MUSICAL MAYHEM: MY TOP TWENTY-FIVE
MUSICALS
The Honor Roll - Part 5
Two more musicals from the Honor Roll of my
top twenty-five musicals. One is a Tony winner and the other is an
all-but-forgotten show. I can't wait to get started, so let's begin.
THEY'RE PLAYING
OUR SONG – Book by Neil Simon, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics
by Carole Bayer Sager
Without
a care in the world and without a mean or serious bone in its musical theatre
body, bless its heart, They're Playing
Our Song plays like a refreshing breeze on a still, humid day or a
thirst-quenching drink on a hot summer afternoon. Oh, sure, our protagonists
have a very up-and-down relationship and it even threatens to, gasp!, dissolve,
but trust Messrs. Simon and Hamlisch and Ms. Sager to prevent anything like
that to happen. It does provide the background for the show's best ballad,
"I Still Believe in Love," but even as Sonia pours her heart out in
this stellar song, you just know it will all work itself out by the final
curtain. I'm devoted to this show. I adore the score, even though with only ten
numbers, including one reprise, it's a bit thin song-wise by musical standards,
and Neil Simon's book is often just flat-out hysterical and I still get the
giggles when I think of that classic line "Look how much your cane loves
you!" Dated? Absolutely. It has a sweetness and eagerness to please that
musicals today often don't have in their desire to be more than escapist
entertainment (this seaon's closed-way-too-soon Honeymoon in Vegas is an exception). There's no message. There's no
hidden agenda. They're Playing Our Song
simply invites you to sit back, enjoy some great music, laugh at some great
one-liners and leave the theatre smiling. That truly works for me.
Sidebar: I know I'm centuries too old,
but I've always wanted to play one of the Voices and not necessarily one of
Vernon's voices. Sonia's voices have more sass, but I'd gladly play in either
group. Despite a run of nearly 1200 performances, this show has never had a
Broadway revival. Heeeeellllloooo?? I can think of several potential revival
casts off the top of my head. Fun fact: Stockard Channing, yes that
Stockard Channing, was a replacement Sonia during the Broadway run.
March,
1979. Just six weeks after it opened to a set of mostly positive reviews
(what's not to love, I ask?), They're Playing Our Song looked like a shiny new
coin and played like a million bucks. In 1979, Robert Klein was arguably the
bigger name, and as such had the "star" left-side billing, and he
played his part with enthusiasm and an earnestness that was both endearing and a
bit goofy. He was immensely likeable. By contrast, however, it was clearly
evident from the moment she made her entrance that Lucie Arnaz, in her Broadway
debut, owned the Imperial stage. Now mind you, she never, ever
overshadowed her co-star and she always, always was in sync with Klein,
but she had a presence that just told you this was one Broadway newcomer to
watch. Perhaps this charisma is in her genes, being the daughter of Desi Arnaz
and Lucille Ball. Or perhaps it's that the role of Sonia is arguably the better
role with the not-arguably more-soaring power ballads. I suspect it's a
combination of both. No matter. They were both sensational and I laughed
heartily and applauded like mad. Patricia Birch did the choreography, the high
point being the joyful title song; Robert Moore provided the seamless
direction; pros Douglas W. Schmidt, Ann Roth and Tharon M usser designed
everything (scenic, costumes and lights respectively). I
became an instant fan. – at the Imperial Theatre, New York.
April,
1979. Well, I loved the show so much, I went back two days later to catch an
Actors Fund performance on that Sunday evening. An Actors Fund performance is a
special performance given by shows nationwide to benefit the Actors Fund of
America, a nationwide charitable organization that offers services and help to
people in the entertainment industry. In New York, these performances are
typically held on an "off" night, so folks involved in other shows
can come cheer their friends and colleagues. Back in 1979, Sunday evenings on
Broadway were dark. With an audience filled with industry friends and
colleagues, the show had an added element of excitement and you could feel the
electricity flowing both ways across the footlights. During the interval, Ain't Misbehavin's Armelia McQueen
chatted me up in the lobby. It was that kind of evening. – at the Imperial
Theatre, New York
December,
1979. First preview of the First National Tour. The set used in the bows
apparently wasn't ready, which, of course, didn't faze the talented men and
women on the Shubert stage one bit. In a far cry from the soulful and somewhat
dour Anthony Hope of Sweeney Todd,
Victor Garber showed his comic chops with a suitably manic performance as
Vernon Gersh. He was irresistible and a better singer than Klein. As Sonia,
Chicago audiences were indeed blessed to see the incomparable Ellen Greene.
