haines his way

08/15/2002:
"THE OVERCAST THURSDAY"

Well, dear readers, here we are on an overcast Thursday morning. I would like to know which casting director is responsible for this Thursday being overcast. Thursday is a day for a small cast or, at the very least, a cast of five or six. But today there are way too many people out and about and frankly that is wholly unacceptable. What the hell am I talking about?
I heard from two of our favorite people yesterday. First, I got a call from Mr. Tony Walton, who told me he had a bad feeling my book wasn’t going to end as he wished it would. I thought that was very sweet, but I would not give him any hints or clues as to how it does end. Then I got an e-mail from Mr. Rupert Holmes, who apologized profusely for not doing his Unseemly Interview yet. He does have a slight excuse, so I forgave him. It seems he has a show opening on Broadway in September (Say Goodnight, Gracie), a new musical in tryouts (Marty), a novel coming out, and a stage adaptation of Remember WENN. He did assure me that we will do our Unseemly Interview very soon. In the meantime, I have not heard hide nor hair from Mr. Craig Brockman, so I’m beginning to doubt whether the John Treacy Egan interview will go up tomorrow as planned – it may have to go up on Monday instead.
I vaguely remembered we talked about singer/songwriter Mason Williams in these here notes a few weeks ago – I managed to pick up a copy of the CD of The Mason Williams Phonograph Record yesterday. I haven’t heard that album for over twenty years, and I’m happy to report it is as delightful as ever. Today, it is inconceivable that artists like Mason Williams, Van Dyke Parks, Rupert Holmes or even Randy Newman would be allowed to make the daring and inventive kinds of albums they made back then, especially for a major label. What a wonderful time for music it was back then. In any case, The Mason Williams Phonograph Record is very quirky, but has some beautiful songs, some funny songs, some throwaway songs, a classic (Classical Gas), and a spectacularly gorgeous piece of instrumental music called Sunflower. If you’ve ever seen the film version of Sweet Charity your mouth will drop to the floor when you hear Sunflower. Do remember that Sunflower was written first. I don’t know if Mr. Coleman heard Sunflower and liked the feel of it, or if Mr. Fosse heard it and liked the feel of it, but if you watch the ending of the film, where Miss Shirley MacLaine wakes up on the bench in Central Park with some hippies (including Bud Cort) are saying “peace” and “love” to her, you will know exactly what I mean. In any case, if you’ve never heard this album, I recommend it highly.
Well, I have been slaving over a hot laptop answering all your excellent questions, so perhaps we’d all better click on the Unseemly Button below so we can, at long last, get to them.

