Monday, June 2, 2014

Manifesto

What follows is some thoughts I have about theatre.  I have called it a "manifesto" because it sounds a lot better than "ramblings" but these are thoughts that I have and I try to live by them every time I walk into rehearsal.  I will be updating it from time to time as new thoughts hit me.  Please leave a comment and let me know your own thoughts.  The only way we can make living vibrant theatre is through discussion and dialogue. Thanks

Manifesto for Theatre for the Advancement of Theatre Professionals

 
Theatre is dying. This is nothing new. To anyone who has been in theatre for longer than a few years, this is not even an alarming statement. Theatre has been dying since an audience member in ancient Greece saw the first deus ex machina, turned to the person next to them, declared that the spectacle of theatre had gotten out of hand, stood up in their seat and told everyone in the amphitheatre that it was all a fad and would be gone within a generation. But, however long theatre has been dying, whenever we think it is taking its last gasp, thankfully someone, something, or some movement comes along and breathes life back into it, however briefly; the students in high schools all over the country fall in love with the latest big show or star, they become obsessed with musical theatre, some of them choose to major in it in college, some may graduate and continue to perform, direct or design after graduation, and a select few may truly be bitten by the theatre bug and decide to go into theatre education with an eye towards transmitting and transferring their own love of theatre on to the generation that comes after them. The questions that we, as theatre artists must ask ourselves is, “Why do people think that theatre is dying?”, “What is killing theatre?”, and “What can we do?”
Theatre is being killed by a blanket dismissal of almost any theatre that is not Broadway.  There are several different ways that this is being done.  The first way is through a limited understanding of theatre by the general population. At family reunions and graduation parties all over the country, every time someone discovers that someone is a theatre major, they ask the same question, "You want to sing on Broadway?" Theatre majors everywhere have gotten used to this question, so they normally just laugh it off and explain that they are a Sound Engineer and have no desire to be onstage unless they are checking a level or changing a battery.  There is not another career path or job that comes to mind where this kind of assumption is made when someone tells you what line of study they have chosen. You do not ask every person who goes into med school if they want to be a brain surgeon, so why would you treat theatre as if there is some sort of hierarchy in jobs that makes one career choice more valid than another and makes any choice other than Broadway seem like settling for less than the best.  Not all theatre is Broadway.  Theatre, like any other area, is divided into hundreds of different jobs, electricians, designers, publicity, stage management, directors, actors, etc., each of which would cause the ruin of a production or a company if they were to be taken out of the equation.  By thinking that everyone who goes into theatre wants to be the most well-known and visible person involved with a production, you diminish and belittle them if they want to be a stage manager of if they want to be prop designer.
Another way we dismiss all theatre that is not Broadway is by treating everything else like a second rate endeavor.  Sadly, the people who are most guilty of this offense are not attempting to or are even aware that they are hurting themselves and their production.  They belittle and undermine the production when they use the most deadly and dangerous words in the English language. The deadliest and most dangerous words in the English language are "it's only" and the worst place to use these words is in the theatre. "It's only" community Theatre. "It's only" a kid's show. "It's only" a workshop. With these words we give ourselves permission to do less and allow ourselves to expect less. We should always expect the best from and for ourselves because when we give and produce work under the banner of "it's only" we proclaim that our craft does not always require the best of what we have to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our work is the reproduction of life for the education, enlightenment, and entertainment of others and there is no higher calling.  The audience sitting in front of you does not care that they aren’t watching a professional production.  They don’t care that the budget of the show is hundreds of times less than they would see in Chicago or New York or Los Angeles.  They only care about the story that is being told.  They can immerse themselves just as easily(sometimes more easily) when they know the actors onstage and are seated in an audience of friends in a 200 seat theatre in their hometown rather than watching a star onstage with strangers in a 1500 seat theatre in New York.  
Budgets are crunching and costs are rising everywhere, yes. Does that mean we do less? No. We use our imaginations more and try harder.  Theatre in many places, especially Broadway, has become about spectacle. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. Broadway shows have huge budgets and are able to spend millions of dollars to make the Titanic sink or Peter Pan fly.  Does that mean these things should be off limits for community theatres with a budget of a couple thousand dollars or less for each show? Of course not. Creativity and imagination can make all the difference in the world.  If theatre is about spectacle and if we as an audience expect that every company and every production must provide us with Broadway-style effects, then we dismiss the beauty and the imagination that implore us to believe that the houses of the star-crossed lovers are separated by an insurmountable wall that consists of no more that a man holding a metal pole.  And if we teach these things to the young people who come to our theatres to use their imagination to show the audience the pyramids of Egypt with a couple hundred dollars, imagine what they will be able to accomplish when they are given a much larger budget.  
Big-budget shows on Broadway are making headlines because directors and designers are thinking outside the box and making huge things happen.  Some succeed. Some fail. But with every failure comes a list of solutions and ways to do things differently next time.  In community theatres, we are constantly trying to do nothing but succeed and survive.  Our eyes are constantly on making sure we will have enough money to be open next season. So we pull out the old war horse shows that we know people will come to see and will keep the coffers full enough to keep the lights on next year. But what are we doing to ourselves when we do this? We are training a new group of upcoming theatre professionals who are learning to play it safe and there is nothing about playing it safe that will keep a dying art form alive. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich famously said, “Well behaved women seldom make history.”  Theatre professionals can commandeer this phrase. “Theatre professionals who play it safe seldom do good theatre.”  If we think of theatre as a living, breathing human being, do we want to see that person in a hospital bed with tubes and monitors hooked up all over with the people charged with his care doing only what it takes to keep him alive, gasping for breath with tears in his eyes? Or do we want to see a person who is running, jumping, dancing, performing magic tricks and singing in front of us so full of life that we have no choice but to join in the dance?
As Theatre professionals we should look at ourselves and ask, “Am I taking risks to expand or am I just playing it safe to survive?”  Most of us would unfortunately admit to the latter.  But we can change. Taking risks is not as risky as it sounds. It does not mean setting “Steel Magnolias” in a landfill or trying a children’s theatre production of “Glengary Glen Ross.” It can be as simple as taking an American classic that you know will put butts in seats and trying a minimalist design. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe” could start off with a good laugh if Martha walks on to a stage filled with black boxes and plain furniture and delivers the immortal line “What a dump.”
We do a great disservice to our young theatre professionals when we don’t take chances.  We raise a generation of people who are afraid of thinking outside the box and who very often decide that theatre is either boring because they think there is nothing to it but productions of “Dearly Departed,” “The Foreigner” and “Annie.” Or worse, they think that theatre is nothing but fun because they are in rehearsals with directors and designers who have a “make it work” mentality and have been told “it’s only” community theatre.  They are taught that shortcuts are ok, so when they get into any environment where work is a way of life and professionalism is expected, they often quit because it is a lot more than they are used to or don’t succeed because their usual level of work they are used to is insufficient for the needs of a college or professional theatre.  
We can turn this around.  We just have to work at it.  We have to challenge ourselves and push ourselves to be constantly better.  We can’t sit back and get comfortable, because theatre should be anything but comfortable.  Theatre should be constantly moving forward and pushing our audiences and ourselves.  We are the sharks of the art world.  When we stop moving, we die.  And cannot allow ourselves to be slowed by the sounds of “It’s only” and the limitations of small budgets.  Because in the end, we are limited only by our imaginations.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Joe Layton

