The import of Trevor Nunn’s hit London revival of A Little Night Music looks like it might be back on track for an unspecified opening date in December. According to Playbill, a casting notice has gone out from producers specifying that all roles are open, though it insists that dates are “tentative.” The musical was last seen in NY this past January in a gala concert for the Roundabout Theatre Company starring the late Natasha Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave. Both actresses were poised to star in the planned full-scale revival until Richardson’s tragic death last month, when the production was put on hold. No official announcement has been made, but it appears from the casting call one might not be far behind. The article lists as producers: David Babani for Chocolate Factory Productions, Andrew Fell and the Frankel, Viertel, Baruch, Routh Group.
Doris Eaton Travis Still Hoofing at 105
The last living performer from the original Ziegfeld Follies, 105 year old Doris Eaton Travis has become a perennial fixture at the BC/EFA Easter Bonnet competition where she offers a brief tap routine that is one of the highlights of the annual event. Travis, in remarkable health and high spirits, was profiled in Sunday’s New York Times by Ralph Blumenthal.
Everything’s bigger in Texas, y’all.
The first time an Edna Ferber novel was adapted into a musical the genre was changed forever with Kern & Hammerstein’s Show Boat. The libretto marked a huge departure for Hammerstein, who had written many operettas up to that point. He found a way to tell the story onstage as a musical, while establishing a structure out of the sprawling scope of the original novel. His adaptation of the novel was a major stepping stone for the musical as a serious art form as it marked the first time that darker themes permeated the American musical with characters dealing with miscegenation, alcoholism, failed marriage, etc.
Lightning didn’t strike twice, however, when Ferber’s novel Saratoga Trunk became the Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer-Morton da Costa musical Saratoga in 1959. Starring Howard Keel and Carol Lawrence, fresh from her success in West Side Story, the show received poor notices and closed after 80 performances.
Then there’s Giant. The story is probably best remembered in its Oscar-winning film adaptation starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. It tells of Jordan Bick Benedict, a Texas cattle baron who brings his Virginia socialite to live on his ranch in Texas and their ongoing battle with jealous handyman turned oil tycoon Jett Rink over several generations. It’s got everything you can think of: romance, drama, racial and sexual tensions, etc, all set against the sweeping backdrop of the Texas landscape.
Now fifty years following the failure of Saratoga on Broadway, a musical version of Giant, with a score by the Michael John LaChiusa, book by Sybille Pearson and the direction of Jonathan Butterall, receives its world premiere at the Signature Theatre today. The new work is the first presentation in the American Musical Voices Project sponsored by the Shen Family Foundation and stars Lewis Cleale, Betsy Morgan, Ashley Morgan, Judy Blazer and John Dossett. The show isn’t shying away from its status as an epic: the show’s website says it runs three and a half hours, divided into three acts (and is also where I got the title for this entry). According to a post on All That Chat, an email is going around letting ticketholders know that the running time is now approximately four hours, with two 15-minute intermissions. Curtain times are nightly at 7PM; matinees at 1PM. The post also says that the the lobby is offering a three course “Taste of Texas” meal. The first course, served preshow, is chowder and corncake. The next course is quesadilla with salsa at first intermission and a pecan tart is served at the second intermission. It may not be a marathon of The Norman Conquests, but it certainly seems like a full event.
It should be interesting to see how the new show is received. Larger scale musicals based on large-scale novels tend to vary in their success. Of course, there has been Show Boat, Les Miserables and Ragtime. But then again there has also been Here’s Where I Belong (East of Eden), Ari (Exodus), Gantry (Elmer Gantry), Shogun – the Musical, Angel (Look Homeward Angel), the aforementioned Saratoga, and Jane Eyre. Plus there have been two versions of Gone with the Wind. Harold Rome’s adaptation was a major success as Scarlett in Japan and a minor success under the original title in London. However, the American production flopped out of town. The second adaptation by Margaret Martin opened in London last year to blistering reviews and shuttered after 79 performances.
As a fan both the original novel and film adaptation of Giant, I’m looking forward to the reactions of both the audiences and critics and am almost nuts enough to consider traveling down to DC to see it.