Have I mentioned that it’s an overcast Thursday? It’s definitely not a Two for the Seesaw kind of day, it’s more like a The King and I kind of day.
Do you know what surprises me? If someone jumps out of a dark shadowy place and talks loud, that surprises me, but what else surprises me is that no one, not one of you dear readers, has ever ever ever (that is three evers) asked me this key question: Have I ever worn two pairs of pants at the same time? I should think this is something that every Hainsie/Kimlet would want to know and yet that key question has remained unasked. Actually, shouldn’t it be two pairs of pant? Isn’t pants a pair to begin with, as in one pant, two pants. I know we’ve been down this pant road before and I’m quite certain we’ll be down this pant road again. But for now, before we all begin panting, let us get to your excellent questions, which I have answered to the best of my ability – and I have not checked for typos, so forgive any you may or may not find.
Buckleyfan asks how I got involved with music and the entertainment industry and why is the musical theater an important area for me to bring to people. I’ve answered some of this before, so I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version. I have always (knock wood) been involved professionally in some phase of the entertainment industry since I was twenty years old. First as an actor for many years, then as a writer/director and finally as a record producer. I’ve always loved the Broadway musical, since I was a wee sprig of a twig of a sprout of a tad of a youth. I do feel that after 130 albums I have managed to introduce a few young people to interesting theater music they might not have heard otherwise. It’s wonderful when young people realize there’s a world of musical theater outside of Les Miz and Jekyll and Hyde and Phantom. Do I think the Internet is still a valid place for those Broadway artists who might not get the mainstream notice that pop groups get? Do a lot of them take the risk of going unnoticed even on the net if they’ve self-produced their own albums? I think the Internet is helpful to get the word out, it’s a place where people can hear about and find out things about new performers. The only problem with a lot of these self-produced albums is that they aren’t very good. Performers are not always producers – those are two different worlds. I don’t know any Broadway performer who should produce their own album – they should always have a producer they trust to listen and give notes and help with the material. Finally, Buckleyfan wants to know if I’ve ever ridden a horse. I have, when I was younger, but it made me nervous so I didn’t do it much. People do love to ride horses, so you should try it to see if you like it. Let’s just say that I didn’t bond with the horse.
Ron Pulliam asks what my opinion of the score to Carmelina is? I don’t know it all that well, but the bits I’ve heard seem nice, although not as good as other Lerner.
William E. Lurie asks if I’m ever aware in advance when one of my reruns will air. Well, since I haven’t really watched regular television in ten years, and since I haven’t bought a TV Guide in fifteen, no I’m never aware. I hear about them after the fact, because people will invariably call me if they’ve seen one of the shows, or sometimes people even stop me on the street.
Ben asks what I think of the current state of cartoons and animation. I’m a bit bored by it, frankly. It’s all very well done, but I just am not really interested. Ben mentions the classic Warners cartoons and Rocky and Bullwinkle, and I adore those and never tire of them, because they were unique and suffused with personality. I like Pixar, if that counts.
Kerry asks if I were to cast Barbara Harris in a musical today (old or new) which part would I choose for her. Hmmm – I’d still love to see her in On a Clear Day even though she’s too old for it now. I think she’d probably be an interesting Desiree in Night Music. Next, Kerry doesn’t know if they’ve attempted to turn any of Neil Simon’s plays or movies into musicals, but which ones do I think would be suited to being a musical and who would I have write the music and lyrics? Well, Mr. Simon himself, along with Mr. Hamlisch and Mr. Zippel attempted The Goodbye Girl, with terrible results. It was almost as if Mr. Simon forgot what made the movie work. I don’t know if I feel any of Mr. Simon’s plays would make good musicals. Maybe the film of The Heartbreak Kid could be musicalized, although I don’t really see the point. If I were to cast Diana Canova in a musical (new or old), what part would it be? Well, I heard she was a marvelous Charlotte in Night Music, so certainly that one. I think she can pretty much do anything – she’s got a gorgeous voice, a beautiful face, great comic timing, and she’s a good actress to boot. What are my favorite pies? Well, coconut custard with whipped cream is my all-time favorite pie. I also like cherry pie every now and then, and chocolate cream pie, too. Also, banana cream pie is amusing once in a great while. Finally, Kerry tells me that the idea of doing The Parent Trap as a musical came up some time ago (first I’ve heard of it) – if it were to be done who would I have write the songs and where do I feel they’d fit in? It would not be an easy adaptation, but it might and could just work. The plot is classic and the structure is certainly sound. There would be ample opportunity for all kinds of songs in all kinds of situations and scenes, too. I wouldn’t mind a Charles Strouse with whoever (maybe Marty Charnin) score, or maybe Maltby and Shire.
Allan was listening to Petula Clark’s Here For You album (which I produced) and noticed that on the Seasons of Love track there’s a bit of Easy To Be Hard. Allan wants to know if I thought of that. No, if it’s there it was Ron Abel, the musical director who put it there. I do like to do things like that, however. Have I ever interpolated a song from a different show by different authors into any other tracks? Not sure exactly what you mean – if you mean have I ever quoted from other songs within a track, sure, many times. If you mean have I ever taken two different songs by different authors and put them together, sure – for example, on Emily Skinner’s solo album I put together Secret Love with Is it Really Me? because I felt the two songs told a little story. As to quotes, if you listen to Christiane Noll’s A Broadway Love Story album, I do several.
S. Woody White asks if at my upcoming signing at Bookfellows people should bring their own pointy party hats, or if I will supply them. No, people must bring their own, and if they are brave they must wear their own colored tights and pantaloons. I will, however, be supplying the cheese slices and the ham chunks.
Mark noticed that in the liner notes of Celebration and A Doll’s Life that I was listed as the reissue producer for CD. He wants to know how I was involved with Bay Cities, the label that issued them and whether Varese bought them out. I started Bay Cities with two friends of mine, and in three years we did ninety-three releases, most of which were reissues. We were distributed by an independent distributor who was not very square with us and we could never grow in the way I wanted to grow. Then, I was offered the Varese job and I simply shut down Bay Cities because I knew that eventually we’d go nowhere fast. It was really a hobby for all of us, not a full-time thing. Varese did buy four of the original albums we did and subsequently reissued them on their label. What is my favorite Strouse and Adams score? Well, I’m afraid I’ll have to be terribly predictable and say Bye Bye Birdie, because I simply adore it. I also am very fond of Applause and bits of All American. If we remove Adams from the equation, I think Annie has got great stuff and I think Rags is a major score.
Hapgood has returned and has the following questions: How long was I at Bay Cities and why did I leave? See above for the leaving reason – I was at Bay Cities for all of its existence, three years. One of the Bay Cities albums was Brent Spiner’s Old Yellow Eyes is Back – was I involved with that album and is it any good? I was involved only insofar as picking it up for distribution and, if I recall correctly, making sequencing suggestions. It’s really quite an okay album. What is my opinion of the Celebration score? Well, as most of you know, I adore Schmidt and Jones and I’m very fond of Celebration, especially the songs Orphan in the Storm and I’m Glad To See You’ve Got What You Want (which I had my friend Guy Haines sing on his album).