Joe Layton

director, dancer, choreographer

born- May 03, 1931     died- May 5, 1994


I have so many cast recordings to choose from that the choice for which one to review next becomes nearly impossible. So I have decided to play a little "Six Degrees of Makin' S#!t Up."  Each blog will be connected to the one before it somehow. The common thread may change from post to post. Maybe a common actor or the same director or composer. Or I may find a really random connection that makes sense to no one but me. But I will let you know what the connection is and may even give some background information on the subject.
My first connection is going to be to follow the career of one specific person. When I was doing research for the Drat! The Cat! post I noticed that the director had a long career that included a lot of less well-known shows that I like so my first set of posts will revolve around the career of director and choreographer Joe Layton.
Joe Layton was born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York on May 3, 1931. He started his Broadway career while still in high school in the chorus of the original production of OKLAHOMA! at the age of 16. although he appeared in other shows in the following years(High Button Shoes, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Wonderful Town), his primary interest was in choreography and musical staging. His first experiences in choreography came in the Army Special Services unit and after his discharge in 1954 he worked for several years with the Ballet Ho de George Reich in France before returning to the US to make his TV debut as a dancer in the CBS production of Cinderella with Julie Andrews.
His first major choreography job came with the 1959 Broadway revival of On the Town and the Off-Broadway production of Once Upon a Mattress. His work was very well received and the New York Herald Tribune called him "pretty much the wonder boy of 1959." After Mattress, Layton choreographed The Sound of Music. The next several shows(Greenwillow, Tenderloin, Sail Away and No Strings) were all praised for their choreography, in fact No Strings won him the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 1962, but the shows themselves did not do incredibly well.  His next show, George M! is probably the most well-remembered of his directorial outings. This biographical musical about George M. Cohan earned Layton his second Tony Award for choreography and a Best Actor Tony for Joel Gray. Layton went on to direct 6 more shows including Dear World and Barnum.  He also directed the five-hour epic Scarlett, the musical adaptation  of Gone with the Wind in 1972.  In addition to his stage credits, Layton also choreographed several movies(Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie, For the Boys) and staged many concerts and performances for stars like Barbra Streisand(Color Me Barbra); Olivia Newton-John; Diana Ross; Harry Connick, Jr.; Cher; Dolly Parton; and Willie Nelson.  In 1990 he became the Creative Director of the creative entertainment division of Radio City Music Hall Productions.  At his death in 1994, he was working on the Cy Coleman musical The Life.

