ALPHABET SOUP (10)
FEATURING A RANDOM LETTER OF THE ALPHABET AND
SOME SHOWS THAT BEGIN WITH THAT LETTER
C
The blue London coffee mug gave up the letter "C,"
and the first few programs in the "C" stack represent a wide variety
of shows: including an underappreciated and totally charming musical; a slight,
but wildly entertaining piece of fluff from Kander and Ebb; a classic,
not-often-revived Inge play, and it's all but unheard of musical version; a
beloved, but bloated musical favorite; an inventive all-singing, all-dancing delight of Gershwin tunes; and, finally, a thoroughly mediocre musical
made magical by its legendary leading lady.
This is going to be one of the longer posts, so let's begin….
A CATERED AFFAIR
– Walter Kerr Theatre, New York
March, 2008. Fourth preview. A quiet, emotionally charged musical that was sadly
underrated and unappreciated by the critics.
Beautiful performances by all involved, but special kudos to Prince for
her raw and shattering performance as a woman whose life wasn't what
she had hoped it would be. Based on the The
Catered Affair by Gore Vidal, which in turn was based on an original
teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky, this small-scale musical, in an intimate
production sensitively directed by John Doyle, wasn't afraid to be quiet,
wasn't afraid to be totally silent, wasn't afraid to let its very human
characters let their emotions and their disappointments rage when called for. Tom
Wopat's "I Stayed" neatly summarized his character is a powerful
musical soliloquy; Faith Prince's "Vision" was a rare and touching
moment of happiness, even if imaginary, in this woman's life; Harvey
Fierstein's "Immediate Family" gave reign to all the bitterness and
anger stored up in a man whose life, by Eisenhower-era necessity, was lived in
the shadows. This wasn't a happy show, but it was truthful, and the
bittersweet, yet hopeful ending brought this gem to a satisfying conclusion.
The audience was spellbound. So were we. The show deserved a longer run. – at
the Walter Kerr Theatre, New York
Sidebar: The critical community in New York pretty much
hated A Catered Affair, including the
all-important New York Times. I'm not
sure what show these folks all saw, but it wasn't the one I saw in previews.
And that's the beauty of previews. You, as an audience member, can form your
own opinions without any preconceived critical notions or opinions from a
critic or blogger. This is why I honestly prefer going to previews and why I
rarely read reviews anymore, and when I do, I use them simply as a reference
point. Sorry, Ben Brantley, but your approval or disapproval doesn't sway me
one way or the other. I just don't care what critics/bloggers think. If I liked
the show, I liked the show. If I didn't, I didn't. Full stop. A reviewer is not
going to change my opinion. A Catered
Affair struggled to find an audience and closed after only 116
performances. Such a shame.
– Stage 773, Chicago
February, 2012. Porchlight Theatre's production of A Catered Affair was one of Porchlight's
better productions, largely free from glaring community theatre performances
that can haunt their productions, and one that surprisingly made the performance-unfriendly
The Thrust space relatively intimate. Nick Bowling's direction was effective,
if largely giving short shrift to the audience seated on the sides. (We wisely
sat in the center section, so we didn't have any sight problems.) The production's
two Equity actors, Rebecca Finnegan and Craig Spidle, played the Faith Prince
and Tom Wopat roles with dignity and emotional honesty. The audience liked
Jerry O'Boyle's Winston, but he went for the obvious and was often too loud,
missing the subtlety that Harvey Fierstein brought to the role. The rest of the
cast, while sometimes uneven in acting ability, added appropriate flavor. I
liked the performance, but the magic that the New York production had was
missing here for whatever reason. Still, overall, it was well-worth seeing. –
at Stage 773, Chicago
CURTAINS – Hirschfeld
Theatre, New York
Sidebar: With decidedly mixed reviews,
the show ran just over a year and, although recoupment status wasn't provided
by the producers at the time of its closing, that very omission pretty much
indicates the show didn't make its money back. A shame, too. Although he is
popular and much-loved in the theatre community, David Hyde Pierce's Tony win
was somewhat controversial, with many people strongly believing the award
should have gone to Raúl Esparza for his role in a revival of Company. Esparza's performance certainly
had more nuance and depth, but Hyde Pierce's performance overall was more
accessible.