Freedunit has returned and asks: What is next? So many things cooking right now – as I said in yesterday’s notes, it’s too soon to talk about anything yet, but I think two of the upcoming projects will really tickle you dear readers. Within the next month you shall know all. Do I have a new favorite ice cream or frozen dessert? I have been enjoying the cantaloupe-flavored Fruit-a-Freeze ice cream bars, but that’s really the only new thing I’ve tried. I have also been having Fosters Freeze ice cream cones quite a bit lately. Why do people have difficulty believing that Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune was written for Kathy Bates and that she appeared nude in it. Probably because the movie version had Michelle Pfeiffer. Do I think a film will be made of either Rent or tick…tick…BOOM! Rent may go the way of Hair, where a film is made many years after it closes on Broadway. As to tick…tick…BOOM, no.
William F. Orr asks if I can describe the moment when the lyrical concept to Let ‘Em Eat Cake came to me? I know it was one of the last things I wrote – I wrote it when I was actually writing the script in 1974 (The Lights and the Smiles was written then, too) but I have no memory of how it came to me.
Michael Shayne has a few questions: Why didn’t I like the television version of Gypsy with Bette Midler? I thought it was directed badly, I thought it looked bad, and Bette, who I thought would be great, really disappointed me as Mama Rose. I didn’t mind Peter Riegert or Cynthia Gibb, though. If someone wants to use a song or instrumental track from one of my produced albums in a film or television show who has the rights? Whatever label owns the album. If someone pays a royalty, how is it distributed? To the producer? The singer? The writers? Well, it’s licensed by the label – usually unless the producer or singer has a special deal, they won’t receive anything. The writers will, of course, receive a writer’s royalty. When a film says “Courtesy of” does that mean the label gave them the music for no fee, in return for an appearance in the film? Never – film companies always pay a fee and get a royalty of some sort, although sometimes they just do a buyout so that there is no royalty. Does the singer or artist have any say in how it’s used? If the singer or artist wields power, probably. Mostly not, though. Amazon.com plays thirty second clips of tracks from the CDs they have for sale – is the fact that they’re thirty seconds in length allow for the non-payment of royalties? Of course – it’s a promotional tool for the label and for amazon. If a song is used for less that thirty seconds in a film does that mean they don’t have to pay a royalty or fee? No, they have to pay for even a second. I’ll tell you a funny story – when I did my instrumental version of Ragtime with Brad Ellis, it turned out to be a really good selling album. We got a call from a tv show asking if they could license thirty seconds of a track. Varese ended up doing so and got paid $7,000 for it. Brad and I got zip, of course. Such is the way of the world.
Tom from Oz asks if I think Paul Simon will ever try Broadway again? I would have to assume that Mr. Simon would rather have a brick shoved down his throat than try Broadway again. What do I think of those mics they use in such shows as Smokey Joe’s Café and Rent? I hate them, I hate the way they look and they make me nauseous. What do I think of the trend to just do shows that have compilations of songs not specifically written for the stage? I find all those shows boring, I must say. They really hold no interest for me whatsoever, no matter what the star power is or how high energy they are or how well staged they are.
George asks if I prefer to be called Bruce or BK or Mr. Kimmel? Never Mr. Kimmel. Never ever. Hate it. Bruce is usually fine, but many people call me BK, too, which I like.
Matthew has this question: In all my years of producing, which “star” that I’ve worked with has been the easiest to work with and which has been not-so-easy? Well, I take the word “star” very seriously. Very few of the people I’ve worked with are “stars” even though some of them are more talented than “stars”. So, of the “stars” I would say the easiest and most fun was Miss Ann Margret, who was a doll, and also Miss Lauren Bacall, who I adored working with. Miss Dorothy Loudon is dreamy to work with, too, and I even had fun with Miss Elaine Stritch. I was warned about the latter three ladies by many – but I find that every time I’m warned about someone I end up loving them and having a blast. I find that if they trust you and like you they will totally put themselves in your hands. And of course, working with the likes of Ann Margret and Stritch and Loudon and Bacall is amazing and very gratifying because they want to be great and it’s fun to help them if they should need the help. As to the not-so-easy, only one – Miss Carol Channing, who I found somewhat unpleasant (do not get me wrong – as a performer I love her dearly and would watch her in anything – as a human being to work with, well, it just wasn’t pleasant at all). She is so caught up in her own little world there is simply no breaking through, which is a shame really.
Paul Fairie tells me that his CD collection is becoming most unseemly and asks if I have any tips on how to organize them? If you saw my CD closet right now you would not be asking me that question. That said, I organize by genre – shows, soundtracks, classical, instrumental and vocal, and each genre is alphabetized. I’m simply out of room, so there are piles of CDs on the floor and I have to figure out what to do about it because it is really starting to annoy me.
Td is very excited about the brand spanking new MGM Double Feature horror DVDs which will be released in a couple of weeks and wants to know how I feel about Vincent Price’s work for Roger Corman. First of all, I managed to get one of the double feature DVDs yesterday, The Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again, both featuring Mr. Price and both directed by Gordon Hessler, who I worked for as an actor on a show called Lucas Tanner. The transfers look very nice indeed. Anyway, I like Mr. Price’s work for Mr. Corman, and I would dare say that Mr. Price might not have reached quite the iconic stature he has today if it weren’t for those films. Do I have a favorite Christopher Lee performance. Well, not to be a bore, but he is wonderful in Horror of Dracula and also in Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead) – but I always like him, and in fact he was the first person we offered the role of Dr. Stark to in The Creature Wasn’t Nice. He turned it down, saying, “I loved it until I got eaten.” What do I think of Anthony Shaffer’s The Wicker Man? I like it better after having seen the full version on DVD. Do I like the 40s work of Ray Milland better than the later work. I’ve always loved Ray Milland – his 40s work is better only because the films were better, but he’s superb in just about everything, even the clunkers like Frogs and The Thing with Two Heads. Do I think What’s the Matter with Helen is underrated. Yes, very few people remember it, I’m afraid. I’m a fan of its director, Mr. Curtis Harrington, and it’s got a great score by Mr. David Raksin.
Well, I’m exhausted. I must now take the day, I must do the things I do, I must put on my second pair of pant (oops, I guess I just answered that question, didn’t I?), I must get in my automobile and go places and try to avoid most of the cast that is out on this extremely overcast day. Today’s topic of discussion: Disney has many movies that would be ripe for musicalizing for the stage – which do you think would make a great stage musical and why, and if it isn’t already a musical, who would you have write the songs? Did you see what I did there? I took Kerry’s question and used it as a topic of discussion. What do you think of that? Post away, my pretties.