Distinctive in voice and somewhat quirky in manner, Greene gave an entirely new
dimension to Sonia. Where Arnaz's Sonia was earthbound and centered, Greene's
was a bit more frantic and scattered, so when she got down to musical brass
tacks with "Just For Tonight" and especially "I Still Believe in
Lone," the result was devastating. A duplicate of the New York original,
this had all the bells and whistles, except for that final set piece, and the
Voices were all marvelous. – at the Shubert Theatre, Chicago.
Another rare extant ticket from pre-computer days. The Mezzanine is now called the Dress Circle. Lousy place to sit unless you're in the first few rows because the Mezzanine (nee First Balcony) overhang cuts off the top portion of the stage.
The program had a minor makeover between previews and performances.
February,
1980. By this time the curtain call set piece was in place and the company as a
whole seemed relaxed and at home at the Shubert. The group of friends I was
with all thought the performance was super. So did I. – at the Shubert Theatre,
Chicago
March,
1980. My best friend, Pat, was with me at the first Chicago preview. In March,
1980, we were both in New York to perform at a word-processing conference. (Word
processors!!) We had some time off and since this was Lucie Arnaz's last day in
the show, we decided to pay TPOS a
return visit. Broadway stalwart Tony Roberts was playing Vernon by this time.
I've never found Roberts to be an especially compelling performer, but he's
always reliably and consistently good, which is probably why he always works,
and his performance was solid and professional. Curiously, Arnaz now occupied
the "star" billing slot and for her final matinee, she truly proved
the billing was well worth it. It didn't hurt, of course, that the theatre was
filled with fans and well-wishers, but she really pulled out all the stops and
gave a magnificent performance. Fun fact: Future two-time Tony Award winner Donna Murphy had joined the cast and played one of Sonia's voices. – at the Imperial Theatre, New York
February,
1981. (updated from a previous blog post) I would have seen this show in any
event, but the bonus for me here in London was the dual casting of Tony-winner
Tom Conti, in a surprisingly accomplished musical comedy turn, as Vernon and
especially Gemma Craven, whom I fell in love with in the underrated film The
Slipper and the Rose as Sonia.
She was a joy with keen comic timing and a big, rich voice that did justice to
her songs. Her "I Believe in Love"… yum. London editions of American
musicals often seem to be played at a slightly faster clip which refreshes most
material, no matter how excellent, and breathes new energy into it. Such was
the case here. The material crossed the pond successfully and the London cast
album remains my preferred version. This Yank had a grand time. – at the
Shaftesbury Theatre, London
June,
1981. So what's a girl to do when her mother was one of the greatest and most
iconic entertainers of all time, her sister an Emmy-Oscar-Tony winner (a non-competitive Grammy Legend Award would come in 1990) and only
slightly less iconic than their mother, and when, for both her mother and sister, last names are superfluous because, well, who else would you mean and especially when your name is brought
up and people say, "Who? Oh! You mean the other daughter." Well, if you're Lorna Luft, you work hard at
your craft, take over an established role in a long-running Broadway show, work
in summer stock, accept concert engagements whenever possible, star in a
national tour of a Broadway hit, and relish in surprising people when they
discover just how talented you are. And that's exactly what Lorna Luft
did in the Second National Tour of TPOS.
All the familiar production elements were present on the Uihlein Hall stage,
Richard Ryder was an engaging and likeable Vernon, but it was Lorna Luft who
was the revelation. With all due respect to Misses Arnaz, Greene, and Craven,
this was arguably the best acted and certainly the best sung Sonia that I have
seen. Her Sonia had just enough quirkiness to make her fun, but shaded that
with a touching vulnerability that made you root for her from the start. And
vocally? Ms. Luft definitely knew her way around the songs, knew how to merge
the lyrics and the music until you believed the song was written expressly for
her. You shouldn't be surprised. After all, she is Judy Garland's
daughter. The interesting thing, though, is even back then Liza often sounded
and performed like her mom, but you only caught glimpses of Garland in Luft's
performance and only if you were looking for it. Absolutely first-rate. – at
Uihlein Hall, Milwaukee
December, 1981.
