My Favorite Things

MarqueePolitics is turning two this month, and this blogger is turning the big 27. With these milestones on the horizon, it got me thinking.

I’m often asked about my favorite performances, and to identify which ones made the biggest impact on me.  With my birthday right around the corner, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to reflect on the performances that have never quite left me.

Phantom/Miss. Saigon/Cats

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

All it took was: a crashing chandelier, helicopter landing and dancing cats.  These were first shows I ever saw (ages 3, 6, 7).  Their combination of: high emotions, grand spectacle and memorable pop scores sent my young imagination soaring.  I often call them the holy trinity of musicals, because it was these three shows that introduced me to the great love of my life, the theater.

Evita – 1979 Original Broadway Cast Recording

I had an epiphany in high school, and it was the first time I ever listened to the original Broadway cast recording of Evita.

The rock opera’s themes of politics, revolution and media manipulation hooked this young politico at age 16.  Evita was further electrified by Patti LuPone’s fierce portrayal as Argentina’s First Lady and her ambition to succeed at all costs.  Despite having the album for the 11 years, not a week goes by when LuPone and the original Broadway cast of Evita can been heard from my apartment, giving this show a touch of star quality!

Elaine Stritch at Liberty – 2002 Broadway Production

Rare, intense, humorous, honest and a triumph of the human soul.

I was lucky enough to attend the last Broadway matinee performance of this show.  From that Sunday afternoon, I learned that human’s can triumph over any adversity as long as we don’t stop fighting.  Accompanied by a songbook of classic Broadway hits, Stritch walked the audience thru her: fights with alcoholism, struggles with love, triumphs working with Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim, and life’s journey from being raised in Detroit to having her name adorn Broadway marquees.

Great actors leave it all out on the stage and Stritch set the bar for generations to come.

 Company – 2006 Broadway Revival

Company, more than any other show, changed my perspective on life.

My parents split when I was very young, and what understanding of marriage I had came from television.  Because of that, I never understood the emotional complexity involved when two people enter into a relationship, and what I did know was very one-sided.   Company threw cold-water on that idea, teaching me that relationships are about sharing your life with somebody, not just some-body.  Theater is often a reflection of life through art, and its through art that we learn so much about ourselves as individuals.

The Audience

The one constant in all these productions is the audience, and I’ve been lucky to have always had a supporting audience of my own.  While I won’t use their names, I want recognize the friends and family who have encouraged my love of the theater: My parents who introduced me to the musical at age 3, grandparents who were always game to see a show on Broadway – even if they didn’t quite “get it”, Chief of Staff, and dear friends living across the country in: New York, Pittsburgh, Rockville, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, DC.  All of which I owe a debt a gratitude for indulging in my life’s great passion!

The cast albums to all shows mentioned above are available on amazon.com.

Furthermore, video productions of: Cats, Company, Elaine Stritch at Liberty and Phantom may also be found at amazon.com.

From Bush to Chicago: A Comeback Story

Last week Gallup revealed a once unthinkable poll result: former President George W. Bush now has a higher approval rating than President Barack Obama.  Considering how much of Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaign narratives were about being the anti-Bush candidate, it’s an interesting twist and one the current West Wing must not be enjoying.

In discussing the poll result with a former Bush White House colleague who follows my blog, I was asked: “Perceptions of presidents have changed over time, is the same true for musicals?”

It’s an interesting question and the answer can be found in this statement:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery – all those things we hold dear to our hearts.”

There’s been no greater second act for a musical than Chicago, currently playing at Broadway’s Ambassador Theater.  With more than 6,583 performances on Broadway, the winner of seven 1997 Tony Awards and six 2002 Oscars, it’s hard to believe but Chicago was once on the verge of being condemned to the Playbill archives.

On paper, Chicago had the makings of a hit with: Bob Fosse as the director-choreographer, written by the composer-lyricist team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a cast that included theatrical legends: Chita Rivera, Jerry Orbach and Gwen Verdon.   What it didn’t have was timing, and sometimes on Broadway that’s the most important ingredient.

