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September 30, 2006:

FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, yesterday was the day. Not that today isn’t also the day, but yesterday was the day day. The day started off in wacky fashion (the skinny black pant, pink sweater, and go-go boots) – I woke up at eight thirty. The only problem with that was that I wanted to get up at 7:45, which was when my wakeup call was supposed to be. As it turned out the ringer on my phone wasn’t working, hence I missed the call. I had to do my morning stuff very quickly – shave, shower, and attempt to get my voice in some kind of shape for our ten o’clock rehearsal. It was everything I could do to get over to rehearsal on time, but I made it. We ran all of act one and some of act two – I tried to mark as much as I could. Then I went back to the hotel to have some tea, and then it was back to our theatre space (the Manhattan Theatre Club’s rehearsal space). The room we were/are in was/is problematic – it’s maybe the deadest-sounding room I’ve ever had to sing in. Many in the cast felt it – when something is that dead-sounding, you have no room to have levels to your singing because everything, sound-wise, just dies in the air and so you have to constantly be louder, which is not my favorite thing. When there’s a natural reverberation to a room, the sound bounces off the walls and you have space around your voice and you can do subtle nuances, should you so choose. Here, if we’re not loud we’re not heard. We started the show precisely at 2:05. We had a very nice crowd. As we all entered to take our seats, I noticed our very own elmore sitting with Ben’s ever-lovin’ Ant. The opening music began (it’s from the CD itself), and a few seconds later I stood and began the show. It’s very unnerving to start a show solo and frankly I let it creep me out a little. But, about halfway into the number I loosened up and was okay, although I was told I need to smile more. My two solos seemed to go okay, and the cast all did very well. There were no major flubs or hiccups and the show basically sped along at a nice clip. The nice thing for me is that all my major singing stuff happens in the first fifteen minutes of the show. After that, it’s a few solo lines and dialogue. After the show, I said hey to elmore, who was very sweet. I also had a couple of other folks come up – fans of my recordings, and one fan of my film work. That’s always nice. I then went back to the hotel, changed, and then joined everyone for a wonderful dinner that FJL and Skip through for us. It was at an Eyetalian jernt and the food was very good indeed. After that, I went back to the hotel, had some tea, and then toddled over to see A Chorus Line. Five, six, seven, eight.

I’ve been reading reports about this new A Chorus Line since it debuted in San Francisco. They ranged from annoyance to apathy to okay to out and out raves. On Internet sites there were many complaints about some of the casting, with just as many complaints that the cast hadn’t been allowed to bring anything new to the table in terms of characterizations, and even more complaints about the faithfulness of the staging making it seem like a museum piece. Well, I have now seen it. I’ll begin by saying that I first saw the show in previews at the Shubert Theatre in New York, and it was electric – one of the great theatre experiences of my life. I had a lump in my throat the size of a golf ball, almost from the time the lights went up. It was joyous, it was emotional, it was hilarious, and the dancing was incredible. Each of the original cast members brought something unique to the table – they all had their own personalities and they were all real and true and most importantly they were all dancers who had their own special flavor – their dancing had individuality and also the ability to fit in when unison dancing was done. Most of that company came to LA to do the show, and I probably saw it there about twenty times. I basically knew every light cue (by the great Tharon Musser), was familiar with every dance move, every move in the songs, the orchestrations, everything. Since then, I have seen other companies, probably a total of sixty or more times. I have had many friends in various companies, so I would say I am more than intimately aware of the show’s mechanics.

Which brings us to this new Broadway revival. I must say the Internet wags (some of whom profess to know the show well and to have seen its original company – reading their posts I am now pretty certain they are not telling the truth, or they just have really bad memories) have got it wrong in mostly every possible way. Let’s start with the cast and what they’ve been allowed to bring to the table. Many have complained (would-be directors, mostly – kids at that) that we’re just getting carbon copies of the originals. Were that only the case. We’re getting a lot of new interpretations – some of them are fine, and many of them aren’t. I’m a fan of Charlotte D’Amboise and I was quite looking forward to her Cassie. She’s gotten the most knocks up to now – she and Michael Barresse as Zach. The problems with Miss D’Amboise, for me, are instantly apparent. Mr. Bennett’s “style” does not suit her body, and I’m not just talking about The Music and The Mirror. I watched her in all the numbers and the choreography doesn’t sit well on her. I found her performance a bit “actorish” – not natural – or forced naturalness – and her singing is just odd. Mr. Barresse is, perhaps, the worst Zach I’ve ever seen. He’s too light – he’s not strong enough – you see it from beat one in the opening number – at one point, he leaned over and mouthed to the actor playing Larry, “It’s gonna be a long day” after having watched one group of dancers. Sorry, that’s not Zach and that’s not A Chorus Line. He has no drama, you never believe he’s a force to be reckoned with (certainly the original Zach, Bobby Lupone, had that quality), he’s just a lightweight Zach and it harms the show in a major way. The people who’ve been getting Internet raves are the Maggie, who I thought was okay but nowhere near Kay Cole or many other Maggies I’ve seen (again, it’s fourteen year olds doing the raving for the most part), the Kristine (I found her performance very slow and not manic enough – it’s right there in the text and without that quality it’s weird – she’s good, but could be much better), the Paul (very filled with acting, nothing heart-rending or simple like Sammy Williams – the thing about the best Pauls is that they just say the bloody lines and let the writing do the work – they don’t pile on the tears and the acting – Sammy just spoke it simply, with heart, and it was heart-rending to watch – this fellow did all the work and I was left untouched), the Val (again, too slow, and isn’t being told how to land the jokes – her pauses kill the laughs – she gets mostly little chuckles). The Diana is merely okay. The Gregory Gardner is okay, too – but again, he loses half his laughs through mistiming. The Sheila is all pose and posture – I can’t remember exactly when that happened, but many of the Sheilas I’ve seen have had that problem – the only one I’ve ever seen who just WAS Sheila was the original, Carole (Kelly) Bishop. I just kept wanting real personalities, and I kept getting adequate but nothing more. The same goes for the dancing – they do the steps but they’re not dancing for their lives as they were in the original. There’s not enough joy, not enough energy. It’s all well-executed, but lacks the something more that Bennett would have demanded.