Replies: 45 Unseemly Comments

Is apple or cherry my favorite pie?
With regard to The Goodbye Girl, it is as if Neil Simon had no idea how to adapt a screenplay for the stage and a sixteen-years-older audience and culture.
Posted by freedunit @ 08/15/2002 10:16 AM PST

How very odd (once again, something is "odd")! Of all days for BK to suggest the idea of wearing two pairs of pants...
As I was driving to work this morning, a guy on a motorcycle was waiting at a stop sign to enter the main road, and I noticed he was wearing a pair of chinos slit up the side of the legs...and he was wearing a pair of dark trousers underneath. The chinos obviously were protecting the "nicer" trousers>
Now I must ask BK under what circumstances he finds himself wearing two pairs of pants...
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 10:31 AM PST

Pecan pie -- absolutely the BEST pie in the world. In all its forms, most especially "chocolate" pecan pie!!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 10:32 AM PST

Once upon a time I was a nay-sayer to pecan pie. Every time I would see one, I would say, "Nay." Alas, no longer do I say nay. Not all pecan pies are created equal—have you noticed they have no written constitution?—but now I say, “What is it—pecan pie?” instead of “Nay.” I have encountered excellent pecan pie and pecan tartlets—or are they pie-lets?—perhaps there is a pecan pie-let season—and recently I was given an enticing recipe for chocolate pecan pie that I am eager to try—as soon as the fershluganah summer cools off. I have tasted chocolate pecan pie that was dreamy.
Posted by freedunit @ 08/15/2002 10:38 AM PST

The obvious answer to BK's question about Disney films into musicicals, is "Mary Poppins" and I assume (and we know what THAT means) that most of you know the situation with that. But I hear we're getting closer. I'd like to see "Hercules", seems to be the easiest since there is no flying or water involved, and as much as I enjoy "Pete's Dragon" (being my FAVORITE Disney movie) I don't think it would work on stage or without Helen Reddy. Non-musicals... probably "The North Ave. Irregulars" sort of another "Guys and Dolls" thing, which is too fun. It could definately warrent an Alan Menkin score, that is if Disney found a decent lyricist.
One begins to wonder why BK has a sudden interest in Disney? Hmmm...
Posted by Matthew @ 08/15/2002 10:57 AM PST

Disney's Freaky Friday, based on a book by Mary Rodgers has been filmed at least twice and is being made yet again. If Ms Rodgers would compose the music herself, I think there could be a terrific musical made from the material. And, of course, Barbara Harris played Jodie Foster's mother in the first film so we'd have to find a role for her in the stage version!
I also think Disney should consider musicalizing The Sword in the Stone, the early part of T.H. White's book that also inspired Lerner and Loewe's Camelot. A much better idea than Hunchback of Notre Dame!
Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/15/2002 11:01 AM PST

Since BK is pro-Pixar, can a musical version of "Herbie: The Love Bug" be far behind?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 11:04 AM PST

