Q & A: 10/29/04
A: The hugely successful 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago was reproduced in London the following year, and has been playing at the Adelphi Theatre ever since.
But the first London production of Chicago was derived from a 1978 regional production at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. This staging transferred to London's Cambridge Theatre where Jerry Springer: The Opera is now playing, and where Hairspray is scheduled to open next year in April 1979 for a good run of 603 performances.
In the leads were Antonia Ellis on Broadway in Pippin and Mail, prominent in the film of The Boy Friend, Jenny Logan, Ben Cross, Don Fellows, and Hope Jackman the original Mrs. Corney in Oliver!. By the time I saw the production, in the spring of 1980, Ellis had departed and been replaced as Roxie by Elizabeth Seal, Tony winner for Broadway's Irma La Douce.
The first London Chicago is notable as a successful Chicago without Fosse. It was directed by Peter James and choreographed by Gillian Gregory, the latter a subsequent Tony winner for Me and My Girl. As I recall, this Chicago treated the musical numbers as more realistic and elaborate vaudeville presentations than did the Broadway original. For example, Mama Morton's "When You're Good to Mama" had the matron decked out like Sophie Tucker, accompanied by an ensemble of chorus boys dressed as policemen.
It should be noted that this production may have actually had a touch of Fosse about it. That's because the credits billed Tony Stevens as "production consultant," and Stevens had been assistant to Fosse on the Broadway Chicago.
Q: I vaguely remember renting a video recording of "Lena Horne--The Lady and Her Music" back in the mid-eighties. Any news as to whether this long-out-of-print video is slated to be released on DVD?---Brian Semple
A: Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music was both a sleeper and a stunner when it hit Broadway in 1981. Horne scored a huge personal triumph, reasserting herself as one of finest of all popular vocalists in an evening that managed to become much more than just a song recital.
Taped live on Broadway, The Lady and Her Music was released on VHS by RKO Home Video, the same company that put out Sweeney Todd, I Do! I Do!, and The Gin Game. I can only second your vote for reissuing on DVD this important document of a major American entertainer. I would think it would be fairly high on the list of show videos to be considered for re-release.
Q: In the past, you have mentioned a musical called Cherry, based on Bus Stop. Was this show ever produced?---Marty C.
A: With music by Tom Baird and lyrics by Ron Miller, Cherry had a showcase production at the New York Public Library in 1972, with Paula Wayne Golden Boy, David Cryer, and Marilyn Cooper in leading roles. Later that year, it was announced that Cherry, adapted from William Inge's Bus Stop, would open in London, with Bernadette Peters mentioned for the lead. But that never happened. In hopes of drumming up interest in the show, Wayne performed the show's big ballad, "I've Never Been a Woman Before," on television. That song was also recorded by Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey. But as far as I know, Cherry never received a full production.
Q: I recently came across a reference to a show called Double Feature that Mike Nichols directed in the '70s. Didn't you write that The Apple Tree was the last musical Nichols directed?---Jeffrey Morris
A: When Mike Nichols directs Spamalot, it will be the first Broadway musical directed by Nichols since The Apple Tree in 1966. But Nichols did direct a musical called Double Feature, which played New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre in the fall of 1979.
Double Feature had book, music, and lyrics by Jeffrey Moss, and musical staging by Tommy Tune. The leads were Pamela Blair, Leland Palmer, John Doolittle, and Charles Kimbrough.
Set in a movie house, Double Feature was a four-character musical about two couples whose relationships were contrasted with those of classic screen couples. It featured a pair of extra legs Niki Harris and Albert Stephenson, dancers seen only from the legs down when a rear curtain was raised. It seems that Tune recycled this notion for his Broadway staging of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine in 1980, which also featured Harris and Stephenson.
By the time Double Feature made its way to New York, Nichols and Tune were no longer involved. Double Feature opened at the Theater at St. Peter's Church on October 18, 1981, and lasted seven performances. Blair was the only holdover from the Long Wharf; other cast members were Carole Shelley, Don Scardino, and Stephen Vinovich. The director was Sheldon Larry, the choreographer Adam Grammis.
Q: Were any of the movie songs "Mein Herr," "Maybe This Time," "Money Money" used in the first Broadway revival of Cabaret, the one that had Joel Grey recreating his original role?---Joseph
A: The only movie song used in the 1987 Broadway revival of Cabaret which opened at the Imperial and moved to the Minskoff was "Money Money." In order to build up the musical program of the Emcee for star Grey, the "Money Song" became a longer combination of two numbers, the original Broadway "Money Song" and the film's "Money Money."
Restored to give Grey a little more to sing was "I Don't Care Much," which had been cut from the original and was used again in the 1998 Broadway revival. In both productions, "I Don't Care Much" preceded the title song. Also in the '87 revival, a new song for Cliff, "Don't Go," replaced "Why Should I Wake Up?"
Q: Would you know how long The Fantasticks ran in London?---Richard C.
A: The longest-running musical in American theatre history lasted just forty-four performances in London. The Fantasticks opened in September 1961 at the Apollo Theatre, a regular West End house far larger than the New York home of The Fantasticks, off-Broadway's Sullivan Street Playhouse.
The London Fantasticks featured more or less the original New York staging, with Word Baker repeating his direction. Terence Cooper Where's Charley? was El Gallo, Peter Gilmore was Matt, and Stephanie Voss Lock Up Your Daughters was Luisa. Perhaps the most celebrated performer in the London cast of The Fantasticks would turn out to be John Wood later on Broadway in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Sherlock Holmes, Travesties, and Deathtrap. Wood played Henry, the old actor.
