From The Washington Post
Fixing 'The Fix'
Signature Revamping Play After Its Troubled London Debut

By Jane Horwitz
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, February 24, 1998; Page C07

"The Fix" had a troubled debut last spring when British stage impresario Cameron Mackintosh introduced it in London, but it's getting a second chance next month in Arlington.

Signature Theatre is busy revamping the spoof of American presidential politics and will start previews March 17.

The hectic pace was evident at a Signature rehearsal last Wednesday. Choreographer Charles Augins was warning his leaping ensemble not to land in a crouch with their heads down or they'd hit their chins on their knees. Actor Sal Mistretta was going over and over a song with music director Jon Kalbfleisch. And scenic designer Lou Stancari was carving a Corinthian pediment out of pink Styrofoam, soon to become part of a crumbling neoclassical set -- a metaphor for Washington rot. John Dempsey, author of the book and lyrics, and Dana P. Rowe, the composer, were watching every word and note. Both are deeply involved with artistic director Eric D. Schaeffer in reshaping the show for its American premiere.

"The Fix" got its world premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, an experimental venue in England, after Mackintosh flipped over a demo tape of the show sent to him by Dempsey and Rowe's New York agent. The pair had previously teamed up on the horror musical "Zombie Prom," which ran in Florida and briefly off-Broadway, and a children's tale, "The Reluctant Dragon."

They say they intended "The Fix" to be way over the top, a feeling that they and Schaeffer acknowledge was missing from the London production and which they're trying to achieve at Signature. "I like to think of it as 'The Addams Family Goes to Washington,' " Rowe said. Writer Dempsey says "The Fix" began as "a serious kind of opera about Caligula and Claudius," but evolved into a darkly comic take on the American political scene with a Kennedyesque family at the center.

The plot involves a matriarch, Violet (to be played by Linda Balgord), whose husband, a presidential shoo-in, dies in the arms of his mistress days before the election. She vows, "If I can't be the wife of the president, you can bet your ass I'll be his mother," and sets about grooming her son, Cal (Stephen Bienskie), to win the White House. Director Schaeffer sees Violet as "a cross between Nancy Reagan and Cruella de Vil." Dempsey views "The Fix" not as serious political satire, but as "grand pulp, trashy fun entertainment . . . very in your face; so in that sense, it truly is American as well."

Both Dempsey, 33, and Rowe, 41, recall the London run as a tremendously exciting workshop that didn't quite jell. Instead of giving up on them or "The Fix," producer Mackintosh called Schaeffer, based on the director's growing reputation as a rejuvenator of mired musicals, and flew him to London to see the show and plan an American debut. "This is one of the best scores -- a new, original score -- that I've heard," Schaeffer said. He loved the material, but wondered "why they did it in England . . . because the musical is just so American."

Since it closed in London in June, Schaeffer has collaborated with Dempsey and Rowe (and Mackintosh through innumerable transatlantic calls), working to fix "The Fix." They've agreed on the addition and elimination of songs, a less rock-oriented orchestration and a general lightening up of the enterprise. "There are places," said Schaeffer, proud of the level of outrageousness he's reaching, "where my mom's gonna squirm." But given current events, Rowe said with a laugh, "The Fix" seems ever less bizarre. "This was written a year ago," he said, "and now it reads like a PBS documentary."

In a Temporary Fix

Helen Hayes Award-winning actor Steven Cupo was supposed to play a bad guy in "The Fix" at Signature next month. His character was "the meanest man in the script," Cupo said. "I had a great song and a pretty crucial role, especially toward the end of the play."

"I thought he would be terrific in the part," director Eric Schaeffer said. But just before rehearsals began, Cupo, 43, learned that he had a benign tumor on his right vestibular nerve. Located near the brain stem, the tumor had begun affecting his balance and the hearing in his right ear. He's been told that surgery, which takes place next week at Washington Hospital Center, might leave him with some permanent hearing loss and a possible loss of muscle control on one side of his face. Buoyed by his religious faith and a philosophical outlook, Cupo said, "I'm a believer in meant-to-be and not-meant-to-be. . . . What comes along'll come along." If you didn't see Cupo in "Cabaret" or "The Harvey Milk Show" at Source, you might have caught his act as assistant manager at the National Theatre's box office. His role in "The Fix" has been filled by John Garcia, who played in Signature's 1990 hit, "Sweeney Todd."