It should come as no surprise that I am a cake person. If this is a shock to some of you, keep the smelling salts handy. I do like a few pies, however. Boston Cream Pie would have to be first, but that doesn't really count, because in reality it is cake. Yes, it is cake. My favorite pie, however, is, of all things, rhubarb. Not strawberry rhubarb. Just rhubarb. Marie Callender's makes a great rhubarb pie. I like the taste, but it also reminds me of my grandparents, who, unlike Benjamin Kritzer's grandparents, were very warm loving people.
Now to the subject at foot. Disney musicals? With all the technology and effects available these days, I too am surprised they have not adapted "Mary Poppins" for the stage. The music and chorography are all there. Wiht the exception of the penguin waiter dance, everyhting else would translate very well. Hear that, Disney?
For others, are we talking animated films or live action? Interestingly enough, I think "Song of the South" could be quite good. And even if they politically corrected it, it could still be cute.
"Summer Magic" (with a LOT of work on the script) could be cute. "Pollyana" might work too. With the way Disney seems to be thinking these days, it'll probably end up being something like "That Darn Cat," "The Boatniks" or something. Or yet another version of "101 Dalmatians."
Posted by Kerry @ 08/15/2002 11:13 AM PST

Yes,"Mary Poppins" would be perfect. Although it would be tough to beat Julie Andrews, many could handle the part. The tough one to replace would be Jane Darwell as the bird woman!
Posted by Kerry @ 08/15/2002 11:15 AM PST

Robert Armin: Ah, but Miss Mary Rodgers HAS written a musical of Freaky Friday and I, BK, have even recorded a wonderful song from it - At the Same Time, sung by our very own Tammy Minoff, on Unsung Musicals III (it was also used in Hey, Love, the Mary Rodgers revue, albeit with different lyrics). I have the demo tape of the full score, and none of it quite measures up to At the Same Time, which is a total winner. In fact, when we were recording Hey, Love and we did the first take of that song, I went over to Mary and lifted her off the ground in a hug and told her I adored her and that that melody was typical of her greatness.
Posted by bk @ 08/15/2002 11:26 AM PST

There are two kinds of Disney films... the ones made when Walt was still alive and everything after when Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller and later Michael Eisner put the Disney name on projects that Walt would never have approved. Of the films Walt had control over, they were all so good there is no need to put them on stage. Of those which came after Walt's death, the only worthwhile one (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) has already been done (and the Broadway version is less effective that the half-hour theme park version). LION KING (both film and stage) has a brilliant opening followed by a kiddie version of HAMLET with fart jokes. The best Disney films are the ones that Disney distributes but does not make - the Pixar ones. And they goofed in the TOY STORY films by not using real people as the humans interacting with the Computer Generated toys. It looks like toys playing with toys (the only major flaw in these films).
Actually don't get me started on what is done in the name of Walt these days. The theme parks are so far from his initial vision that he would not recognize them; he would never have made R-Rated films like the subsidiary companies are making; a cable television network bearing his name would not be showing suggestive videos by questionably talented, scantily clad teenage girl singers and boy bands. The Disney touch died with Walt. It's just too bad that his heirs still allowed his name to be used.
(And yes I know all about his questionable FBI activities but it had no effect on his work).
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/15/2002 11:27 AM PST

The charming and somewhat strange Barbara Harris rented from my Uncles for many, many years. One of the most peculiar things I discovered (yes, there were many more, most of which cannot be printed on a family site such as this) in clearing out my last-to-die Uncle's office in the West Village was a locked cabinet drawer. We assumed the drawer had contracts, wills, cash, etc. But, NOOOOO--it held approximately (and this is a conservative estimate) 500 photos of Barbara Harris from all stages of her career, including several inscribed personally to both my Uncles. I have wondered since then if the charming and somewhat strange Ms. Harris therefore qualifies as one of my "Aunts", if you catch my drift.
Posted by JMK @ 08/15/2002 11:36 AM PST

BK, what were you doing with Mary Rodgers Guettel on the ground!? She is an American treasure and should be on a pedestal, or a sofa, maybe a folding chair, at least. Her score for Once Upon a Mattress is pretty wonderful. It is such a pity the Broadway revival was such a botched affair. Could the casting of Winnifred have been any worse?
Posted by freedunit @ 08/15/2002 11:45 AM PST

Re the Broadway revival of MATTRESS. Yes Mrs. Broderick was miscast, but a worse problem was the (uncredited) script revisions. Since I have been involved in productions of the show, I know the original script very well, and what was on the stage of the Broadhurst wasn't it. So many funny lines were cut (and replaced with lines not nearly as funny) that no wonder it didn't get laughs. While Mrs. Broderick would have been wrong in any case, it is unfair to put the entire blame on her when Ms. Burnett herself would not have been able to get as many laughs with the revised script.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/15/2002 11:53 AM PST

Well, BK, somehow I knew that Mary Rodgers had already musicalized Freaky Friday, but as is typical of my mind lately, the memory vanished just moments before I typed the above comment. And, of course, I have both albums you mentioned since they were both produced by you.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/15/2002 11:56 AM PST

William, you are absolutely right about Mattress. The director was hoping to create a copyrightable version of the show that he could then profit from in later productions (as he did with Most Happy Fella). The fabulous Jane Krakowski was wasted in a role that originally was the equal of Carol Burnett's. Most of the secondary plot concerning Lady Larkin was jettisoned, leaving a huge hole in the show.
Once Upon a Mattress, in its original script, is one of the masterpieces of the musical theatre and should be left alone in future productions.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/15/2002 12:01 PM PST