Produced with Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre's usual standards, this was an
entertaining evening that was professional, well-acted, well-sung and had lots
of energy, but wasn't especially memorable. Chicago favorite David H. Bell
certainly did a credible job directing the endeavor, but it was one of those
shows that didn't particularly register
one way or the other. – at Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre, Lincolnshire IL
July,
1984. Good things always seemed to going on at the still-lamented Candlelight
Dinner Playhouse in Summit. By far, Candlelight was best in show for non-city
theatre. Producer Bill Pullinsi and his directors, designers and actors gave
audiences Broadway-quality shows and TPOS
was no exception. Robert Neches, who played Vernon, was one of Steve's
clients and he was a delightful Vernon who was clearly having fun in the role.
Opposite him was Paty Lombard in a solid performance as Sonia that echoed Lucie
Arnaz's, but was, at the same time, her own interpretation. A young Hollis
Resnick was one of Sonia's voices. Good food and great theatre. Can't beat
that! – at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, Summit IL
*************************
TITANIC – Book by Peter
Stone, Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston
The
pre-opening buzz was lethal. The technical problems were legion, frequently
stopping the show mid-performance. Preview walkouts were numerous. The ten-million-dollar
show didn't have an iceberg's chance in hell and most critics and theatre
columnists predicted the show, like its namesake, would sink at its opening
performance, if it made it there at all. But despite a legendarily hellish
preview period, vicious pre-opening press on a daily basis, and
neutral-to-negative notices, Titanic
proved everyone wrong by winning five Tony Awards two months later, including
Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, and ended up with
a respectable, if, unfortunately, unprofitable, run of over 800 performances.
It perhaps will never again receive a production like it's original one, but
over time, the show has proven that first impressions can often be wrong and
has become somewhat of a cult musical, admired for both its faults and for its
magnificent virtues. This is not a perfect show. It could use a sensitive trim and some well-thought-out
character excision. There are simply too many people to keep track of and not
all of them essential to the story. The storyline of 2nd Class passenger Alice
Beane borders precariously on being unsympathetically annoying. The number that
I'm sure the creatives thought would be the takeaway hit song,
"Still," while certainly touching, has never particularly moved me.
And sometimes the show just sort of creaks along. But then…ah, but then. Let's
be honest. The sinking of the Titanic
is still, over one hundred years later, a story that intrigues and captures the
imagination of so many people. It's a human story of greed, hubris, ambition,
love, bravery and courage that still resonates. Titanic's story shows us people at the best and at their worst. We,
perhaps despite ourselves, get involved with this familiar story. We know some
of our favorite characters will die, yet we still want the outcome to be
different. And at the end, we are moved. And that's primarily due to Peter
Stone's book and Maury Yeston's magnificent score. If you haven't listened to
the cast recording lately, spend some time listening to the musical glories of
this show. There are many treasures there, but none as great as the opening
sequence of music that is the most thrilling opening of any show I've seen.
This show beat the odds. For that, we should be thankful.
Sidebar: For the record, my other top
favorite openings, in order are "Ragtime" from Ragtime, "Willkommen" from Cabaret (1998), "Walk Him Up the Stairs" from Purlie and "Willkommen" from Cabaret (1966).
