Q & A: 10/4/04

Considering it was such a big success in its original production, no doubt thanks in large part to indelible performances and the Michael Bennett choreography, why has the show not received a Broadway revival? I know around the time of the Encores! production, there was talk of moving the production, but it never happened. I think this would be an ideal vehicle for the Roundabout to revive, perhaps starring Julia Murney as Fran, Patrick Wilson as Chuck, and Marc Kudisch as Sheldrake. What do you think are the chances of the show getting a major New York revival in the next few years?---Cole Ansier, Madison, Wisconsin

A: Promises, Promises was among the outstanding musicals of the '60s, and, just as you indicate, its score represented one of the few successful mergings of pop with theatre music. A Broadway revival might be tricky, however. The original production was blessed in all departments, and it would be a sizable challenge for a new version to measure up in terms of casting, musical staging, design, etc. Then too, the Promises score was very much of its time, and it might not have quite the same appeal for today's audiences that it had the first time around.

The Encores! production didn't help matters much, for while it was lavish and satisfactory, Martin Short wasn't really right for Chuck. Critical reaction to it was only lukewarm, and it wasn't a good sign that a critic like Clive Barnes, who had raved over the original production in his opening-night New York Times review, partly rescinded his high opinion of the show when he saw it at Encores!

Still, Promises remains one of the biggest hits of its era, and also one of the biggest hits never to have had a Broadway revival. Given the paucity of titles remaining to revive, I would imagine that Promises will, at some point, be considered again. Personally, though, I fear that a revival would fail to live up to the original.

Q: A show I have always loved, both on disc and in amateur productions I've seen, is Brigadoon. Do you think it would stand a chance in a Broadway revival I know that the last one didn't last long?---Charles Morris

A: The 1980 Broadway revival of Brigadoon only played a few months, but it was fairly strong, with especially nice work from leads Meg Bussert and Martin Vidnovic and with lyricist-librettist Alan Jay Lerner still around to provide some rewrites, including shifting the spot for intermission.

Since that version, Brigadoon has been produced a couple of times by New York City Opera; the last time around, it co-starred the three leads Rebecca Luker, Brent Barrett, Judy Kaye from the Angel studio recording.

Brigadoon is a lovely show. The fact that it has one foot in the land of operetta makes it trickier to revive, at least on Broadway, than certain other golden-age titles. Both the 1980 Broadway revival and City Opera versions featured recreations of the original Agnes de Mille choreography. For Brigadoon to come alive again on Broadway, the show would need to be rethought by top-notch stagers. But I think Brigadoon still has possibilities.

Q: Has there ever been a show that paid tribute to the great musical flops by presenting songs from them?---Howie

A: I believe there have been a number of cabaret-style revues featuring songs from flop musicals. One such attempt that I attended was called Broadway Jukebox, and it played off-Broadway's Westside Theatre in the early '80s. Conceived by Ed Linderman, the show featured rarely-sung numbers from mostly unsuccessful musicals. As I recall, about half the show was set in advance, but the audience was also given a list of song titles from which they could choose specific numbers to be sung at each performance.

Q: I have heard that a man once played the title role in Hello, Dolly!. When did this occur?---Stephen D.

A: Danny La Rue was a very popular English drag comic who starred in a series of successful West End revues and one book show Come Spy With Me built around his talents. In 1983, La Rue tried something different: a London revival at the Prince of Wales Theatre of Hello, Dolly!, with the star playing the leading role fairly straight, i.e. as written and without spoofing. Because La Rue was not just a female impersonator but a clown whose routines happened to involve performing in drag, the title role of Dolly! constrained him, and the production was not a success. It was the third London Dolly!, following the original that opened with Mary Martin and a late-'70s revival with Carol Channing.

Since the time of his London version, La Rue has continued to revive and tour in Hello, Dolly! He has also taken on two stage works in which drag is a specific part of the narrative: La Rue has played Albin in La Cage aux Folles and, on television, starred in Charley's Aunt.

Q: With Lincoln Center reviving The Rivals this season, I seem to remember a musical version of it from years ago. Does this ring a bell?---Jay Chamberlain

A: I'm aware of two musical versions of Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals. Jacques Urbont and Bruce Geller wrote a charming score for the 1961 off-Broadway version, entitled All in Love. It played five months at the Martinique Theatre.

Then there was a 1980 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production called Rivals, written by Cliff Jones, the author of the Canadian musical Rockabye Hamlet that was a quick flop on Broadway. I can't say for sure if Rivals was written directly for television or previously produced on stage. The CBC TV version was telecast on cable in the U.S. in the early '80s.

Q: I recently came across a DVD of a musical version of The Phantom of the Opera that is neither the Andrew Lloyd Webber nor Maury Yeston version. Where was this version produced?---Dennis Roberts

A: The Phantom of the Opera videotape on DVD to which you refer is of yet another musical version of the Gaston Leroux novel, this one with a book by Bruce Falstein and a score by Lawrence Rosen and Paul Schierhorn. Schierhorn wrote the 1985 Broadway musical disaster The News.

Directed by Darwin Knight, this Phantom was performed at the Abe Hirschfeld Theatre in Miami, then taped without an audience. It was first telecast by Miami PBS, and subsequently shown in a Manhattan movie theatre, where it managed to receive a decent review from The New York Times. It's a fairly cheap-looking production, and lacks the soaring tunes that distinguish both the Lloyd Webber and Yeston versions. And unlike the Lloyd Webber version, this one has far more dialogue than music. The cast includes David Staller, Elizabeth Walsh, and Beth McVey.