Revisions to the book of Once Upon a Mattress are a mistake. I would have loved to see Lea DeLaria in the role of Winnifred, or even Daisy Prince. The prospect of a new television version is daunting. I would prefer a concert starring Carol Burnett or a rebroadcast of either of the two television adaptations in which she starred.
Posted by freedunit @ 08/15/2002 12:10 PM PST

I think my favourite idea for the next Disney stage musical would be Aladdin - including songs from both the film and the original songs/score (before they decided to change the story after Howard Ashman died). Howard Ashman was such a treasure. Why aren't more people recording his work?
Posted by Stephen @ 08/15/2002 12:51 PM PST

Re: Bookfellows, Saturday, August 24th, 3-5 pm, 238 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, Ca. (818) 545-0121. (Heck, one of us had to include all that.) My ever-lovin' der Brucer will not, I repeat NOT appear in colored tights. He does this as a community service. (By the way, Bookfellows is also known as The Mystery and Imagination Bookshop, but when we were in the area a week ago the sign in front still read "Bookfellows," so who knows what signage will be there next week?!)
Translating "Aladdin" or "Hercules" could prove highly problematic on stage. There are characters like Abu the monkey, Iago the parrot, and Carpet to deal with on the one hand, and Pegasus on the other. Lots of flying, special effects...if you don't mind I'd rather leave this part of musical theater to Andrew Lloyd Webber, since he knows how to stage these shows with subtlety.
"Pollyanna" on the other hand has a very rich and workable book, with a plethera of wonderfully quirky and detailed characters, all of whom could be brought out through music. It also has a very solid story, which is more than can be said about some of the stuff being put upon the boards these days.
Now, I have to admit being stumped about who to have write the show. It needs someone, or a team of someones, with the wherewithal to go against the "saccharine" reputation the show has (although how anyone could call a film with Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, Adolphe Menjou and Agnes Moorehead saccharine is beyond me. Can you imagine calling any of those actors "saccharine" to their faces? I would hope not!). At the same time, there's a need for respect for the Americana of the piece, a balance of the wistful light and the cynical dark. Some of the tone should reflect that other work of the time, "Spoon River Anthology," by Edgar Lee Masters.
But could we get Adam Guettel to agree to a project this commercial? Hmmmm....
Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/15/2002 02:32 PM PST

Disney has already made a musical version of Pollyanna. it was called Polly!. It was released in 1989. It had an all black cast with the exception of Celeste Holm and perhaps some other minor roles. Do not know who wrote the score though and never saw it.
Posted by MDS @ 08/15/2002 03:28 PM PST

"Polly" was created to capitalize on the then-America's sweetheart Keshia Knight-Pulliam -- aka Rudy on "The Cosby Show."
It was okay as such things go.
The story is certainly awaiting a top-notch creative team to musicalize it.
What I think is long overdue and quite right for a musical score is Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper."
Something that has been had fun with in other venues is the idea of a stage musical version of "King Kong." I've always said, "Hey! If they can sink the Titanic on stage, or hold 'Ben-Hur's' chariot race on stage, then why NOT 'King Kong'?"
What do you always say?
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 03:51 PM PST

Apparently no one is saying much of anything, except for our most regular of posters. Where ARE these errant and truant misfit Hainsie/Kimlet people? No questions from Craig Brockman? That is a first. This must be the week everyone took off for parts unknown. Perhaps I shall take off for parts unknown as well. Wouldn't THAT be a fine kettle of what is it, fish. There is going to be a first-class bitch slapping soiree here real soon, let me tell you THAT. I am shocked and dismayed and also dismayed and shocked. I shall now eat an apple fritter in protest.
Posted by bk @ 08/15/2002 04:30 PM PST

Ron, you undoubtedly do not live in New York City because there is currently appearing an off-Broadway musical version of The Prince and the Pauper which has met with some pretty good reviews. Haven't seen it yet but should one of these years.
Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/15/2002 04:31 PM PST

Robert: Is there a cast album?
BK: Does all this mean that you are tired of the rest of us and want to hear from someone else for a change?
: )
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 04:48 PM PST

Disney Films into musicals
Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus
Dick Tracy (there are already 5 Sondheims written)
and something a little more offbeat....
Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes
Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/15/2002 05:00 PM PST

Don't be silly Ron ! Your posts
ARE quite interesting and fulfill
my lurking......
I'd rather be subdued and
lurk......for a change ! : )
The Polly produced for tv had, I
think, one song with music by
Alan Menken.
I too think Disney could do a
musical stage production of
Pollyanna, with Hayley Mills as
the aunt, music & lyrics by S.
Flaherty and Lynn Ahren.
William L., I think that what you
said about Disney films, past
and present, is right on the
dot, IMO.
We don't know what Walt
would do, but we know what
he would not do....
Sorry if I'm being verbose
again !
Posted by françois @ 08/15/2002 05:10 PM PST

