreno on the matinee ladies: “Those blue-haired ladies have the dirtiest laughs in town.”

Nicholas Dante (author of A Chorus Line) on Michael Bennett (director): “He wanted to illustrate the humanism among the dancers in the gypsy community as well as the brutalism.”

Julie Harris on the 30th anniversary of her career in the theatre – “It feels like it doesn’t belong to me.”

Morton Gottlieb (producer of Same Time, Next Year) on the city of Boston: “The Colonial is one of the most beautiful theatres in the world. I love the restaurants in Boston and Elliot Norton (Boston Record American) is a very fair critic – someone whose criticism is a big help.”

Geraldine Page on playwright (The Norman Conquests) Alan Ayckbourn: “The similarity between Ayckbourn and Neil Simon is that they both write a lot of plays and sometimes have two shows on the same street at the same time. And both of them have the same message – They want us to straighten out fast.”

Tom Stoppard (author of Travesties): on the theatre: “Theatre is a series of small or large ambushes.”

Clive Barnes on Clive Barnes: “God wanted me to become a critic because He wanted me to go to the theatre almost every night of my life, but He did not want me to buy tickets.”

Is it two years already?

Well, would you believe it? Today marks the second anniversary of the blog. I could have sworn it was some time next week, but lo and behold here we are! It was two years ago that SarahB and Noah successfully convinced me that I needed to start blogging. Given my track record with such personal projects, I never realized that I had the focus to maintain a site regarding my thoughts and interests for this long. This past year I’ve seen the site grow in ways I could never have expected or imagined; meeting all sorts of wonderful new people from other blogs and around the internet. I’ve seen more theatre in the last year than any other time of my life. I’ve gotten accustomed to such technological hijinks as the flipcam and skype. There have been some incredibly surreal moments as my blog has introduced me to many professionals within the industry. I am most grateful to all of you who actually care what I have to say, and I always appreciate your comments, emails and tweets. And for those of you I see on a regular basis, I am most appreciative of your friendship and the good times we’ve had as well as those that are to come. Here’s looking toward an even better year three!