Q: You mentioned in your review of the DVD of Damn Yankees that the movie was called What Lola Wants in England. Was the original show done in England, and did they use the title Damn Yankees?---Howard Ramsey
A: Under its original title, Damn Yankees opened at the London Coliseum where the previous Adler-Ross-Prince-Abbott-Fosse show, The Pajama Game, had also played on March 28, 1957. Perhaps because the show was about baseball, London didn't take to Damn Yankees the way Broadway had, and it played only 258 performances.
Unlike The Pajama Game, no London cast recording of Damn Yankees was made. The London Lola was a lady known as Belita, a British-born skater and dancer who appeared in a number of Hollywood films in the '40s and '50s. Bill Kerr was Applegate, and Joe Hardy was played by Ivor Emmanuel, who would later appear on Broadway in A Time for Singing. During the run, Belita was replaced by Elizabeth Seal, who had played Gladys in the London Pajama Game.
By the way, I failed to mention in my review of the Damn Yankees DVD that the trailer included on the disc is for the U.K. release of the film, under the title What Lola Wants.
Q: I was wondering what you might think about a revival of Fiorello! The show was terrific in its day, and, as you know, it won a Pulitzer Prize. I know that Encores! did the show, but don't you think it still deserves a major revival?---Bill Greene
A: Fiorello! was indeed a top-notch show in its day 1959, and the cast album remains a complete delight. I do feel, though, that, Pulitzer notwithstanding, the book, while adroit, is very much in the standard '50s-George Abbott mode, and might now seem somewhat routine.
But a more significant problem is the fact that audiences in '59 fondly remembered the show's subject, New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, and the vivid era of New York history in which he played a central role. Today's audiences would lack similar nostalgic feelings for the title character and the period, and that would substantially lessen the show's impact.
Q: Will The Frogs be up for Best New Musical in next year's Tonys, or will it be considered a revival, since the show has been around for several decades?---R. Lawrence
A: I suppose a case could be made for either side. The Frogs has had numerous productions since its Yale premiere in 1974, and has been produced before in New York City; I first saw it at Brooklyn College in 1978. But I would assume that Lincoln Center Theater's production of The Frogs would be Tony eligible as a new musical. It marked the first major professional production of the show in New York. And more importantly, the LCT version was substantially new, featuring a book adaptation by Nathan Lane and half a new score by Stephen Sondheim.
Given the fact that Lincoln Center's The Frogs closed in early October, one doesn't imagine that the production will be a particularly strong candidate in the new-musical category. But if there's room, I would think that's where it would be found.
Q: I was looking up some information on Barbara Cook and came across a reference to a show called The Gershwin Years. Do you have any information on this production?---Jennifer
A: A year prior to her New York comeback singing at the nightspot Brothers and Sisters, Cook did a summer 1973 stock tour in a revue called The Gershwin Years. In addition to Cook, the interesting cast included Helen Gallagher, Harold Lang, and Julie Wilson, and Steve Ross was at the piano.
Incidentally, the title The Gershwin Years was used on a number of other occasions. It was the name of a 1961 CBS TV tribute featuring Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Maurice Chevalier, and Florence Henderson. It was also the title of a one-night gala benefit at Philharmonic Hall in 1971, featuring Merman, Lisa Kirk, Bobby Short, and Ginger Rogers.
Q: I am trying to figure out all the theaters the original New York production of Godspell played. Do you have a list?---K.C.
A: According to the record books, Godspell opened in May 1971 at off-Broadway's Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village, then moved uptown to off-Broadway's Promenade Theatre in August of that year. In June 1976, Godspell moved to Broadway, playing first the Broadhurst Theatre, then moving on to the Plymouth 1976 and the Ambassador 1977. The total number of Broadway performances was 527; the total run off and on Broadway was 2,645 performances.
Q: I see that City Opera is presenting Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella soon, the same Cinderella that's coming out on DVD in December. Has City Opera done this musical before?---Jonathan Hauser
A: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella was originally a television musical in 1957, and there have been two TV remakes 1965, 1997. Stage versions have played New York three times, the first two at New York City Opera.
When R&H's Cinderella had its New York stage premiere in 1993 at City Opera, it was directed, choreographed, and adapted by Robert Johanson, from a book adaptation by Steve Allen. Crista Moore had the title role; Sally Ann Howes was the Fairy Godmother; George Dvorsky was the Prince; and other leads were taken by George S. Irving, Maria Karnilova, Nancy Marchand, Alix Korey, and Jeanette Palmer.
Two years later, City Opera revived Johanson's Cinderella, this time with Rebecca Baxter, Howes, Dvorsky, Irving, Jane Powell, Jean Stapleton, Korey, and Palmer.
In 2001, a national tour was sent out, with a new script by Tom Briggs based on Robert L. Freedman's screenplay for the 1997 television version. Deborah Gibson was Cinderella, Eartha Kitt the Fairy Godmother, and Paolo Montalban repeated his role from the '97 TV production. This tour made a stop at New York's Madison Square Garden in May 2001, with Kitt, Montalban, Everett Quinton as the Stepmother, and Gibson replaced by Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
Next month, R&H's Cinderella gets its fourth New York run, its third at City Opera, and Kitt is again the Fairy Godmother. But this time, the director and choreographer is Baayork Lee. In its previous runs, City Opera's Cinderella included "My Best Love," a song cut from Flower Drum Song and added to Cinderella for the King and Prince. "My Best Love" was also included in the 2002 Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song.