Kritzerland Does It Again!
Following the highly successful limited releases of Anya and Illya, Darling on CD, Kritzerland is bringing us their next offering: the first ever CD issue of the 1968 off-Broadway revival of Harold Arlen and Truman Capote’s House of Flowers. The original 1954 Broadway production struck out with critics (mostly over the book, of course) and lasted 165 performances. Saint-Subber, the original producer and Capote felt that the production was too big for such an intimate story, so they reworked the show for a smaller venue. However, this production at the Theatre de Lys in 1968 proved even more shortlived than the original, lasting only 57 performances. The recent concert at Encores! also proved the book was mostly unworkable in spite of the phenomenal Arlen-Capote score (which gave the world such great songs as “One Man (Ain’t Quite Enough),” “A Sleeping Bee,” “I Never Has Seen Snow,” “Two Ladies in de Shade of de Banana Tree,” and “Don’t Like Goodbyes”).
Having never heard this particular recording, I would find it hard to believe it will live up to the essential original Broadway cast album with Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and Juanita Hall. However, this particular album is essential for my fellow aficionados because it has several songs not present on the original cast recording as well as different, more authentically Caribbean orchestrations from Joe Raposo, who would later find great success for his musical contributions to “Sesame Street.” Kudos to Bruce Kimmel and the folks at Kritzerland for giving us yet another long forgotten album (and with this the third United Artists LP being put on CD, I hope it’s not long until the London Promises, Promises with Tony Roberts and a sublime Betty Buckley comes to disc). This will be another limited release of 1,000 copies only.
2008-2009 Drama Desk Nominations
Outstanding Play:
Annie Baker, Body Awareness
Gina Gionfriddo, Becky Shaw
Neil LaBute, reasons to be pretty
Lynn Nottage, Ruined
Michael Weller, Fifty Words
Craig Wright, Lady
Outstanding Musical:
9 to 5
Billy Elliot The Musical
Fela!
Liza’s at the Palace….
Shrek The Musical
The Story of My Life
Outstanding Revival of a Play:
Blithe Spirit
Exit the King
Mary Stuart
The Cripple of Inishmaan
The Norman Conquests
Waiting for Godot
Outstanding Revival of a Musical:
Enter Laughing The Musical
Hair
Pal Joey
West Side Story
Outstanding Actor in a Play:
Simon Russell Beale, The Winter’s Tale
Reed Birney, Blasted
Raúl Esparza, Speed-The-Plow
Bill Irwin, Waiting for Godot
Daniel Radcliffe, Equus
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski, reasons to be pretty
Outstanding Actress in a Play:
Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Ruined
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Elizabeth Marvel, Fifty Words
Jan Maxwell, Scenes From an Execution
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Outstanding Actor in a Musical:
James Barbour, A Tale of Two Cities
Daniel Breaker, Shrek The Musical
Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Josh Grisetti, Enter Laughing The Musical
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!
Will Swenson, Hair
Outstanding Actress in a Musical:
Stephanie J. Block, 9 to 5
Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Megan Hilty, 9 to 5
Allison Janney, 9 to 5
Karen Murphy, My Vaudeville Man!
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play:
Brian d’Arcy James, Port Authority
Jeremy Davidson, Back Back Back
Peter Friedman, Body Awareness
Ethan Hawke, The Winter’s Tale
Pablo Schreiber, reasons to be pretty (Off-Broadway)
Jeremy Shamos, Animals Out of Paper
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play:
Rebecca Hall, The Cherry Orchard
Zoe Kazan, The Seagull
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Andrea Martin, Exit the King
Carey Mulligan, The Seagull
Condola Rashad, Ruined
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical:
Hunter Foster, Happiness
Demond Green, The Toxic Avenger
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5
Bryce Ryness, Hair
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical:
Farah Alvin, The Marvelous Wonderettes
Christina Bianco, Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Nancy Opel, The Toxic Avenger
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Outstanding Director of a Play:
Sarah Benson, Blasted
Michael Blakemore, Blithe Spirit
Garry Hynes, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Terry Kinney, reasons to be pretty
Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests
Kate Whoriskey, Ruined
Outstanding Director of a Musical:
Walter Bobbie, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot The Musical
Joe Mantello, 9 to 5
Jason Moore, Shrek The Musical
Diane Paulus, Hair
Stuart Ross, Enter Laughing The Musical
Outstanding Choreography:
Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot The Musical
Bill T. Jones, Fela!
