1999
Hello, Dolly The Embassy Centre, 121 W Jefferson Blvd,
recently announced its 1999-2000 "Broadway at the Embassy" season.
Season tickets are $79-$199 and can be purchased by calling (219) 420-3344.
With national tours of five musicals in its
regular season, plus two "bonus" shows, this mixture of new
favorites and standard classics truly offers something for all tastes.
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* * *
Three performances of the 1964 hit HELLO, DOLLY! kick off the 1999-2000 Broadway at the
Embassy series on November 19 & 20. DOLLY opened January 16, 1964 on
Broadway and ran seven years for a record-breaking 2844 performances.
Starring Carol Channing, the musical was originally written for Ethel Merman,
who, after a long run of GYPSY, was too exhausted to undertake another
leading role. It won a record-breaking ten Tony Awards, including Best
Musical, Best Female Musical Star (Channing), and Best Supporting Actor, as
well as awards for costume, score, and libretto.
Composer Jerry Herman was only 30 when he
wrote his second musical, HELLO, DOLLY!, joining a handful of songwriters,
including Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Meredith Wilson and Stephen Sondheim,
in writing both the score and the lyrics for his show. Herman went on to
write the musicals LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and MAME, as well as a musical revue,
JERRY'S GIRLS.
The story has a long history of
adaptations. Many theatre aficionados know that HELLO, DOLLY! was based on
the 1955 Thornton Wilder play THE MATCHMAKER. But most probably do not
realize that Wilder's play was a re-make of his own failed 1938 comedy
"The Merchant of Yonkers," which itself was based on an 1842
Viennese farce by Johann Nestroy called EINEN JUX WILL ER SICH MACHEN
("He Wants to Make a Joke"), which in turn was based on John
Oxenford's British comedy, A DAY WELL-SPENT.
The main character in all these plays was a
conniving-but-lovable matchmaker and the wealthy merchant she attempts to
snag for herself. Wilder was the first to name this matchmaker Dolly
Gallagher Levi and to set the play in Yonkers, New York.
Dolly is one of the most beloved and
well-written female characters in musical theatre. A turn-of-the-20th-century
woman in a man's world, she holds her own and knows -- and ultimately gets --
what she wants, all the while remaining charmingly vulnerable.
After Channing's Broadway run, she took the
show on the road, with Ginger Rogers stepping in for her in New York for five
months. The show was revised slightly to make Dolly more feminine and to
emphasize her dancing abilities. Rogers was followed by Martha Ray (four
months), Betty Grable (five months), Pearl Bailey and an African-American
cast (25 months), Phyllis Diller (four months), and the producers' original
choice Ethel Merman (nine months). Other Dollys have included Eve Arden,
Dorothy Lamour, Mary Martin, and of course Barbra Streisand in Gene Kelly's
1969 film production of HELLO, DOLLY!
Channing was devastated to lose the film
role of Dolly to Streisand, but after seeing the film, she realized that she
would have been miserable, because the film was so much different than the
stage version that had become a part of her life. The film has been
criticized for lacking the warmth of the stage production, and for the youth
of the star (Streisand was only 27 when she made the film. Channing was 48,
and has continued to play the role well into her 70s).
The national tour, starring veteran
"Dolly" Tracy Jordan (portraying the role for the fifth time in her
career) features the set and costumes from the recent Broadway revival, as
well as a very young, energetic cast of actors, singers, and dancers.
Director Bob Durkin has created a
fast-paced, seamless production. "I think you'll be incredibly impressed
with the dancing," Saxton says. "We have a very young, energetic
cast, and they really bring a new life to the story. Most of our houses have
sold out, and audiences are on their feet at the end."
In spite of its potentially corny,
old-fashioned plot and setting, HELLO DOLLY is truly a show for all ages,
says the tour's company manager and cast member Ellen Saxton, who phoned from
the company's tour bus. "This is a story that appeals to all age
levels," she says. "There's teenage love in the show, and there's
love at a later age between the widowed Dolly and the widower Horace
Vandergelder. It's a very visual show, so even the youngsters enjoy it. We
have a lot of family audiences."
HELLO DOLLY!, says Saxton "is about
love and it's about finding and fulfilling your dreams. Everybody is looking
for adventure in the show."