COME BACK, LITTLE
SHEBA – Biltmore Theatre, New York
February, 2008. Any doubts one may have had about S. Epatha
Merkerson's acting abilities, largely confined as they were to the small screen
in TV's iconic Law & Order, were
smartly and quickly dispelled as her devastating portrayal of Lola Delaney, a
woman living a life of quiet desperation and to-the-bone disappointment unfolded in the Manhattan Theatre Club's first-class production of William Inge's rarely-done
classic, Come Back, Little Sheba.
Kevin Anderson's performance as Doc Delaney echoed the frustration and loss of a
once-promising life, and his descent back into alcoholism was terrifying. The
design elements by James Noone (scenic), Jennifer von Mayrhauser (costumes),
and Jane Cox (lighting) all worked to create a claustrophobic, life-sucking
environment. Michael Pressman's direction was neat and tidy. Once often spoken
of in the same breath as Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, Inge's work
today hasn't aged particularly well, and Come
Back, Little Sheba, even in this terrific production, couldn't completely
escape the occasional whiff of watching a museum piece. Mere quibbles, however,
when Ms. Merkerson was onstage. Whether chattering non-stop to anyone who stopped by in an attempt to alleviate her crushing loneliness, or being still and
quiet, yet somehow conveying the depths of her despair, she was magnificent.
The was not an especially happy evening, but so rewarding. – at the Biltmore
Theatre, New York
SHEBA – First Chicago
Center, Chicago
August, 1974. Final performance. Why anyone would want to
make a musical out of Inge's sad, desolate play, Come Back, Little Sheba, is anyone's guess. Perhaps a Stephen
Sondheim score could have made a compelling reason, but as written by Lee
Goldsmith and Clint Ballard, Jr., it came off as a showcase for the multi-talented
Kay(e) Ballard, pleasant and professional to look at and listen to, but,
despite all of Ballard's considerable skills, eminently forgettable. Broadway
vet George D. Wallace was boxed with an also starring billing as Doc with
supporting performances by Kimberly Farr and a pre-WKRP in Cincinnati Gary Sandy. The Chicago Tribune's William Leonard liked it, but Sheba apparently did not get either the
press or the buzz it needed to move on and it closed after the Chicago tryout.
– at the First Chicago Center, Chicago
Sidebar: Sheba would resurface in Westport, Connecticut, in 2001 in a
four-performance, fully-staged Equity production starring Donna McKechnie as
Lola. A recording was made of this production by Original Cast Records as Come Back, Little Sheba. (A "private"
reel-to-reel recording of the Ballard Sheba
was made at the final performance.
It may or may not still exist in his private collection. No, I did not make the recording!) The First
Chicago Center, where Sheba played
its tryout, was, in reality, the First National Bank of Chicago's auditorium. For
a relatively brief period, it was marketed as an intimate alternative to the
big Loop houses. It was a nice space, but not really suitable for live theatre.
I believe this was its last theatrical booking. Sheba remains all but unknown and forgotten.
CAMELOT – Arie Crown
Theatre, Chicago
September, 1980. Fresh from its summer run at Lincoln
Center, the National Tour of Lerner and Loewe's beloved Camelot, starring its legendary original star, Richard Burton, began
its road travels at the monstrosity known as the Arie Crown Theatre. From the
far reaches of the Arie Crown's balcony (Row S!), we could see and hear
everything, but everyone was, well, small, and, from that distance, everything looked, well, on the cheap side. Would
it be heresy to say that Paxton Whitehead's King Pellinore was the high point
of the evening? It might be heresy to say that Mr. Burton's Arthur, despite
that singular voice, was subdued to the point of dullness, but that was the
case here. He looked tired; he looked, frankly, ill. (In fact, Burton would
leave the show six months later due to poor health.) A young Christine Ebersole
was a slightly saucy, beautifully sung Guenevere; Richard Muenz was a handsome
Lancelot; Robert Fox was an appropriately snarky Mordred. Yes, I know everyone
loves Camelot, but here's the
thing…the heart of the show is the intimate story of three people, Arthur,
Guenevere, and Lancelot, but the creators bloated it out of proportion and
added all this really unnecessary pomp and circumstance. The simple story
drowns in costumes, sets, and extraneous characters. It may have been visually
stunning in the 1960 original, but at Arie Crown it looked, like too much of
the show, a bit lifeless and disappointingly cheesy. I really wanted to like
it. I didn't. I enjoyed it (the
score, after all, is a marvel), but I didn't like it. I was in the minority here, however. The capacity audience
ate it up. – at Arie Crown Theatre, Chicago
CRAZY FOR YOU –
Shubert Theatre, New York
August, 1994. Crazy
for You, a revamp of the 1930 chestnut,
Girl Crazy, was a leave-your-brains-at-the-door evening of pure
entertainment which starred a cornucopia of delicious songs by George and Ira
Gershwin, with all of it wrapped up with a big, cheerful bow courtesy of
director Mike Ockrent and his wife, choreographer, and now director, Susan
Stroman. The plot had something to do with a foreclosure on a theatre in
someplace called Deadrock, Nevada, but if you were trying to actually follow
the plot, you were thinking far too hard. Starring Harry Groener and Karen
Ziemba, both charm-to-the-hilt, this piece of fluff purred like a contented
cat. Carleton Carpenter, Jane Connell, and Bruce Adler were on hand to provide
some textbook scenery chewing. This was my introduction to Karen Ziemba and
I've been a fan ever since. I'll pretty much see her in anything. Also in the
cast was Beth Leavel, the original Drowsy Chaperone. Lend Me a Tenor's Ken Ludwig provided the book, such as it was. Beautifully
designed and lovingly played by the pit orchestra, this was escapism of the
highest quality. Stroman would win her first of five Tony Awards with this production.
