Q & A: 6/6/05
I am also a fan of Rags, the musical and the CD. How did it come about that Julia Migenes did the CD instead of Teresa Stratas?
Which number do you think worked best for Phyllis in Follies: "Uptown, Downtown," "The Story of Lucy and Jessie," or "Ah, But Underneath"? I've always been partial to "The Story of Lucy and Jessie." What did Dee Hoty/Diana Rigg do with the third song when they played Phyllis?---KH
A: I did not find The Capeman to be the utter catastrophe that most critics including Ben Brantley in The New York Times thought it to be when it opened at the Marquis Theatre in early 1998. With the help of uncredited director Jerry Zaks and choreographer Joey McKneely, the show, incoherent and endless at its early previews, was substantially altered and improved during previews.
That said, though, the problems remained. Even with three actors impersonating the show's real-life hero, Salvador Agron, Derek Walcott's book never managed to make the character come to life or to satisfactorily explain his motivations. More a song cycle or oratorio than a pop opera, the show consisted of a series of musical tableaux from the life of Agron that lacked dramatic shape.
Much of Simon's music "Born in Puerto Rico," "Satin Summer Nights," "Bernadette," "Adios Hermanos," "Sunday Afternoon," "Time Is an Ocean" was evocative and lovely. But the score also lacked structure, and key moments were left unmusicalized.
In its final form, the first act of The Capeman was intriguing if unfulfilled, the second act unsalvageable. Still, I found it a difficult show to dismiss. It did not behave quite like any other musical I can think of. It made an admirable attempt to place an entire culture on stage. And much of its score was worth rehearing.
I believe the biggest mistake the show made was not playing an out-of-town or regional tryout prior to Broadway. Director Mark Morris, Simon, and Walcott were all inexperienced in terms of musical theatre. Surely a prestigious regional venue would have been happy to host the world premiere of a Paul Simon musical. Choosing to mount the show directly on Broadway was a disastrous decision that made fixing the show virtually impossible, if, in fact, it could ever have been fixed.
Still, it remains inexplicable that the excellent cast recording has never been commercially released, particularly as it co-stars Marc Anthony, who has become even better known since the time of the recording.
Moving on to Rags, as I recall, those involved in the Rags recording were unable to come to terms with Stratas, who wanted approval over numerous aspects of the recording. When it became known that Sony Masterworks was looking for recording projects for its artist Julia Migenes, the Rags recording became a reality. In addition to creating the role of Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof and starring in the Vienna West Side Story, Migenes was an opera singer who had inherited three of Stratas's productions at the Met, Mahagonny, Pagliacci, and Lulu.
As for your Follies question, I like all three of Phyllis's songs. "Lucy and Jessie" is probably the best choice all around, but Rigg's rendition of "Ah, But Underneath" in the London production was so deliciously droll that one became convinced it was the right choice for that production. The staging of "Ah, But Underneath" in London involved Rigg stepping into a center-stage bubble bath, disappearing into it, and, at the very end of the number "Sometimes when the wrappings fall...", making a surprise reappearance stage left, clad in a towel.
Q: I heard quite some time ago that the Broadway cast of Ragtime was recorded for a possible video or PBS airing. Is this true?---Nick
A: While substantial portions of Ragtime in Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles were videotaped for airing as part of promotional TV specials, I don't believe that the complete Ragtime was taped for a telecast or commercial release.
Q: I've long been a fan of the score for Ben Franklin In Paris, which I think is quite lovely. And I've read the libretto, which I find intelligent and witty. Next year is Benjamin Franklin's tri-centennial -- he was born in January, 1706. I've never seen a production of Ben Franklin in Paris and have long wanted to. Obviously, it will never get a full revival. However, do you think it might have a chance to be done either in concert, whether it be at Encores!, Musicals Tonight, or Musicals in Mufti, or at a regional theater like Paper Mill or Goodspeed, particularly if they can promote it by tying it to the Franklin tri-centennial?---Jim Miller
A: I think Ben Franklin in Paris would be a fine idea for a Musicals in Mufti or Musicals Tonight presentation, particularly one tied into the tricentennial. Charming as much of the Ben Franklin score is, I somehow doubt that Encores! would stage the show. And I also don't see Paper Mill or Goodspeed doing it, in the latter case because it's a period show that requires elaborate costumes and scenery.
Q: I've been listening to The Boy from Oz lately and I wondered about Judy Garland on stage. Other than her concerts at the Palace, did she ever appear in a Broadway play or musical? Was she ever considered for a new work or as a replacement? We all know about her history of trouble during movie filming, so I guess maybe Broadway producers shied away from her. But I love to imagine how ferocious she might have been on stage.---Ben Preston
A: Garland's concert appearances were her only stage work; she never appeared on stage in a role in a musical or play. As far as I know, the closest she ever came was when she was considered as a replacement in Mame. While several of those involved in the show were excited about the possibility of her doing it, others worried that she would be unable to maintain an eight-shows-a-week schedule in such a heavy-duty book musical. But Garland as Mame certainly remains a tantalizing notion.