Q: With Encores! announcing Purlie, it put me in mind of the television version, which I wish they would show again. Do you think this will ever be released?---Carl J.

A: Perhaps. The video of Purlie was, in fact, released by MGM/CBS Home Video, but in VHS, and one assumes it is now out of print. This was a 1981 recreation of the 1970 show, preserving the original staging with considerable accuracy. Melba Moore repeated the role that won her a Tony. Sherman Helmsley and Linda Hopkins also recreated the roles they played on Broadway. In the title role is Robert Guillaume, who took over the part on Broadway and also played it on tour. The video is a fine document of the show.

Q: After reading Ben Brantley's review of The Woman in White, I was wondering if he ever wrote a review of the London production of The Beautiful Game. I was fortunate enough to see the original London production of this show, which was not a commercial success, but which I found to be a beautiful, deeply moving show, and the music seems very relevant in today's world. I would be curious to see what Ben Brantley thought about this show, as he seemed not to like The Woman in White much at all. Also, I was wondering what has become of Josie Walker, who was the star of The Beautiful Game and who gave one of the best performances I have ever seen in a musical.---John Curtis

A: As I recall, Brantley did not give The Beautiful Game a separate review like the one he accorded The Woman in White. I believe he covered Game as part of a London round-up piece, and while he was kinder to it than he had been toward Andrew Lloyd Webber's previous entry, Whistle Down the Wind, I believe Brantley's verdict on Game was unfavorable.

As for Josie Walker, she has recently been touring New Zealand in another Lloyd Webber musical, playing the title role in Evita.

Q: Driving around Los Angeles this weekend. I was listening to The Will Rogers Follies. I've always felt that it had one of the best musical openings, "Will-a-mania," in the last 30 years. Adored Cady Huffman as Ziegfield's Favorite, so much stronger than the role in The Producers that brought her the Tony. Can't believe it took 10 years for her to get her due. What was your opinion of that show? Why has Tommy Tune never returned to the Broadway stage after that show, with all the projects that he has started then cancelled. I'd imagine someone would offer him anything to return, in lieu of the usual list of suspects that continuously get all the gigs Ellis, Stroman, Cilento, Mantello, Marshall ...........---Steve Lieberman

A: Throughout the '80s and early '90s, Tommy Tune enjoyed one of the all-time most successful careers of any director-choreographer of Broadway musicals. His stagings of Nine, My One and Only, and Grand Hotel were unforgettable. Tune was able to make even a less inspired show like the entertaining Will Rogers look terrific. Will Rogers also had a catchy score and a wonderful lead performance by Keith Carradine. And Huffman was terrific. I too waited eagerly for her to follow it up, and would like to have seen her tackle the leading role in Steel Pier, for which she was the standby.

Needless to say, Tune had a distinction that such predecessors as Jerome Robbins or Michael Bennett couldn't boast: He was also a star performer, winning Tonys as both featured musical actor Seesaw and lead musical actor My One and Only.

The last musical Tune starred in was Busker Alley, which folded on the road in 1995 when Tune was injured. There were reports that during the show's tryout tour during which time the title was changed from Stage Door Charley to Buskers then Busker Alley, Tune assumed some of the staging chores that were otherwise credited to Jeff Calhoun. While not a disaster, Busker Alley was an unworkable show. Had it been more than that, it seems likely that it would have been resuscitated after Tune recovered.

Tune's reign as the king of Broadway stagers was extremely lucrative, as was his performing career, which included a stint following Michael Crawford in the Las Vegas extravaganza EFX. Still, it remains surprising that Tune has found nothing that he was interested in staging in the last decade. He was briefly mentioned as a possible stager for Titanic, and was more specifically involved with the development of the William Finn musical The Royal Family, a show that now appears to be dead. He has also been announced to direct Jerry Herman's Las Vegas musical Miss Spectacular, but that too does not seem to be happening. Given the quality of his '80s stagings and the recent dearth of director-choreographer talent, Tune's absence from Broadway in the last decade has been regrettable.

Q: Which revivals would you say were the best in the last decade or two, and why?---Kevin Cole

A: The National Theatre/Lincoln Center Carousel ranks as one of the few genuine re-imaginings of a classic musical that I've encountered. While the show has always been deeply moving, this production had a tragic beauty all its own.

The Livent/Hal Prince Show Boat was a fascinating re-examination of a repertoire staple, making some perhaps controversial alterations, but delivering the themes of the piece powerfully. Gorgeously designed, this Show Boat was produced on a lavish scale we're not likely to see in a revival again.

A perfect match of star and vehicle was Tyne Daly's Gypsy. While Bernadette Peters and even Angela Lansbury had to work hard to make themselves into believable Roses, Daly had only to come out on stage and open her mouth to be ideal.

The Donmar Warehouse/Roundabout Cabaret looked nothing at all like the brilliant Hal Prince original but managed to evince almost equal power. It was probably at its best, however, with Natasha Richardson as Sally.

Moving back a bit, I also loved Lincoln Center's Anything Goes with Patti LuPone 1987 and the Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes 1983, even if the latter wasn't quite the same without its prima ballerina, Natalia Makarova.

Chicago is, of course, the most successful revival in history, and while it has worked extremely well with a wide variety of casting, I wouldn't place it as highly as the above productions.

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