A week prior to Chicago’s opening in June 1975, the most groundbreaking musical since Oklahoma opened down the block at the Shubert Theatre, A Chorus Line.  Compared to Chicago’s overtly cynical view of the justice system, Chorus Line’s story about the dreams and struggles of dancers on Broadway was cheered by critics and audiences.  When the 1976 Tony Award nominations were announced, Chicago received 10 nominations, losing everyone of them to A Chorus Line.

Despite a respectable Broadway run of 936 performances, the original Broadway production of Chicago closed in 1977 with little fan fare.  Chicago’s portrayal of justice and celebrity seemed in poor taste.  That perception would change overtime, all thanks to OJ Simpson, 24 hour cable news and a growing tabloid media culture in the United States.

At New York City’s City Center Encores, a program dedicated to performing musicals that are rarely produced, the creative team knew that by 1996 the time was right for audiences to get reacquainted with Chicago.  The coverage of the Simpson Trial had only validated the show’s concept of criminal celebrity.  So they scheduled a revival concert and well, the rest is history.

The concert production was turned into a full-blown Broadway revival, opening in November 1996.  In 2002 Chicago, which was first deemed too cynical for audiences, further advanced its comeback with a hit movie that grossed more than $306 million worldwide, and became the first movie-musical to win the Oscar for Best Picture  in more than 30 years. 

Time changes our perspective on everything, from politics and musicals, to policy issues and songs.  What both President Bush and Chicago demonstrate is that the verdict of the critics is only temporary.  It is history who will render the final judgment…and all that jazz!

For tickets to the Broadway, US Tour and International Productions of Chicago please visit: www.chicagothemusical.com/

SPECIAL TONY AWARD EDITION – Here’s to the losers!

“And the Tony Award goes to…” (Watch the video, how many faces do you recognize?)

These will be the final words dozens of nominees hear tonight before: hearts’ break, dreams’ shatter and the realization sets in that they lost the American theater’s highest honor to someone else.

While everyone says, “It’s an honor just to be nominated,” no one believes that BS line.

However, time has shown that winning a Tony Award doesn’t make one a star, it’s the audience who makes that judgment call.  To those who will lose tonight, I’d like to console them with two actresses’ stories who confirm that it is the performance, not the accolades, that history ultimately remembers.

Wouldn’t It Be Loverly – 1957 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical

Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolitte in 1956’s My Fair Lady.

It’s hard to believe that Julie Andrews has never won a Tony Award, especially given that her name is synonymous with one of Broadway’s masterpiece’s My Fair Lady.  She was only 21 when the show opened in 1956, and a relative unknown, but her performance of cockney-flower girl Eliza Doolittle earned her cheers from audiences and critics.  Although, not from Tony Award voters who gave the 1957 Best Actress in a Musical Award to Judy Holliday for Bells Are Ringing.

What’s remarkable is that even though she lost the Tony, and even the film role to Audrey Hepburn, no actress has ever been to escape Andrews’ shadow as Eliza.  Many actresses have tried, but none have come close.  Fortunately for us, Andrews’ performance as Eliza was preserved on My Fair Lady’s original Broadway and London cast albums.

While a Tony Award for Andrews would have been great, it must be especially loverly knowing that 58 years onward, people are still cheering her performance!

Don’t Rain on My Parade – 1964 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical

How does one justify the fact that Barbra Streisand won an Oscar for her portrayal as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl, but lost the Tony Award for Best Actress in 1964 for that very same role?  In reality, despite giving a knockout performance, Streisand had the misfortune of being nominated against another iconic actress/role, Carol Channing as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!  History though had other plans!

Streisand was Funny Girl, and till this day her performance is still talked about! Don’t believe me, give the YouTube clip a list and prepare to be blown away!

Yes, this is aided by her performance in the 1968 film adaption of Funny Girl.  But since the original Broadway production of Funny Girl closed in 1967, no actress has ever come close to matching Streisand.  So great is the memory of Streisand’s performance, than many potential Broadway revivals have failed to materialize simply because of the memory of her.  Quite simply put, don’t rain on Streisand’s parade!

 A word to the nominees

Yes, it stinks to lose.  But Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand’s examples demonstrates that history and the audience will ultimately judge who was the best that season.  Great actors don’t let awards define them; they allow their performance to do just that.

As for yours truly, I am a 2009 Tony Award holder.  And yes, the Tony medal feels great to carry!