Two Michael Bennett Questions (Seesaw and Ballroom)

Posted: 4/4/07 at 7:09am

All the Promises Promises stuff and youtube clips of Turkey Lurkey got me back into Michael Bennett and I realized the two shows he played a major part in that i know next to noghting about are Seesaw and Ballroom.

Is Seesaw worth tracking down? I couldn't find anything from it on youtube but I know of Tommy Tune's balloon dance and a few songs. I actually didn't realize the score was by Fields and Coleman--who wrote one of my faves Sweet Chartiy--though I assume it's nto as strong. I do knwo the play it's base don and have seen the movie based on the play--which I found really charming... Any opinions or links to clips?

As for Ballroom all I know is Dorothy Loudon and her big hit song from it... What went wrong with the show? Was it just that it wasn't another Chorus Line?

Posted: 4/4/07 at 8:45am

Eric,

There is a really good book about Michael Bennett out there. I think its called The muscials of Michael Bennett. It gives a lot of history on those two shows. If I recall Ballrrom was a bit of a downer- kind of depressing... 50 Percent by Dorothy Loudon is terrific and there is a great new version sung by Alison Jiear that needs to be heard!

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 8:51am

Ballroom was a mess from beginning to end. Great story concept, great score, it just didn't work. This is another "Cast album makes you think it's better than it is"

The ensmeble was made up of actual ballroom dancers, and they had to do things like, put offstage lights with different colored gels so they could figure out SL and SR. They had to put footlights in becuase the dancers were falling offstage. It just went on and on.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 8:59am

"The ensmeble was made up of actual ballroom dancers, and they had to do things like, put offstage lights with different colored gels so they could figure out SL and SR. They had to put footlights in becuase the dancers were falling offstage."

The spotting lights for the dancers were installed mainly because the reflection off of the huge mirror ball would cause major disorientation as they danced. It had little to with their abilities and not one dancer fell off the stage.

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:00am

I kind of remember a non-musical movie (tv movie?) Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, with Maureen Stapleton. Is the musical Ballroom the same story, and if so, which came first, the movie or the musical?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:02am

Morosco-
Um...pretty sure they did. One of my professors interviewed Loudon for his doctoral dissertation in the late 80s, and he got that straight from her.

Madbrian-
Yes, it's based on the film. Which is (if I remember correctly), based on a true story.

[D2]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 9:51am

Husk, did you see BALLROOM?

I didn't think so.

BALLROOM as a show is standard stuff, a small intimate story given the BIG BROADWAY MUSICAL treatment by Bennett. Being his first high profile show after ACL, he and the show were in that awkward position of being the follow up to a masterpiece (think Lerner and Lowe/MFL and CAMELOT). But the original production was far from a mess.

Whatever may or may not have happened in the pre-production process, on Opening Night it was a smooth running, technically impressive, flawed but emotionally moving show. Dorothy Loudon and Vincent Gardenia were superb, the choreography was terrific and the lighting was sensational, whether or not it was used to guide the decrepit gypsies on and off the stage safely. But in a season that included the up-beat, crowd pleasing THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SONG, the raucous and titillating THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, and of course the original, epic SWEENEY TODD, BALLROOM's small pleasures just couldn't compete.

One other point: the ensemble wasn't composed entirely of ballroom dancers. It was a reunion a BROADWAY Gypsies, similar to FOLLIES. The cast featured nearly all of the names of the ensemble players listed on the back of every OBC album from the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Updated On: 4/4/07 at 09:51 AM

[Pippin]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 10:20am

about Seesaw, yes you should track it down. The score is just as strong, if not better, IMO than Charity. It is a worthwhile piece to add to any collection.

[Piercemn]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:19am

The book is by Ken Mandelbaum, who wrote Not Since Carrie (which is REQUIRED READING for any musical theatre fan) and is titled A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett.

I absolutely love SEESAW and think it needs another look. I think the score is dynamic and the script is a very good adaptation of the play. The script is available to read from Samuel French and the CD features Michele Lee and Ken Howard, as well as a very young Giancarlo Esposito. The score changed during the run of the show and evidently it was a better show on tour with Lucie Arnaz, but it's still a terrific musical. Songs like Poor Everybody Else, the Law Book tap number and the finale are incredible.

Ballroom was good because it was written for older performers. A local theatre here has decided, based on my recommendation, to do 70 Girls 70 next year. They need to appeal to their audience base and they need to give all those older people roles and that's a perfect show as is Ballroom.

Ballroom is based on a lovely TV movie that starred Maureen Stapleton called Queen of the Stardust Ballroom. It's available from Netflix. I'd track down the CD, if it's available, but definitely get Seesaw.

Updated On: 4/4/07 at 11:19 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:24am

"One of my professors interviewed Loudon for his doctoral dissertation in the late 80s, and he got that straight from her."

Loudon was prone to exaggeration.

Like Judy Garland talking about drunken, lascivious Munchkins.

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:25pm

PJ if only we could get Loudon to tell some of her stories about Drunken Lascivous Munchkins....