Ahren should have been
Ahrens, of course.
Oops, I posted again !
Posted by François @ 08/15/2002 05:13 PM PST

There has been a Prince &
Pauper off-broadway, back in
1963, with John Davidson....
Posted by François @ 08/15/2002 05:17 PM PST

Davidson was never so good as he was in that made-for-TV movie in which his character played a cross-dresser. Didn't sing a not, either.
I nearly got nightmares watching his Christmas specials...no matter who his guests were, when the singing began, he always made sure he was a decibel or two louder than everyone else.
Oh, sorry...was I gossiping again?
Dang.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 05:50 PM PST

That was an episode of The
Streets Of San Francisco.
(Davidson : cross-dresser).....
I'm afraid to say that, when I
was 17 or so, I wanted to
sound like Davidson....
I liked his voice, and now, Ron,
you have to "ruin" my
memories....
Well, he never made it big as a
singer or an actor....-- he's still
around tho, to some people's
dismay --..........
Posted by François @ 08/15/2002 06:11 PM PST

I never said he didn't have a good voice, Francois.
I wished I could sing like him, too.
But I also wished he would have let other voices blend with his singing Christmas carols rather than out-"Tra-La-La"-ing them or out-"Deck"-ing them and out-"Star of Wonder"-ing them.
But gosh darn it all, I've ruined your memory of him.
I'm sorry, puddin'!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 06:20 PM PST

I have seen a stage version of Mary Poppins. It's been done at a local youth theater. It was actually the first stage production I had ever seen. I think that I was 4. I loved it.
If Aladdin were put on the stage, creating the Genie would probably be the most difficult part. First of all because Robin Williams is irreplacable, and second because he is large and blue and constantly changing his shape. I can't imagine how that would be put on stage.
My Canada theatre trip: At the Shaw Festival: Caesar & Cleopatra (G. B. Shaw) Merrily We Roll Along (Sondheim and Furth), The House of Bernarda Alba (Federico Garcia Lorca), Candida (G. B. Shaw), The Old Lady Shows Her Medals (J. M. Barrie), Hay Fever (Noel Coward). At The Stratford Festival: Richard III (Shakespeare), My Fair Lady (Lerner & Loewe), The Threepenny Opera (Brecht and Weill).
I will soon post a full report at Sondheim.com, and if anyone can tell me how, I'll post a link to it here. I'm giving my email address just this once so that you can tell me. Thanks in advance.
Posted by Hapgood @ 08/15/2002 06:33 PM PST

Mais ça ne fait rien ! Ce n'est
pas grave.... I'll get over it !
BTW, speaking of Mr BIG
VOICE (and big ego ?) Disney
Records has just released
"THE HAPPIEST
MILLIONAIRE" on cd, and it
has that beautiful Shermans'
melody "Are We Dancing" in
which he does not
overshadow -- vocally
speaking -- Lesley Ann
Warren...
Didn't they make a beautiful
screen couple ?
They were reunited in "The
One And Only Original Family
Band" which I never saw --
rather bad from what I know --
but the LP is good.
So much for not wanting to
post !......
Posted by François @ 08/15/2002 06:38 PM PST

Seriously, the ONE Disney flick that I would like to see musicalized is:
THE WATCHER IN THE WOOD.
I'd imagine a very fine score from Amy Powers and Christopher McGovern.
Kristen C. as the young girl.
Ann-Margret as her mother.
Glynis Johns in the Bette Davis role.
Lots of somber, haunting musical melodies aided and abetted with moody lighting and pyrotechnics.
It could work...
Posted by td @ 08/15/2002 07:13 PM PST

Are you guys kidding me? No one has posted since three hours ago???!!!
Wow!
I was channel surfing an hour ago and found Lainie Kazan on an ABC showing of Whoopi Goldberg's "The Associate." Forgettable and a waste of many fine talents.
BUT...what's the story here about Lainie Kazan? I have her first MGM album -- she had an amazing voice and she was gorgeous. She did "Funny Girl" for a few years and then got the sack during previews of "SeeSaw." Now Michelle Lee was great in the role, but who can give the story of what happened with Lainie and why her career fizzled.
I saw some scenes from "Hairspray" on one of those entertainment (!!) type shows...and Harvey Fierstein is hilarious as Tracy's mother. I'm considering taking one of those airline specials to New York just for the purpose of seeing this Broadway show!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/15/2002 10:06 PM PST

OK1 I'm still here. All those Disney suggesions make it hard to come up with an idea not mentioned. I don't think "Lady & The Tramp" would work. (My favourite Disney). Perhaps ALW should do it. Thought about "Rob Roy" and "Swiss Family Robinson". My only other early Disney memories are "Old Yella" and "Westward Ho The Wagons". Not for the stage. Though "The Yearling" made it! (Great score - thanks Barbra). Most problematic would have to be "The Vanishing Prairie" and "The Living Desert". Just thought I'd mention those for those of us at the movies in the 50's!
Ron. We love Lainie. I had the early albums transferred to Cd a few Christmases ago for my other half. Assume you ahve a copy of "Body & Soul" (1995)
Posted by Tom from OZ @ 08/15/2002 11:24 PM PST