December,
1998. As mentioned earlier, Titanic
pretty much confounded its critics and not only won a bunch of Tony Awards, but
also acquired a sizeable number of devoted fans and embarked on a very
respectable two-year run. We saw this about twenty months after its opening. By
then the show had long settled into its berth at the Lunt-Fontanne (sorry…I'll
stop the shipboard references now) and the largely replacement cast of seasoned
Broadway pros brought this sweeping tale to life. In the reviews, much was made
of the intricate, yet not particularly opulent, scenic design…I suspected most
reviewers were disappointed it wasn't more luxe...but I found the use of levels
to reflect the various decks and the
shipboard hierarchy to be effective. Most impressive was the scenic coup de
théâtre in the First Class Smoking Room as the hydraulics worked overtime and
furniture and actor Matthew Bennett, playing Titanic's architect, Thomas Andrews, tilted and slid offstage
representing the ship as it sank. Really quite brilliant. Least impressive, the
scenic "what-the-hell-were-they-thinking" use of a miniature Titanic zipping along the upstage wall
at the conclusion of Act One, then disappearing offstage with a crash,
symbolizing, I assume, the collision with the iceberg. Really rather silly and
it elicited more than a few laughs, not the reaction the designers were aiming
for, I suspect. In an otherwise elegant production, it was quite cheesy. The
opening sequence soared; Martin Moran and Clarke Thorell shone in their duet
"The Proposal/The Night was Alive;" John Cunningham provided years of
Broadway experience as a noble Captain Smith; Adam Pelty made the most out of
the eerie and prophetic "No Moon;" Jennifer Piech, Theresa McCarthy
and Emily Loesser, daughter of composer Frank Loesser, were notable and feisty
as the three Kates. Unfortunately, I felt Kay Walbye's Alice Beane was cloying
and how much of that had to do with the performance itself and how much of it
had to do with the writing of the part is debatable. I will say, however, that
in the staged concert version, the character came across better. For the
record, the Lunt's balcony is painfully tight. Poor Bob's leg were crushed. We
took empty seats in the orchestra for Act Two. – at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre,
New York
(edited
from a previous post)
February,
2014. Manhattan Concert Productions presented this. These are the same folks
who produced last season's breathtaking concert edition of Ragtime.
Last year's performance bordered on a religious experience; this year was no
different. It was simply magnificent; a feast for the ears and the soul as
Peter Stone and Maury Yeston brought the legendary tragic saga of the
ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic to a human level, devoid of the
special effects and stereotypes of James Cameron's much-lauded film. (Lest you
get the wrong impression, I quite like Mr. Cameron's film. But it's often more
spectacle than story.) From Captain to First Class Passenger to the Bellboy,
director Don Stephenson and music director Kevin Stites gave us characters we
may have loved or hated, Bruce Ismay was really a despicable human being, but
we were interested in all of them and cared about many of them. As I've mentioned before, this is not a
perfect show. Not every number lands: the Strauses' "Still," ably
sung by Alma Cuervo and Ron Raines, tugs at our emotions, but doesn't quite
touch us the way the authors intended; "I Give You My Hand," a
beautiful song cut during Broadway previews, is pretty to listen to, but seems
grafted onto the proceedings; "Mr. Andrews' Vision," while powerful,
perhaps could have better made its point as a frantic spoken monologue, given
the scenic/technical restraints of a staged concert production on a concert
hall stage. But, then, ladies and gentlemen, there is that opening sequence: a
glorious experience that ranks, in my book, as the most singular opening
number in musical theatre. Ever. Full stop. According to the program, seven
pieces of music make up this opening, ending with the goosebump-inducing
"Godspeed Titanic," which also brings the show to its triumphant
conclusion. It's a marvel of acting, singing, and, even in this concert
setting, staging. Like last year, a 250-strong chorus added an extra thrilling
element to the ensemble numbers. Many of the original cast members returned to
reprise their roles and they were all greeted with enthusiastic "welcome
home" entrance applause. This remarkable cast included, in addition to Ms.
Cuervo and Mr. Raines, Michael Cerveris, David Constabile, John Bolton, John
Cunningham, David Garrison, Jill Paice, Michele Ragusa, Ryan Silverman and
other talented Broadway pros. Top honors, though went to David Elder as
Frederick Fleet with a haunting "No Moon" to close Act One, Joseph
Castinado, a high school junior, whose excitement at being in this production
in the role of Bellboy was positively contagious and totally endearing, but
most especially to Brian d'Arcy James (Frederick Barrett) and Martin Moran
(Harold Bride) whose duet of "The Proposal/The Night Was Alive"
stopped the show cold and when they appeared together at bows, brought the
already loud and enthusiastic applause to a deafening roar of cheers and
bravos. My good pal, Gina, joined me and she remarked that she'd seen nothing
quite like this. I agree. - at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York
That's
it for now! Til later.
©
2015 Jeffrey Geddes