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Shonn Wiley, My Vaudeville Man!
Outstanding Music:
Neil Bartram, The Story of My Life
Zina Goldrich, Dear Edwina
Elton John, Billy Elliot The Musical
Dolly Parton, 9 to 5
Stephen Sondheim, Road Show
Jeanine Tesori, Shrek The Musical
Outstanding Lyrics:
Neil Bartram, The Story of My Life
Jason Robert Brown, 13
Marcy Heisler, Dear Edwina
David Lindsay-Abaire, Shrek The Musical
Dolly Parton, 9 to 5
Stephen Sondheim, Road Show
Outstanding Book of a Musical:
Steven Cosson and Jim Lewis, This Beautiful City
Joe DiPietro, The Toxic Avenger
Lee Hall, Billy Elliot The Musical
Brian Hill, The Story of My Life
David Lindsay-Abaire, Shrek The Musical
Patricia Resnick, 9 to 5
Outstanding Orchestrations:
Larry Blank, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Bruce Coughlin, 9 to 5
Aaron Johnson and Antibalas, Fela!
Edward B. Kessel, A Tale of Two Cities
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot The Musical
Danny Troob, Shrek The Musical
Outstanding Music in a Play:
Mark Bennett, The Cherry Orchard
Mark Bennett, The Winter’s Tale
Dominic Kanza, Ruined
DJ Rekha, Rafta, Rafta…
Richard Woodbury, Desire Under the Elms
Gary Yershon, The Norman Conquests
Outstanding Set Design of a Play:
Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests
David Korins, Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them
Derek McLane, 33 Variations
Neil Patel, Fifty Words
Walt Spangler, Desire Under the Elms
Outstanding Set Design of a Musical:
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Anna Louizos, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Thomas Lynch, Happiness
Scott Pask, 9 to 5
Scott Pask, Hair
Basil Twist, Arias With a Twist
Outstanding Costume Design:
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests
William Ivey Long, 9 to 5
Michael McDonald, Hair
Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit
Carrie Robbins, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play:
Marcus Doshi, Hamlet (Theatre for a New Audience)
David Hersey, Equus
Ben Kato, Washing Machine
R. Lee Kennedy, Bury the Dead
Paul Pyant, The Winter’s Tale
Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart
Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical:
Kevin Adams, Hair
Jules Fisher and Kenneth Posner, 9 to 5
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot The Musical
Jason Lyons, Clay
Sinéad McKenna, Improbable Frequency
Richard Pilbrow, A Tale of Two Cities
Outstanding Sound Design:
Acme Sound Partners, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot The Musical
Gregory Clarke, Equus
John Gromada, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself)
André J. Pluess, 33 Variations
John H. Shivers, 9 to 5
Outstanding Solo Performance:
Mike Birbiglia, Sleepwalk With Me
Frank Blocker, Southern Gothic Novel
Michael Laurence, Krapp, 39
Lorenzo Pisoni, Humor Abuse
Matt Sax, Clay
Campbell Scott, The Atheist
Unique Theatrical Experience:
Absinthe (2008 Edition)
Arias With a Twist
Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words
Désir
Soul of Shaolin
Surrender
Outstanding Ensemble Performances
The Cripple of Inishmaan
The Norman Conquests
Special Awards
To Liza Minnelli, a “beloved American musical theater icon, for her enduring career of sustained excellence, and her glorious performance in Liza’s at the Palace.
To Forbidden Broadway at the end of its nearly three-decade run and “the creators, casts and designers who made it an unparalleled New York institution cherished for its satire and celebration of Broadway.”
To Atlantic Theater Company and artistic director Neil Pepe for “exceptional craftsmanship, dedication to excellence and productions that engage, inspire and enlighten.”