And that brings us to the other thing the Internet wags have got completely wrong – they all say this is a completely faithful recreation of Bennett’s original staging and I’m afraid they are completely wrong. There are many, many changes. Mike’s number is the most radically different (I know this number very well because Kevin Spirtas recreates the choreography in our show), and not for the better, I’m afraid. There are many changes in bits of staging within the songs (especially Nothing), and I found in each case that there was no reason for the changes, and none of them made sense to me as the show is trying to be true to Bennett’s staging. In fact, I think Mr. Bennett would not be happy at all with this revival. When the Finale began I was quite excited because that number contains a step I absolutely drool over (it’s in the boys’ section of the number – when they bow, and then turn and do this front/back step – I’m obsessed with it, frankly) – well, the step is there but suddenly it’s become very automaton-like and square – none of the bounce and verve it should have and has had in even the worst of the productions that I’ve seen). I just don’t get it, really. I did not like the extra snazzy version of the Finale set – why? And Natashia Katz’ riff on Miss Musser’s lighting isn’t nearly as effective.

I remember talking to the sound designer of the show when he was in LA doing The Drowsy Chaperone. I remember him scoffing at the thought of trying to do the show today with its 1975 shotgun mic approach. So, they have figured out how every cast member has a personal mic and the pacs are fairly well hidden. But, guess what? The sound was better in 1975 – much better in just about every way, especially the orchestra sound. Which brings me to the biggest problem with this revival, and without a Bennett there to stop it, I’m afraid the problem isn’t going away. And the problem is Mr. Marvin Hamlisch. What he has done to the tempos is horrifying. The opening number, one of the most exciting ever conceived, is now so slow that all energy is sapped from it. And he’s encouraged Jonathan Tunick to tinker with all the orchestrations and that tinkering is TERRIBLE. It’s especially obvious in the opening number – they got rid of the two real guitar players and it kills the energy. I mean, it’s awful. There are orchestration changes in almost every number and none of them are better than what was there, and that includes the cheesy synth string lines. The end of The Music And The Mirror is so slow and drawn out that there’s no urgency as she runs to try and catch the closing mirrors and even though the audience cheers it isn’t a patch on the ass of the cheers Miss McKechnie got, and one of the reasons she got those cheers is because the tempo was electrifying right up to the ending button.

The reaction to the show was mild from most of the audience, even though everyone seemed to enjoy it – and, of course, there are always the ever-present screaming teens and early twentiesites. For me it was bittersweet – I do love the show and the dancing so much, and even in this less-than-opitmal version I was entranced several times. But none of these folks wipe away the memory of people like Sammy Williams – when he did the famous pointing step in Hello Twelve (a step he made up), you were watching a dancer like no other – here we’re watching dancers who are very much technically proficient but without the oomph factor and the something extra factor.

What am I, Ben Brantley all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve just written way too much for the first section. Five, six, seven, eight!

My goodness, that was a long first section, wasn’t it? And please remember, it was just my thoughts, and others may and should feel differently, should they so choose.

Today I must get up early enough to get tea, shave, shower, and get to the theater for our eleven o’clock call for our eleven-thirty show. Then we’ll have four hours off, which I hope will be enough time for my voice to be okay. After our final performance, I’ll come back to the hotel and pack, and then attend our hainsies/kimlets gathering at Joe Allen – in addition to our group we’ll have our very own Mr. Kevin Spirtas in attendance.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, arise, have tea, relax, and then do two shows and have a soiree at Joe Allen. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite dance numbers from Broadway shows and films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? Five, six, seven, eight!

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