The current revival of West Side Story will enter its second year on Broadway, but there’s still memories of the 1980 revival that played for 333 performances. The revival starred Ken Marshall (quite possibly the best sung Tony I’ve ever heard) and Tony-nominated leading ladies Josie de Guzman and Debbie Allen, recreating the Jerome Robbins’ staging.
First up, the cast visits with Tom Brokaw on “The Today Show” for “Tonight” and “I Feel Pretty”:
The Today Show continues with Debbie Allen leading the girls in a spirited “America”:
The cast performs “Quintet” onstage at the Met for a TV special called “Gala of Stars.” (Note: Brent Barrett is one of the Jets). The audio and video gets out of sync, but it’s rather well sung. Then Leonard Bernstein and Beverly Sills join the cast for a curtain call.
One of the simple joys in my life is making today’s birthday girl crack up at inappropriate times during the taking of photographs, whether we’re classing up Feinstein’s (see right) or on a historical day trip (see below). If you’re not blessed to have a witty Harriet Walter-worshiping, Cary Grant loving, bibliophile crowned “Queen Hot Dog” in your life then you don’t know the fun you’re missing. Equal parts no-nonsense librarian and madcap heiress, you never know where the laughs are going to come from, but believe me there is never a shortage when you’re on the town with this krazy kat.
This information came across my desk this evening and I felt compelled to share. I don’t venture Off-Off Broadway as much as I would like, but I do feel I need to pay more attention to what’s happening in theatre outside of the Broadway realm. Here goes…
The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation presents the findings of “Demographic Study of Off-Off-Broadway Practitioners”. The study, conducted during September 2007 through February 2009, recorded and analyzed the specific population characteristics of the artists working in New York’s Off-Off-Broadway theatre sector.
Some of the highlights include: • 85% of the OOB population holds a college degree. This is 58% higher than the national average. • 86% voted in the 2004 presidential election. This is 22% higher than the national average of 64%. • 68% of respondents are age 21-40 • 53% of respondents are female • Income level of Off-Off-Broadway artists is near the national average, and slightly below the NY state average • 91% of respondents live in New York City
“These reports help to shed light on the Off-Off-Broadway community and the significant contributions it makes to New York City’s cultural environment,” says Shay Gines, Executive Director, New York Innovative Theatre Foundation. “The demographics report in particular looks at the individual artists that make up the community and shows them to be highly educated voters who are involved in civic and community activities.
It provides measured data to back up funding requests in this sector. It allows us to identify and leverage our strengths when negotiating for resources or advocating for the needs of this important arts community. It is proof that an investment in the Off-Off-Broadway community is an investment in NYC.”
Ben Hodges, Editor in Chief, Theatre World publications comments, “As an archivist and a theatre historian, I understand the importance of this kind of study. It is immediately useful as well as historically significant. It simultaneously elucidates the value of the Off-Off-Broadway community while creating an historical record for posterity of Off-Off-Broadway.“
Tony-winning Tyne Daly sings “Each Tomorrow Morning/And I Was Beautiful” from Dear World for Tony-winning Angela Lansbury, from the 1996 Angela Lansbury – A Tribute, a star-studded benefit presented by AmFar in association with BC/EFA. Enjoy:
Back in November, Encores! presented a rare revival of the 1930 Gershwin musical Girl Crazy. In effect, the experience was more like a history lesson to musical aficionados and scholars as the book and construction don’t quite hold up to the more sophisticated standards that have come our way. When there was an attempt to revive the show in the late 80s/early 90s, it became clear to the powers that be that the original show couldn’t work in an politically era of Broadway. That’s when Crazy for Youwas born.
The new musical was loosely based on the basic plot outline of the original: rich NYC playboy goes west, falls in love with local girl. Hijinks ensue. However, Ken Ludwig wrote a brand new story with new characters and situations, using five songs from the Girl Crazy score and interpolating thirteen other Gershwin songs. The new show was something of a backstage musical farce, with the young playboy putting on a Ziegfeld-esque show in the middle-of-nowhere Deadrock, Nevada just to impress that town’s only girl. Direction was provided by Mike Ockrent, the British director who had similarly resuscitated Me and My Girl in the mid 80s and the choreography was supplied by newcomer Susan Stroman. The show would mark Stroman’s first significant Broadway achievement and launched her career as one of the most important choreographers of the decade.
Starring as the two lovers were Harry Groener and Jodi Benson. The original Broadway cast also included the late, great Bruce Adler, Beth Leavel, Michelle Pawk, John Hillner, Jane Connell, Jessica Molaskey, Casey Nicholaw, and Stephen Temperley (who would go on to write Souvenir). After 10 previews, the show opened at the Shubert Theatre to rave reviews, with a particularly ecstatic Frank Rich proclaiming that Broadway had reached out and snatched the musical back from the British. The musical comedy won three Tonys: Best Musical, Best Costume Design (William Ivey Long) and Best Choreography. The show ran 1,622 performances on Broadway; a London company starring Ruthie Henshall opened a year later and ran for almost three years. A PaperMill Playhouse production recreated the Broadway staging, even featuring original cast members and was aired on PBS Great Performances.