The young clerks Barnaby and Cornelius go
off to New York to have an adventure, where they meet the young widow Irene
Molloy, bored with her job of running a hat shop. "The story is
timeless," says Saxton. "We all want a sense of wonder and remember
our first experiences in the big city, or the first time we fell in
love."
The cast and crew travels 500 miles between
cities in 39 states in over a 100 different venues, but Saxton says that the
cast is continually rejuvenated by audience reactions performance after
performance. "Some audiences laugh at certain areas more than
others," she says, "and it adds a whole new chemistry to the show
every time we step on the stage. Plus every theater is a little bit
different, so our set might have a little different configuration, and that
also keeps it fresh."
If the actors are kept on their toes
throughout the normal course of a tour, there are occasional unforeseen
surprises that really test their mettle. "About a week ago,"
explains Saxton, "one of our principle actors, the young man who plays
Ambrose Kemper, came offstage after a big dance number, hit a piece of
scenery, and was knocked out. His understudy quickly suited up, and we
re-routed three other people in the show to cover his other roles. We went on
in the second act and the audience had no idea. Our cast is very
well-trained."
An understudy's job is to try to keep the
show exactly as the director intends it, so that it doesn't disrupt the rest
of the cast, Saxton says. She herself is Dolly's understudy, but doesn’t plan
to step into the role for a few months when Jordan takes a short vacation
from the tour.
Is Saxton's Dolly different from Jordan's?
"Certainly we each bring our own
personality to the roles," says Saxton. "I'll be standing in
exactly the same place and dancing the same dance steps, but my
interpretation of Dolly would be different.
"I could do well to imitate our
Dolly," she adds loyally. "Tracy Jordan is just magnificent."
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* * *
The Embassy follows up DOLLY with another show driven by a
strong female lead -- Andrew Lloyd Webber's SUNSET BOULEVARD.
Based on Billy Wilder's acclaimed 1950
film, SUNSET BOULEVARD is a passionate love story set on Hollywood's street
of dreams. It tells the story of a young, down-on-his-luck screenwriter, Joe
Gillis, and his fateful meeting with Norma Desmond, a legendary star of the
silent screen.
Since the musical opened on July 12, 1993
at London's Adelphi Theatre, audiences have compared the actresses portraying
Norma Desmond. The film version starred Gloria Swanson, and the original
musical Norma was Patti LuPone (Broadway's original EVITA and the mom on TV's
"Life Goes On"). Other stars portraying the larger-than-life
character have been Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, and Diahann
Carroll.
This tour stars British '60s pop sensation
Petula Clark ("Downtown," "Don't Sleep in the Subway" and
"I Know a Place"). A child film star in Britain and the heroine of
British comic strip "Our Pet" in the 1940s, Clark has been playing
Norma in London and on Broadway since 1995, the longest run for any other
actress playing the role. In addition to SUNSET BOULEVARD, Clark has also
starred in a number of other stage musicals, including "Blood
Brothers" and "The Sound of Music," as well as starring in the
musical films "Finian's Rainbow" with Fred Astaire and
"Goodbye, Mr. Chips" with Peter O'Toole.
The character is so far removed from
Clark's personality that she initially resisted the role. The show's original
director Trevor Nunn convinced her that she would bring a vulnerability and a
sense of humor to the role that had not been there with other actresses
playing the part.
SUNSET BOULEVARD is an American tragedy
about an larger-than-life silent movie star who tries to use young gigolo Joe
Gillis to help her comeback. Joe's failure as a screenwriter has made him
cynical, but young screen ingenue Betty Schaefer helps him see hope for the
future. By turns poignantly fragile and frighteningly intense, Norma has been
left emotionally crippled by her lust for fame, and through a series of
betrayals, the passionate and volatile relationship between her and Joe leads
to unforeseen tragedy.
Directed by Susan Schulman, who won a Tony
Award for THE SECRET GARDEN, the plot is matched by Derek McLane's
spectacular set design and Lloyd Webber's lush music. In addition to Norma's
show-stopping solos, critics have called "Too Much in Love to
Care," a duet sung by Joe and Betty, has been called the only true love
song Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written.
http://www.reallyuseful.com/Sunset/
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* * *
Last season Embassy audiences were thrilled by SPIRIT OF THE
DANCE, a production of Irish music, song, and dance inspired by RIVERDANCE.
On April 7 & 8, 2000, Embassy audiences can see the show that started the
craze.