And may I recommend checking out "Second Act Trouble" for a great story about SeeSaw? It has a great account of the struggle to "fix" the show.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:32pm

It's also worth checking out Kevin Kelly's "One Singular Sensation: The Michael Bennett Story" for further interesting insights into the man and his career.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 2:51pm

SEESAW is definitely worth tracking down. I own the cast recording and constantly play it. It features an impressive, fantastic, and (I imagine) showstopping performance by Michele Lee whose belting put the Menzels and Espinosas of today to shame. The score is fun and touching. Ken Howard and Lee have a lot of chemistry in their duets and Tommy Tune's number is great. I wish I had seen it live, from Ken Mandelbaum's book it sounds like the show had a very messy development (with Grove Dale's firing as well as Lainie Kazan's) but the score and cast on the recording are top-notch.
Did any of Grove Dale's staging remain on the show?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 3:16pm

I believe very little of Grover Dale's work survived. I remember reading that Bennett and his assistants Tommy Tune and Bob Avian basically restaged the entire show from the ground up, number by number in less than a month of frenzied creativity. Because time was so short, in some cases Tune and Avian would create a new "first draft" of a given number and Bennett would then come in and add steps, edit and shape it into its final form and together they created several showstopping numbers. Bennett basically took a major flop that was on its way to closing out of town and miraculously in just a few weeks turned into a show with a modest run that received 7 Tony nods (including wins for Tune and for Bennett's choreography). I've always wished I could have had a chance to see it.

[JRybka]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 3:56pm

I have to say that anyone who sings 50Percent from BALLROOM is fabulous by me.

Which reminds me of this amazing version by this drag queen Honey West. She has a cd out and she and this other person did a mix of 50Percent and I Know Him So Well. It is AMAZING!

[D2]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 5:42pm

Tommy Femia also does 50% as Judy Garland, and it is wonderful. Another reason to make one wish Garland had lived longer - she would have killed with that song.

[morosco]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 6:19pm

"The ensmeble was made up of actual ballroom dancers, and they had to do things like, put offstage lights with different colored gels so they could figure out SL and SR. They had to put footlights in becuase the dancers were falling offstage."

Here's some more research I did regarding your post. Quoting Tharon Musser:

"...an interesting thing about the mirrorball effect. When we went to Roseland, I was fascinated by the mirrorball. They never turned it on. When we started using it in Stratford, I think I found out why. The dancers went out of their minds. It completely disorients them. They felt that the audience was moving onstage with them and they were moving out to the audience."

In regards to what you described as offstage lights with different colored gels they were tiny port and starboard lights on the stage deck that helped the dancers spot.

Also, I just looked over her light plot and hookup chart for BALLROOM and Musser did not incorporate footlights in her design.

Posted: 4/4/07 at 7:57pm

Thanks guys--about ten years ago I went looking for books on Michael Bennett and I found one--I believe by Mendelbaum that was pretty good if not quite great so should know these details but... it was an interlibrary loan and ages back :P I'll look for the other book you mention Margo--Amazon has it used, hardcover for a penny (plus shipping of course...)


Updated On: 4/4/07 at 07:57 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 10:01pm

I actually saw BALLROOM, and there was an absolutely mesmerizing moment when they went from the apartment to the first big scene at Roseland. I still have no idea how they did it, but it was seamless and gorgeous.

But the book... it was just... there. It wasnt anything special, despite the score and despite the physical production. And as we all know, all the great stuff in the world cant save a show that doesnt know what story it's telling.

SEESAW -- never saw it, but used to have the cast album and have seen numerous photos of the show. It seems to have had this kind of post-modern feel about itself (particularly for the design of the two apartments), and there was one especially bizarre number involving lots and lots of balloons. Still, the music is better than acceptable.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 10:11pm

The balloon number was Tommy Tune's big production number: "It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish"

That transition was magic, Like Jerry Robbins's transition into the Dance at the Gym.

But otherwise, Ballroom was gorgeous but not exciting.

[dmsnyc]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 10:17pm

I saw Seesaw on Broadway. It was quite something to see. Great cast - Michelle Lee, Ken Howard and Tommy Tune, who won his first Tony Award. The law tap dance number, Poor Everybody Else and Tommy Tunes number stand out in my memory. As I also recall, Ken Howard looked like the then Mayor of New York, John Lindsay and Lindsay stepped into the "performance" for Act 1, Scene 1 one night.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:00pm

Wasn't the opening number like a walk on 8th Avenue or something?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:16pm

morosco-
Thanks for clearing that up. I was merely repeating the stories I had heard. Now I know better.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:36pm

I love listening to the law tap number, I can only imagine how exhilarating it must've been live.
Tommy Tune is one of my all-time favorite Broadway personalities, I wish I had seen him in the role that made him a star. From all testimonies I've read/heard, his number stopped the show every night. Didn't he choreograph it himself?

Posted: 4/4/07 at 11:59pm

Tune is listed as assistant choreographer... so I assume he did (My grandma saw that number and still talks aboutit--where he taps down a flight of stairs with baloons). Ray if you enjoy Tommy Tune have you seen this? Him as a Hippy with the other Seesaw dancers with Carol Channing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfzFAXAlA_g Bizarro

Are there ANy clips from Seesaw anyone knows of?

I went ahead and ordered the CD from Amazon--it's one of the few Cy Coleman scores I don't know, so I'm looking forward to it though people on here seem to enjoy it much more than the "reviewers" on amazon. And I love Michele Lee (and have a soft spot for 70s musicals in general...)