I first saw Crazy for You at my high school when I was 14 years old. It was the school’s spring musical, and I was completely blown away. The script was funny, the music and lyrics were from the Gershwins and utterly sublime (my first real introduction to their work). It was enough to get me involved with the high school’s drama club, where I spent two glorious years. I also wore out a videotape of the PaperMill telecast. Our senior year, the high school took a trip (a field trip down memory lane, really) to see the show at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford. Once again, they were recreating much of the original staging (and there were cast members from the PaperMill staging, too). The show starred Shonn Wiley and Meredith Patterson, who would both go onto starring in various Broadway roles and also get married along the way.
For what it’s worth, Stroman may have made a lot of waves with her direction and choreography of The Producers, but I don’t think she’s ever topped her breakthrough work in Crazy For You.
First up: Act One Finale. Ethel Merman became a star in Girl Crazy because of her delivery of “I Got Rhythm” late in that show’s first act. For Crazy for You, Stroman turns the number into a raucous, jubilant celebration lasting eight minutes. It’s a tap-heavy show (and this number especially), but it also exemplifies what would become her trademark: the use of props as part of the dance. Here is a rare video (found thanks to Robert Bullen of Confessions of a Chicago Theatre Addict) of the original Broadway cast performing “I Got Rhythm” onstage at the Shubert:
When the plot of Crazy For You is all wrapped up, and the inevitable happy ending is upon us, Stroman goes all out for a very Astaire-Rogers moment with the lovers rising while showgirls in folly girl headdresses appear. But wait – Stroman isn’t finished. There’s still the choreographed curtain call, with another boisterous reprise of “I Got Rhythm” (with all those tappers doing all those wings) leading to a company bow. Again, taped at the Shubert Theatre on 44th Street, here is the original cast. And yes, that’s Beth Leavel singing first.
I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the Andrew Lloyd Webber (some might recall my anecdote about being elbowed awake for snoring during Cats) but when PBS aired My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies back in 1999 (that long ago already?!) I was very much taken with the “Andrew Lloyd Webber Love Trio,” taking three of the Lord’s ballads and putting them together. Audra McDonald sang “Love Changes Everything” from Aspects of Love, Marin Mazzie sang “Unexpected Song” from Song & Dance and Judy Kuhn delivered “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar before the three finished together in a showstopping counterpoint.
One of the great gifts of the holiday season was the chance to see Kate Baldwin’s debut at Feinstein’s back on December 13. The evening was a chance to celebrate her solo CD debut, “Let’s See What Happens,” one of the finest solo recordings released in the last couple of years. Her husband, actor Graham Rowat, made the following video of her evening, capturing her humor, elegance and of course, that stunning singing voice. For those of who weren’t able to be there that night, here’s a glimpse into that glorious evening. You can still catch Kate in Finian’s Rainbow at the St. James Theatre until January 17, it’s a performance you don’t want to miss. In the meanwhile, enjoy:
It’s a song that I’ve heard often enough, whether on solo CDs or live in performance or even in acting classes. And it’s a song I’ve grown to despise as a result of all of those encounters. It doesn’t help that I’m not particularly sold on the show it’s from either. However, when traveling with Kari, Roxie and Sarah two months ago to Val-Kill and New Paltz, this rendition of that song popped on the iPod and I found myself rather impressed. Here is Betty Buckley singing “Stars and the Moon” from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. This time, the song had the credence of someone who made it seem as though she actually lived every word. I haven’t changed my mind on the song itself, but whenever Buckles is singing it, I will gladly listen.
The revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is only one week into previews for its limited engagement at the Cort Theatre and already there is a second tenant lined up for the venue on 48th Street for the spring. The revival of August Wilson’s Fences starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis will open at the theatre on April 26.
The Cort Theatre hasn’t exactly been the most desirable house in the history of Broadway, it’s located on the “wrong” side of the street, seemingly out of the way from the rest of the major houses (on 48th Street, next to Sam Ash, near the Fox News Building). The medium sized theatre contains 1100 seats and is ideal for both plays and smaller musicals. However, even though it’s not as far from the vicinity of Times Square as the Virginia, Neil Simon or Gershwin, it still manages to feel remote. During the 50s, the show housed popular Tony-winning successes like The Diary of Anne Frank and Sunrise at Campobello. The longest run at the theatre was the Stephen Schwartz-Doug Henning musical The Magic Show, which ran 1,920 performance in the mid-to-late ’70s.
However, most shows that play at the Shubert owned and operated theatre have had a tendency to not do well (Radio Golf, Bobbi Boland, A Year with Frog and Toad, Barefoot in the Park revival, The Little Dog Laughed, On Golden Pond revival, Hollywood Arms, Marlene, Kat and the Kings – and this just a selection from the last ten years). However, non-profit transfers (The 39 Steps and The Heiress) and limited engagements (You’re Welcome America and The Blue Room) have found success there.
The first half of 2010 will keep the real estate occupied with two star-studded events – Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johannson for 16 weeks in the Arthur Miller revival, and Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the August Wilson. Perhaps the key to successfully housing the theatre is to maintain the movie star engagements that have been the great financial successes of the season to date (A Steady Rain and Hamlet). Cubby Bernstein, the memorable wunderkind producer behind the Xanadu Tony campaign cursed someone over the phone with the quote in the title of this post. However, after You’re Welcome America and A View from a Bridge, the Cort Theatre in February may be a blessing after all.