RIVERDANCE -- The Show focuses on the
evolution of Irish dance and its similarities with, and influences on, other
cultures. It draws on Irish traditions and combines the richness of the music
with the magic and sensuality of dance -- at the same time joyful and angry,
and always full of passion. It tells the story of a people who came to one
small island from many other places and who one day had to leave, many of
them against their will, to find survival elsewhere. They found a new world
and new people with new ways -- but above all, a common humanity in which
they join like tributaries to a great river.
Originally conceived as a seven-minute
intermission entertainment for the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, RIVERDANCE
was televised throughout Europe to an audience of over 300 million viewers.
Following the success of that performance, producer Moya Doherty, composer
Bill Whelan, and director John McColgan, expanded the piece into a
full-length stage production.
RIVERDANCE had its world premiere at the
Point Theatre, Dublin, in February 1995, where it opened to critical acclaim.
To date, over six million people worldwide have seen RIVERDANCE live onstage.
In addition, more than six million people have purchased video versions of
the show.
Bill Whelan won the 1997 Grammy Award for
Best Musical Show Album for his original music and lyrics for RIVERDANCE.
This unique show, which features an
international company, has touched the hearts of millions around the world.
Three companies of RIVERDANCE -- each appropriately named for Irish rivers
(The Liffey, touring Europe, and The Lee and The Lagan touring the U.S. and
Canada) have 1,900 performances in more than 70 cities on three continents
under their dance belts. The worldwide television audience to date exceeds 1
billion people. Worldwide sales of RIVERDANCE videos (the biggest ever seller
in the UK) have exceeded 6 million, and the CD has sold over 2 million. Since
its debut on the Web, Riverdance --The Website has had over 1 million
"hits."
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* * *
CHICAGO, the "drop dead musical," slays audiences
on April 21 & 22, 2000.
CHICAGO opened at the 46th Street Theatre
on June 3, 1975. The book is by Fred Ebb and director/choreographer Bob
Fosse. It was based on the play CHICAGO by Maurine Dallas Watkins, written as
part of a playwrighting class at Yale. Watkins was a newspaper reporter in
Chicago during the 1920s and was inspired to write it after covering a series
of murder trials involving women murderers.
Watkins' satirical comedy first opened on
December 30, 1926 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. This Sam H.
Harris production was a 182-performance success. It starred Francine
Larrimore in the role of murderess Roxie Hart, freed to spend her life
touring as a vaudeville attraction thanks to the efforts of her
money-grubbing lawyer and manipulating press. The play provided the plot for
both the 1928 movie "Chicago" and the 1942 film "Roxie
Hart" starring Ginger Rogers.
Bob Fosse first planned a musical
production of Watkins' play as early as the mid-Fifties. However, it took him
thirteen years to clear the rights to the story.
In his 1975 acclaimed Broadway production,
Gwen Verdon (Fosse's estranged wife) and Chita Rivera starred as a pair of
singing and dancing killers in the "musical vaudeville" which also
starred Jerry Orbach as Roxie's fast-talking lawyer.
During the Broadway run, Gwen Verdon had to
leave the show for a few weeks for surgery. Liza Minnelli stepped into the
role of Roxie Hart on the condition that there be no announcement in the
press and that Ms. Verdon's name remain on the marquee and in the ads. It
was, of course, one of the worst kept secrets in Broadway history. Ann
Reinking and Lenora Nemetz replaced Verdon and Rivera when they left the
show. CHICAGO played for 898 performances and closed on August 27, 1977. A
national touring company opened at Boston's Colonial Theatre on September 12,
1977.
This tour of CHICAGO, (dubbed the
"Roxie" tour to distinguish it from its Broadway, Las Vegas, and
London runs) stars Adrian Zmed as lawyer Billy Flynn. It is directed by
Walter Bobbie with choreography by Ann Reinking (in the style of Bob Fosse).
It features a score by the Tony-award winning team of John Kander and Fred
Ebb, including memorable tunes such as "All That Jazz," "Mr.
Cellophane," and "Razzle Dazzle." Since its revival on
Broadway in 1996, CHICAGO has won six Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, five Drama
Desk Awards, a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, five Outer Critics
Circle Awards, two Astaire Awards and a Drama League Award. The North
American tours have collectively won 14 awards in Los Angeles, Washington
D.C., Chicago and Boston.
