Moving right along with the Alphabetical Musicals Project:
Dear World. Back to the D's. Just like Jerry Herman, I was in a production of The Madwoman of Chaillot in college--in graduate school, actually. Madison WI in the sixties was a constant festival of film societies and off-campus theatre groups, literally dozens of them. I tried out for the Rag-Picker, I think it was, and got Third Prospector. I got to belch.
Our Madwoman was Pauline Walsh and was incredible. Most audiences thought she was an old lady, but she was an undergraduate. The other Madwomen, whose names I forget, were also excellent and both were pursuing professional acting carreers.
But I grew to love the play through the rehearsals in a very fine production, whose program I should dig out some day to find out what became of some of those involved.
Well, I am indeed a die-hard Sondheim fan, but I do loves me my Jerry Herman, and lots of this score is quite charming.
Which leads me back to a couple of TODs that I missed:
First, DerBrucer: No, you are not the only whore in the bordello claiming to be a virgin.
And on a related note... I have not had an alcoholic drink for lo these 23 years, and whatever embarrassing things I might have done whilst in my cups, I do not necessarily wish to share in a public forum.
Except.
After La Cage aux Folles had opened on Broadway, I penned a French translation of "The Best of Times", which I really thought was quite good despite my lack of fluency in the language.
But I went further and concocted the notion that I might translate the entire show, as task for which I was quite unqualified. Nonetheless, I telephoned a friend, after several drinks of course, who knew Jerry Herman, got Jerry's home number (back when he still lived in Greenwich Village) and proceeded to pitch it to him.
Well, Jerry was quite nice, listened to my ramblings, showed some interest, as he said he had been disappointed in the French version of Dolly, and in the end gave me his home address and asked me to send some of my work off to him, something that I never did.
If you are reading this, Jerry, I'm sorry I never sent you at least "The Best of Times", and thank you for being such a gentleman.