My next several posts will follow the career of Joe Layton.  The shows I will look at are Sherry!, Tenderlion, No Strings, George M!, Dear World, Two by Two, and Barnum

As always, thank you for joining me for "Makin' S#!t Up."  I hope you enjoyed in and will continue to come back. 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Review: Pump Boys and Dinettes at Triad Stage

The Pyrle has another gem in its crown!
 
Pump Boys and Dinettes opens tonight at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC. On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of attending a preview performance of this wonderful, energetic show. When I was greeted by the beautiful set designed by Timothy R. Mackabee, I knew I was in for a treat, and the cast did not disappoint. This musical takes its name from the musical group that wrote and performed in the original cast. John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel, and Jim Wann are credited with writing book, lyrics and music for this show set off of Highway 57 in between Frog Level and Smyrna, North Carolina. 
The music and lyrics of the show are beautiful and tons of fun, but the book leaves something to be desired, very often seeming like nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to clumsily transition from one song to the next. But that did not stop this excellent cast from plowing from song to song with beautiful smiles on every face including those of us in the audience. 
The cast members are wonderfully suited to each and every role and have been expertly directed and choreographed by Bryan Conger and the music could not be in better hands that the Music Director Justin Cowan. Front man for the Pump Boys is Jim. Rob Kahn ably handles the role and his smooth and easy way of talking makes you feel right at home from the minute the cast comes onstage. "Mamaw" is sure to be a favorite to anyone familiar with this show and Rob's beautifully heartfelt rendition is sure to bring a tear. Gabe Bowling plays pretty boy Jackson with style and his guitar licks are as beautiful as his smile. Jonathan Cable sits behind the piano as L.M., but his talent and drive are up front many times as he shows off his amazing keyboard and accordion skills. Eddie is an almost totally silent role, but Aaron Bond handles the silence very well and his bass playing is top notch. The sisters who give their name to the Double Cupp are Pruddie and Rhetta Cupp. Georgia Rogers Farmer made me feel right at home as Prudie and her singing of "Best Man" and "Sister" were the beautiful, sentimental highlights of the night. Gwendolyn Jones is truly not to be missed as the spunky fireball Rhetta Cupp. When she lets go during "Be Good or Be Gone" and "Vacation", she absolutely brings the house down and calls to mind the great Nell Carter with her wonderfully piercing voice and sassy style.
If you have a free night between now and May 4th and do not make every effort to get to The Pyrle to see this show, you have truly done yourself a disservice. This is one that Triad Stage has every reason to be proud of. Congrats to everyone involved.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Drat! the Cat! 1997 Studio Cast Recording

Drat! the Cat!

A Musical Spoof in Two Acts, 16 Scenes. 
Book and lyrics by Ira Levin. Music by Milton Schafer. 

Opened October 10, 1965 at the Martin Beck Theatre
Closed October 16, 1965 after 8 performances. 

PLAYBILL(General Information)

The original cast of this musical does not have a official cast recording although there is supposedly a recording that was made of a performance that was released long after the show closed. The recording that I will be referring to for purposes of this blog post is the 1997 Studio recording produced by Bruce Kimmel. The recording stars Susan Egan, Jason Graae, Judy Kaye, Bryan Batt, Jonathan Freeman, and Elaine Stritch. 