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* * *
SHOWBOAT, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein
II’s romantic musical epic, docks at the Embassy on May 19 & 20, 2000. An
American masterpiece, SHOWBOAT spans four decades, telling of the journey of
the Hawks family, the Cotton Blossom floating Theatre, and their troop of
actors.
Adapted from Edna Ferber's novel SHOWBOAT
remains one of musical theaters most vital and timeless works. Ferber wrote
in her 1940 autobiography "A Peculiar Treasure" of her first
meeting with Jerome Kern, who came to her apartment to sell her on the idea
of turning her novel into a musical. While his piano playing and singing left
something to be desired, his song "Ol' Man River," brought tears to
her eyes. "The music mounted, mounted," she writes, "and I
give you my word my hair stood on end, the tears came to my eyes, I breathed
like a heroine in a melodrama. This was great music. This was music that
would outlast Jerome Kern's day and mine."
The current revival is an entirely new
production based on the musical's various scripts and motion picture versions
during the past 71 years. It had its world premiere in Toronto on October 17,
1993. It opened on Broadway on October 2, 1994, to unanimous critical
acclaim, setting the all-time record for the largest box office advance for a
revival/recreation, and repeatedly breaking the record for the highest weekly
Broadway box office gross in history. SHOWBOAT features other such
unforgettable songs as "Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man" and "Only
Make Believe."
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* * *
"Well the theatre's certainly not what it was..." -- Gus
the Theatre Cat (as translated by T.S. Eliot)
The countless audiences who have attended
Andrew Lloyd Webber's most famous musical, CATS, can attest to that.
Beginning in the New London Theatre, with seats surrounding the stage on all
four sides, CATS was a perfect choice for this space, and it became the
longest running musical in London's history. Rather than a traditional set
with the "fourth wall" removed, John Napier's garbage dump set was
designed from a feline's viewpoint, at three and a half times normal size.
Sitting among the huge empty food cans, rusted car trunk, and old fish bones,
the audience actually lives in the environment of CATS.
On Broadway, part of the roof of the Winter
Garden Theatre was removed to accommodate the ascension to the heaviside
layer. The back wall was also removed so that a huge pirate ship could unfold
like a 3-dimensional greeting card. Ramps and tunnels were sent into the
audience to bring the CATS to the people, and the interior walls were painted
black. A Los Angeles and First National Touring Company were born, and the
theaters were painted black and the set custom built into each one -- a
process which took several weeks. In Japan, the show toured in a giant black
circus tent.
At first, CATS only visited venues for long
stays that would justify such a transformation. Scenic designer Raymond
Huessy eventually adapted the set using a huge arch-shaped truss with
built-in motors and winches as the central shape to which all of the pieces
would be connected. In March 1987 the current, more adaptable touring company
was created, with many of the smaller pieces of scenery welded together to
cut down the set-up time.
Napier designed the costumes as well,
giving the performers a unique part-human, part-feline look. The costumes
used on tour are exact replicas of those used on Broadway, and are just as
expensive to create, maintain, and replace. The unitards each performer wears
cost from $1500-$3000. The ostrich feather costume work by opera diva cat
Griddlebone costs $12,800, and a special effect for Growltiger's costume
itself costs $2000. But the most expensive costume in the show is the
hand-beaded black velvet bolero jacket worn by the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees.
At $22,000 per jacket, plus a second jacket in another size for an
understudy, Mistoffelees costumes alone would equal the price of a modest
home in some cities.
As a "bonus" show to the Embassy
1999-2000 season, CATS prowls Fort Wayne on September 17-19, 1999.
http://www.reallyuseful.com/Cats/
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* * *
STOMP, the international percussion sensation, makes its
return to the Embassy January 18 & 19, 2000. After playing to sell-out
crowds for over four seasons, STOMP continues its phenomenal runs with two
concurrent national tours (The Steve Tour and the Luke Tour, named after its
co-creators/directors Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas), covering over 100
cities on the road. STOMP has been an overwhelming success marked by rave
reviews, awards, and television appearances ranging from "Mad About
You" to "The Late Show with David Letterman" to "Sesame
Street."
STOMP is the winner of a prestigious
Olivier Award for Best Choreography (London's Tony Award). In New York they
received an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatre Experience, and
a special citation from BEST PLAYS. It was nominated for an Academy Award for
the short film "Brooms" by Cresswell and McNicholas.