Q: Do you know if and when a CD of Mitch Leigh's Cry For Us All will be released? I saw the show in tryout and I found it very moving. I don't understand why the N.Y. critics found it boring. I have had my disc copied as a CD, but it's not the same as a studio version.---Ted Williams
A: I am sorry to report that I have heard of no plans to release Cry for Us All on CD. But I wouldn't give up hope, as I believe they'll get to most unissued Broadway titles eventually.
Q: In your article about unrecorded casts, you mentioned Jule Styne's last show, The Red Shoes. I wonder if you could relate a little more about its history and why it was a flop.---Brooke E. Newborn
A: In the 1948 film The Red Shoes, the thin narrative --a triangle involving a middle-aged ballet impressario, a young composer, and a gifted young dancer-- was less important than the heady atmosphere and evocation of the ballet world of the late '40s. In the musical, all that was left was the plot, its events dutifully but unimaginatively retold.
Nor was the material rethought in terms of the musical stage. Perhaps if the show's original triumvirate of Marsha Norman, Heidi Landesman, and Susan Schulman --all from The Secret Garden-- had remained intact, the show would have fared better. But Schulman was dismissed from the project prior to rehearsals, replaced by film director Stanley Donen.
By the time the show opened, it had plenty of dance music but one of the shortest vocal scores on record. The Jule Styne-Marsha Norman-Paul Stryker the latter a pseudonym for Bob Merrill score had only nine, mostly brief songs. And Styne recycled music from such previous shows as Look to the Lilies, Hazel Flagg, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and the TV musical Ruggles of Red Gap.
Because the show's leading lady, Canadian ballerina Margaret Illmann, wasn't a singer, the leading character had only a few lines of music to sing. The evening's only redeeming features were Lar Lubovitch's choreography and Landesman's sets.
During six weeks of Broadway previews, The Red Shoes was improved not at all, with not a single new song written, and several cut. The big "Red Shoes" ballet was shifted from the opening of the second act to the end of the show.
The stage version captured little of the film's magic. The kitschy but often thrilling film was tricky source material for stage adaptation, and probably should have been left alone.
Q: Who were Barbra Streisand's co-stars in the London production of Funny Girl?---James Thomas
A: Streisand's leading man in the 1966 London Funny Girl at the Prince of Wales Theatre now home to Mamma Mia! was Michael Craig Star!. Unlike his Broadway predecessor, Sydney Chaplin, Craig was billed below the title, with Streisand getting sole above-the-title billing in London. Kay Medford repeated her Broadway role of Mrs. Brice, while Lee Allen, who had replaced Danny Meehan's Eddie Ryan on Broadway, also repeated in London. Other London principals included Stella Moray Mrs. Strakosh, Ronald Leigh-Hunt Ziegfeld, and Isabelle Lucas Emma.
Q: How many other Martin Guerre musicals were there, in addition to the one that Cameron Mackintosh produced in London, by Boublil and Schonberg?---Sarah Schmidt
A: I know of two, although there may be more. I saw the one presented by Hartford Stage in 1993, also called Martin Guerre, and the work of Roger Ames and Laura Harrington. The cast included Patrick Cassidy, Judy Kuhn, Malcolm Gets, Beth Fowler, Cris Groenendaal, and Walter Charles.
In 1997, The House of Martin Guerre won acclaim at the Canadian Stage Company. The work of Leslie Arden and Anna Theresa Cascio, it starred Julain Molnar and Roger Honeywell. This version was also seen at the Goodman Theatre, with Anthony Crivello in the lead.
Q: I had heard that the new TV production of Once Upon a Mattress with Carol Burnett was to be aired during this past winter. Any idea about a date? And what were the differences between the two old Carol Burnett TV versions of the show?---Martin Adams
A: ABC's new TV production of Once Upon a Mattress had apparently been scheduled for a February telecast but was then postponed. It's now seems to be set to air around Thanksgiving.
Carol Burnett recreated her Broadway Mattress role of Princess Winnifred in two television productions, the first in 1964 and in black-and-white, the second in color, in 1972. In addition to Burnett, both feature the original Broadway King and Queen, Jack Gilford and Jane White. In the new TV version, Burnett plays the Queen. The first version also features the original Broadway leading man, Joseph Bova, as Prince Dauntless.
With musical staging by Broadway choreographer Joe Layton, the '64 version is the more authentic of the two, with Burnett slipping in several of her TV regulars Lyle Waggoner, Ken Berry in the '72 version. The first version features Bill Hayes, Shani Wallis, and Elliott Gould. The second has Bernadette Peters, Ron Husmann, and Wally Cox.
The tunestacks of the two Burnett telecasts differ notably. The most surprising omission in '64 is Burnett's big second-act solo, "Happily Ever After." Also missing are "An Opening for a Princess," "In a Little While," and "Yesterday I Loved You." But there's a new song, a duet for Burnett and Bova, called "Under a Spell."
The '72 version also lacks "An Opening for a Princess" and "Yesterday I Loved You," but has "In a Little While" and "Happily Ever After." Also cut from '72: "Normandy" and "Very Soft Shoes." Both versions lack "The Minstrel, the Jester, and I," a song also left off the original Broadway cast recording but included on the cast album of the Sarah Jessica Parker Broadway revival.