Ron: If you want to come to NYC for Hairspray you better call the theatre (or Tickmaster or whatever it's called) and try to get your tickets now for 2003 most likely. They are very difficult to come by and with the reviews that came out last night/this morning (Aug. 15th & 16th), they will be even more difficult to get. I have friends who got tickets for November and December (and that was 2 weeks ago before they opened). That said, Harvey is Wonderful. He makes the character of Edna very human and humane and it's grounded (one of those "actor" words) in reality. He and Dick Latessa (as I mentioned in a post a few days earlier) stop the show with their second act love song/duet/soft shoe.
Posted by Ben @ 08/16/2002 05:12 AM PST

Obviously HAIRSPRAY's producers didn't expect the show to be as big a hit as it is. A few months ago they were offering discount tickets and I am going in a couple of weeks at $55 for 4th row orchestra seats. I just discovered my tickets are for Rosh Hashonna. I sure hope Harvey doesn't take off for the Jewish holidays.
By the way, did you ever think $55 a ticket would be considered a bargain? I still remember seeing A CHORUS LINE off-Broadway at the Public for $10 and that wasn't that long ago.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/16/2002 06:02 AM PST

William E: I got my tickets from that same $55 discount along with a sampler CD of songs from the show.
There is an interesting article in the NYPost today (I went there to read the review of Hairspray) concerning the upcoming revival of Gypsy. Here is the link. Be aware, I don't think the Post Web site is particularly well laid out and it sometimes does funny things to your computer so keep that in mind if you have trouble getting to the article
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/46551.htm
Posted by Ben @ 08/16/2002 06:55 AM PST

Hi, folks...sorry I've been errant and truant and truant and errant. A good friend of mine was in town from Europe, so I took him out on the town yesterday. We saw Hairspray on Weds. night and I must say it was still fabulous. Poor Marissa Jaret Winokur is fighting off a cold and her speaking voice was a bit squeaky, but it worked for the role and her singing voice was still FABULOUS. I don't know how she managed that. Harvey was also faboo.
The reviews are just super-positive--even Ben Brantley's--so get your tickets now. They just started selling a new block of tickets for Dec. 3, 2002-March 3, 2003, so you can tell that tickets are going fast. We got the last 2 standing room tickets for Weds., and my friend had to stand in line for 2 hours to get those (the SRO tix were sold out by the time the matinee had started on Weds.)
My friend is still in town (until Sunday) but we won't get to see each other again before he leaves. That makes me very sad, 'cause I don't know when I'll get to see him again, but what can be done, right? Anyway, I'm back, so break out the cake, party hats, colored tights and pantaloons!
Posted by Jason @ 08/16/2002 06:59 AM PST

Thanks Ben. Fortunately I have the Post (haven't had time to read it yet) so I don't need the website. I too had the CD Sampler with my HAIRSPRAY order.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/16/2002 07:00 AM PST

I think the producers of Hairspray hoped for and expected to have, insofar as they could indulge themselves, a hit. I believe the CD-sampler discount was a calculated marketing tool to fuel awareness and word-of-mouth—witness this thread—to ensure a hit. A small loss of potential profit during previews is a tiny price to pay for glowing, invaluable word-of-mouth. Blazing, favorable W-O-M is worth more than any paid advertisement.
As for Gypsy, I hate to say anything nice about t’Weisslers, but their revival of musical fable, except for its star, was their best production to date. Still, I would not wish them on anybody, and I can only hope that Laurents & Sondheim might be able to persuade Roger Berlind, Emanuel Azenberg, the Dodgeers, or someone of their caliber to team with Robert Fox.
Posted by freedunit @ 08/16/2002 08:28 AM PST

Can anyone tell me what a checkerboard chick is??
Posted by Jason @ 08/16/2002 08:31 AM PST

I can't believe that no one has suggested THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME as a potential Disney musical. It has been in the works for years, and should translate to the stage quite handily.
For those who pointed out the difficulties in having animals in the show, bear in mind that every character in THE LION KING is an animal, and somehow Julie Taymor pulled it off.
That said, I prefer my musicals with human characters. I would not, however, tamper with Mary Poppins, as that show is just about perfect as it is, and would not benefit anything from a transfer to the stage.
Pollyanna would probably do just fine on stage, with a great batch of songs added to it. And I agree that Flaherty & Ahrens would do a fine job of it.
Posted by Dave @ 08/16/2002 09:13 AM PST

Can someone PLEASE help me! I have been looking for the movies Polly and Polly:Coming Home (the sequel) as well as their soundtracks on CD and I am unsuccessful. I am also searching for the Little Match Girl which also stars Keshia Knight-Pulliam AKA Rudy from the Cosby Show. I f you can help me PLEASE contact me ASAP. I find this VERY upsetting! Thank You!
Posted by Te' @ 12/01/2002 06:51 PM PST

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