Crazy for You would, surprisingly,
win the Tony for Best Musical over the arguably better Falsettos, which took the prizes for Book and Score. I had a grand
time, but felt at the time, and still do for that matter, that My One and Only is the better
"new" Gershwin show. – at the Shubert Theatre, New York
COCO – Civic Opera
House, Chicago
No, it's not a good show, but it starred Hepburn!
January, 1971. To probably no one's surprise, Coco, the Alan Jay Lerner and André
Previn musical nominally about designer Coco Chanel, but really all about its
star, Katharine Hepburn, closed quickly after Hepburn left the show and was
replaced by an authentic Frenchwoman, Danielle Darrieux. No reflection on Ms.
Darrieux's talents. After all, she'd been a star for four decades by 1971. It
was just that Coco was, and is, a
truly mediocre show and it needs a force of nature, like Hepburn, to make it
work as well as it does. Coco closed
at a loss on Broadway, so Hepburn, old-school trouper that she was, agreed to
tour with the show until it made back its costs. (By the end of the tour, the
show not only broke even, but also showed a modest profit.) The Civic Opera
House is not an ideal place to see a musical, but the sumptuous sets and
costumes by Cecil Beaton looked splendid in the Art Deco auditorium. Hepburn
was no more Coco Chanel than I am, but she owned
that stage and her audience. She made Lerner's rather lame book crackle with
humor and she managed to give Previn's mundane score some talk-singing flair.
She even danced a bit. As far as the audience was concerned, she could do no
wrong. George Rose and Jeanne Arnold were on hand to recreate their Broadway
roles and provide some first-rate support. Don Chastain and Lana Shaw played
the rather boring love interests. Pre-The
Nanny Daniel Davis stereotypically minced his way through the insufferable
and, frankly, offensive role of the jealous gay assistant. It was a rare lapse
of taste in a tasteful show. Chicago embraced Ms. Hepburn. Her show? Not so
much. – at the Civic Opera House, Chicago.
Sidebar: Coco was the first show I saw on Broadway. I saw Hepburn's
penultimate performance at the Mark Hellinger in August, 1970. Thrilling. Coco opened on Broadway in 1969. Stonewall had occurred only months before. Later in the 1969-1970 season, Applause would open. It would also
feature a gay character. In Applause's
case, the character was still a stereotype (a hairdresser), but was presented
with humor and affection and, as a young gay man, I found it exciting to see
"us" in a major role. Co-star George Rose would go on to win two Tony
Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. He was murdered in 1988 in the Dominican
Republic by his adopted son, his son's biological father and uncle, and a
friend of the father. All four spent time in prison, but no trial was held and
they've all been since released. Post-The
Nanny Daniel Davis would essay another gay role, Georges, in a 2004 revival
of La Cage aux Folles. He would be
fired abruptly from the role following a Sunday matinee on account of obnoxious
and abusive behavior backstage towards cast and crew. The producers paid Davis
to the end of his contract and he was replaced by Robert Goulet. And if anyone
doubts that Coco is less than
brilliant, there's a short audio YouTube clip of Ginger Rogers in a production
at the old Valley Forge Music Fair. It's all rather grim.
And on that note… Until next time…
© 2016 Jeffrey Geddes
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