STOMP originated in 1991 on the streets of
Brighton, England, the result of a ten-year collaboration between Cresswell
and McNicholas, both of whom were part of a street band called
Pookiesnackenburger. Together these "buskers" (British street
performers) produced comedy musicals in the Edinburgh Festival, as well as a
highly acclaimed 1986 commercial for Heineken Lager, called "Bins,"
which was the basis for STOMP's climactic dustbin dance.
Throughout the '80s and '90s, they produced
commercials, albums, and live concerts, with STOMP finally hitting the
Broadway stage in February 1994 at the Orpheum Theatre.
Television viewers will recognize their
commercials for Coca-Cola and The Target Stores and music and movie fans may
have heard them on a cut from Quincy Jones' CD "Q's Jook Joint"
(for which they receive a Grammy nomination) and on the TANK GIRL soundtrack.
In addition, Cresswell and McNicholas wrote the musical score for the
Showtime film RIOT, which aired in April 1997, and HBO's "STOMP Out
Loud" is available on video.
With no script, no dialogue, no political
or social message, the stage production simply revels in the joy of rhythm
and dance. Using a variety of everyday objects (including ballpoint pens,
bananas, and Ginseng royal jelly 150), STOMP proves that music can be found
literally anywhere.
"The prime directive for all the
performances," says its creators, "is 'rhythm comes first.'
Movement comes second, and we try to make that mixture more interesting and
more palatable by adding levels of comedy to it."
The comedy comes from the interplay of the
eight performers (plus four extra "swing" performers who are
prepared to take the place of other performers, thus preserving the cast's
energy from city to city), each of whom creates his or her own character.
With no script, the characterization comes from the performer's own
personality and a friendly and hilarious sense of "one-upmanship"
with the other performers.
Cast members are culled from worldwide
auditions. To keep the auditioners relaxed, the directors create the
atmosphere of a workshop, not of a high-pressure audition. Rather than
performing a pre-rehearsed dance or percussion routine, the directors teach
and work routines from the show (usually "Brooms" or "Hands
and Feet.")
"This allows us to see everyone in a
learning situation," says Cresswell. "We very quickly see which of
the auditionees is comfortable pushing a broom around the stage and which
performers have the capacity to be both extroverts and team players."
STOMP performers must have a unique blend
of percussive skills, movement skills, good comic timing, and onstage
charisma. Since there is no spoken dialogue, they must be prepared to bring
out some aspect of his or her personality through movement, facial
expressions, dress, and attitude to create a character that lives and
breathes in the STOMP world, where rhythm is the only language.
Each performer has the opportunity to shine
individually with their own solo routines, but the precision of their group
work is what made them famous. And while musical improvisation is almost
encouraged in the solo numbers to keep them fresh, the group routines must be
performed the same way each time, to prevent injuries, in particular the
climactic "Bins and Poles."
The lack of a story or political message
cuts across language and cultural barriers. It appeals to anyone who has ever
drummed their fingers on the table, who has ever swept the floor to some made
up rhythm. "We feel we've succeeded," says Cresswell, "when
the audience leaves trying to play everything in their path."
Even though most of the routines are done
without acknowledging the audience, STOMP does break the "fourth
wall" in a routine that teaches them to listen to the rhythms of the
world, to understand them, and to create their own.
After the introductory opening sequence,
one performer leads the audience in a rudimentary clap-and-response session.
At the end of the show, the audience and performers collaborate on far more
complicated rhythms, which may not have been possible at the beginning of the
performance. The audience has learned to listen on STOMP's wavelength,
finding music in what was once noise and confusion.
This new level of sensitivity continues
after the audience leaves the theatre: street noises, footsteps, and the
sounds of automobiles passing combine to create a private STOMP performance
for each person.
McNicholas and Cresswell are currently
finishing the script for STOMP's first feature length film, featuring a
narrative and dialogue for the first time. "It will be a mix of actors
and STOMP performers put into situations where STOMP makes sense," says
Cresswell. "We are trying to create a world where STOMP fits in."
The addition of narrative and dialogue,
however, will not mean STOMP will suddenly have a political message. STOMP is
merely the exploration of rhythm in everyday things. "At the end of the
day," says Cresswell, "STOMP is what it is. There are no hidden
meanings, it's just entertainment."
Embassy Centre 1999-2000 Broadway Series
Story courtesy of Whatzup
Sunset Boulevard
Showboat
Chicago
Riverdance
Cats
Stomp