OVERTURE(Overall Impressions)

First of all, let me say that I have no idea why this show did not make it on Broadway. I can only guess that it was overshadowed by all the shows around it. The previous year featured over 50 shows on the boards, but not many of them are names that are incredibly recognizable. The most notable names are Fiddler on the Roof, Golden Boy, The Three Sisters, Boeing-Boeing, The Odd Couple, Do I Hear a Waltz?, The Roar of the Greaspaint- The Smell of the Crowd, and a revival of The Glass Menagerie, but these are only 8 out of 55 shows that included plays like A Severed Head, Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, The Family Way, Diamond Orchid, Catch Me If You Can(not the one you're thinking about), A Race of Hairy Men! and many other titles that seem to have faded into the history books and the dark corners of IBDB. The season that included Drat! the Cat!, however, was filled with shows that just about anyone with any experience in theatre will recognize. Oliver!, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Man of la Mancha, You Can't Take It With You, Marat/Sade(sorry, I didn't want to type out the full title), Sweet Charity, Wait Until Dark, The Lion in Winter, and Mame were all treading the boards and making competition for Drat! so I can only assume that it was overshadowed by the shows around it and therefore never got the see past its first week after opening. It had everything going in its favor: book by Ira Levin(Deathtrap, Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives), directed and choreographed by Joe Layton(Once Upon a Mattress[1959], The Sound of Music[1959], Annie[film], Thoroughly Modern Millie[film], 4 Tony nominations and 2 Tony Awards) and a cast that would make anyone jealous. Leslie Ann Warren and Elliott Gould lead a cast that included Jane Connell and Charles Durning in supporting roles. The story is a fun spin on melodrama and police drama complete with a love story between the unhappy rich girl turned cat burglar and the police officer who falls in love with the rich girl side of her dual identity, but has to capture the felonious side to make his father proud. Mistaken identities abound and this caper seems like it should bring nothing but fun and laughs. If the book is even half as funny as the music, I cannot understand why this show was not a hit other than being eclipsed by all the shows around it.

11 O'CLOCK NUMBERS(Standout Songs)

As far as the music in the show, all of the songs are very good. It sounds like a typical musical of its time.  All of the songs are very singable and fit very nicely in the voice.  However, there are several songs that really stood out as exceptional.
"She Touched Me"  In the show, this song is sung by the male lead, Bob Purefoy, but in the years since, Barbra Streisand has changed all the pronouns and made this song her own(probably a gift from Elliot Gould).  I think the song works just as beautifully as a male song and is beautiful and lyrical.
"She's Roses"  A duet between Bob and his mother, Kate as Bob extols the virtues of the girl he loves.  Although written as a duet, it could easily be converted to a solo number.
"A Pox Upon the Traitor's Brow" This is the opening song of Act Two and is some of the best patter and wordplay I have heard in a long time.
"It's Your Fault" The parents of the female lead try to figure out where they went wrong as parents. Very Funny.
"I Like Him" other than "She Touched Me" this song may be one of the most accessible songs in the show.  Not an incredibly showy song, this could easily be a good audition song for a girl who doesn't need the kind of showing off that comes from "Astonishing" or "The Wizard and I" or the like.

CURTAIN CALL(Wrap Up)

Drat! the Cat is the most fun I have had listening to a musical in a long time.  I would love to see a production of this show and think that if anyone has not listened to it, they should do themselves a favor and find it.

Welcome to my blog!!

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog, "Makin' S#!t Up!" This will be a weekly(hopefully more) blog about theatre. I will be listening to cast recordings(new and old) and putting in my two cents, reading plays(new and old) and telling you what I think, maybe a review of a show here and there and just generally spouting out the wisdom everyone who knows and loves me has come to expect. I will probably not be reviewing Wicked, RENT, Evita, or any of the other things that everyone knows. I will also try to stay away from the old warhorse plays like Glass Menagerie and Death of a Salesman unless I go to see a production and want to throw my opinion out there. Hopefully this will not only force me to expand my mind as a theatre professional and help clear out all the things on my shelf and in my iPod that I have yet to get to, it will also help you as you are looking for the next thing you may want to read, listen to, or maybe help you decide between two competing productions that none of us have time to see. Again, thank you for stopping by my blog and I hope you will continue to come back with me and offer your own opinions on the posts, because I am far from an expert and love to talk and discuss things. Throughout the coming weeks, I would like as much feedback as possible on format, content, and anything else you can think of to help me improve this blog and make it something that you would like to read and will encourage other people to read. Thank you and I hope you enjoy "Makin' S#!t Up..." as much as I do.