To TADA! Youth Theater for “providing an invaluable contribution to the future of the theater. The company makes outstanding training and experience accessible and affordable to young people and mounts productions remarkable for their quality and professionalism.”
Seth Rudetsky Deconstructs Bea Arthur
He takes a quick look at Bea’s work in “Tradition” then settles in for total deconstruction of the perennial showstopper “Bosom Buddies” from the original cast album of Mame.
Tovah as Irena
The other evening I went to the Walter Kerr Theatre to see Irena’s Vow, which transferred to Broadway after playing downtown at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. Tovah Feldshuh’s dynamic turn as the unlikely heroine Irena Gut Opdyke is one of the biggest star turns I’ve seen all season and the reason for the Broadway transfer. Tovah is Irena as an elderly woman and in a drop of a hairpin, is Irena as a teenager. Only onstage could an actress of her incredible range and formidable talent make such a vivid and believable transformation, finding such rich layering to the characterization without ever once losing her endless warmth.
The story of the Polish Catholic housekeeper who successfully hid 12 Jews in the basement of her Nazi employer is a remarkable one, offering a moving portrait of an incredible human being. Irena was born and raised in Poland, and she endured unspeakable cruelties when the Russians made their way into her town. She was later forced to work for the Germans throughout the course of the war, finding herself witnessing atrocities first-hand and feeling helpless to do anything about it. She saves her friends (as she lovingly refers to them all evening) because she once witnessed a newborn baby smashed on the pavement and its mother shot by a Nazi soldier. Finding herself unable to do anything in that moment, she made a vow to herself that she would do whatever she could to save a person’s life, which brings us to the play at hand.
The memory play is established as one of Irena’s classroom lectures from the late 80s interspersed with a linear flashback recounting her experiences. When Feldshuh talks directly to us, the audience, as her class, is the piece at its most intimate and most riveting. Her sincere portrayal is worthy of many award accolades and nominations from the various parties, commanding the stage for the entire evening. However, the script leaves some to be desired. The play clocks in at an intermissionless ninety minutes, with a questionable structure and an undeniable lack of dimension in the supporting characters. Most frustratingly, the character of Irena’s Nazi employer, a most fascinating character, was only marginally given more scope than the rest. There are too many moments when the play feels a bit like paint by numbers history splashed out onstage. Careful rewrites and examining of characters could serve to flesh out the more two-dimensional moments in the play.
However, when it is Irena narrating the story to us, impersonating various characters with such vivid clarity and guiding the audience through the plot that the play finds some strength. It is at these moments that it seems that the story would be best served as a one woman solo show. The script as is would open well into a television movie.
Following the curtain call, Feldshuh took a moment to make a curtain speech on behalf of BC/EFA and also to remind us that it was William Shakespeare’s birthday, whom she quoted before introducing Irena’s daughter, Janina, who offers a brief question and answer period after most if not all performances. It was during this session we heard incredible stories of what became of Major Rugemer, Irena’s life in the US and her reunion with her sisters after about forty years separation from the war.
Irena’s Vow is worth seeing for two reasons: its story and its leading lady, giving a transcendent star turn in a play that could be and should be much better than it is. In spite of its flaws, the story still captivates and I could not help but be fascinated with the plot unfolding. There was scarcely a dry eye in the house by the time of the play’s conclusion, one celebrating the powers of forgiveness and redemption.
Quote of the Day: Angie Remembers Bea
“Bea Arthur and I first met when we did Mame together in 1965. She became and has remained ‘My Bosom Buddy’ ever since. I am deeply saddened by her passing, but also relieved that she is released from the pain. I spoke to Matt, her son, yesterday and I was aware that her time was imminent. She was a rare and unique performer and a dear, dear friend.”
– Angela Lansbury on the death of her beloved friend and former costar, Bea Arthur
Bea Arthur (1922-2009)
A legend of Broadway and television (and the master of droll comedy), Bea Arthur has died today at her home in California. The Emmy and Tony winning actress was 86 and the cause was cancer. Arthur, born Bernice Frankel in 1922, was distinctive for her height and bass-baritone voice, not to mention her incisive wit, and found a real niche in playing strong, sardonic women.
Arthur was a staple of NY theatre of the 1950s, appearing in the original off-Broadway cast of Marc Blitzstein’s acclaimed production of The Threepenny Opera, standing by for Shirl Conway in Plain and Fancy and appearing in the original casts of Seventh Heaven and The Shoestring Revue. In the mid-60s, Arthur had back to back successes in two smash hit shows: as the original Yente, the matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof and her Tony-winning triumph as the booze-addled bosom buddy Vera Charles in the original cast of Mame, a role she’d repeat in the disastrous 1974 film adaptation. (I had just commented only the other day that she is the only reason to watch the film, shining where the rest of the production does not).
From her New York stage successes, her friend Norman Lear asked her to come to Los Angeles for a one-off guest spot on All in the Family playing the ultra-liberal cousin of Edith Bunker, named Maude. Her sparring with Carroll O’Connor’s Archie Bunker over the presidency of FDR in that episode alone was enough for CBS executives to offer Bea her own spin-off series. Maude premiered the following season and became a controversial success, even more controversial than its original series in its willingness to tackle every taboo subject under the umbrella. In the sixth episode of the series, her character had an abortion, an entire year before the Roe v. Wade decision marking a television first. There was considerable outrage, which only added to the series’s success. Maude had six successful years on CBS, ending only because Bea was ready to move on.
Her other successful series came in 1985 with The Golden Girls, in which Arthur was top-billed as divorced substitute teacher Dorothy Zbornak, living with her two best friends and sassy mother in Miami. The second series broke ground as it took a comic look at older women living in contemporary America, with Arthur playing perfectly off her costars Betty White, Rue McClanahan and the late Estelle Getty. It ran for seven years, again ending when Bea decided to move on. A spin-off series putting the remaining three women in a hotel The Golden Palace lasted one season. Bea was awarded with Emmys for her turns on both series. Arthur also starred in the failed series Amanda, an Americanization of the popular Fawlty Towers series from the UK. (And more obscurely, she also appeared in the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special). Her film appearances included Lovers and Other Strangers and The History of the World, Part I.
Bea grew up in Maryland, finding confidence and friends in her ability to make wisecracks. Originally, attended college and got a degree as a medical technician, but hated the work. Arthur signed up for acting classes at the New School for Social Research (where everyone seemed to flock, including the similarly deadpan Elaine Stritch, who tells of a failed Golden Girls audition in her one woman show). She got her stage name from her shortlived marriage to writer Robert Alan Aurthur. Arthur was married to director Gene Saks, with whom they had two sons. Bea was also an ardent animal rights activist and a member of PETA. She continued making appearances well into her eighties, with guest spots on Malcolm in the Middle and Curb Your Enthusiasm. There was also touring one woman show And Then There’s Bea which came to New York as Bea Arthur on Broadway, earning her a Tony nomination for Best Theatrical Event. Arthur was also a staple on various awards shows, most notably the TV Land awards spoof of Sex and the City with Arthur playing Carrie Bradshaw, as well as the Pam Anderson roast on Comedy Central where Arthur delivered a deadpan reading of Anderson’s ribald novel. Arthur is survived by her two sons and two granddaughters.
Thankfully all seasons of The Golden Girls and her film appearances are available on DVD. However, only the first season of Maude has been issued on DVD – and that was two years ago. Sony should seriously consider bringing the remaining five seasons out on DVD, especially for her fans. Here are a couple videos with which we can celebrate Arthur’s life and talent. First up is from her first appearance as Maude on All in the Family:
Maude’s telethon has turned into an on-air disaster and she has to save it:
This is from Bea’s favorite bit on The Golden Girls where Dorothy and Sophia dressed up as Sonny and Cher for a mother-daughter competition.
And this is the hilarious Sex and the City parody:
And finally, here is Bea and her good friend and costar Angela Lansbury reprising their showstopping “Bosom Buddies” from Mame on the 1987 Tony awards.