On A Clear Day

[DealingwithDivas]

Posted: 8/19/11 at 12:46am

What do people think about the cast announcement today?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/19/11 at 1:10am

What cast announcement today?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 8/19/11 at 4:39am

I don't know about any cast announcements for ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, but I would like to connect the original Broadway cast to whatever limited success it had at the time. It starred the wonderful, quirky actress Barbara Harris (if you don't know her work, get ahold of the fine film A THOUSAND CLOWNS and be prepared to fall in love with her). It also starred the always professional John Cullum and featured the superb William Daniels. The show is simply not that great and had under 300 performances. A very strong cast is essential if the revival is to have any success at all. Musically, the title song carries the score, the rest being just so so, except for the humorous, "Wait Till We're 65". All in all, unless there is a superb leading actress, there is no point in a revival, even if they are re-writing it.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/19/11 at 7:48am

You're right about the cast, but I disagree about the score.

The music is wonderful. Burton Lane sits with Harold Arlen among the best composers to never have a Broadway smash hit.

Granted the lyrics can only rise so much above the rambling book from which they spring, but setting aside an entire production number about a boat ("S.S. Bernard Cohn"), Lerner's lyrics are adept (even if Sondheim finds them shallow).

The problem with the show has always been the book, which seems to be based on an Intro to ESP article. Rather than a specific ability, Daisy seems to have every type of psychic gift. The problem with that isn't suspending our belief, but that characters who are everything aren't really anything.

I'm interested to see what they do with the new book. Since ESP is hardly a "hot topic" nowadays, I hope they've resorted to writing interesting characters and giving them something to do other than have therapy sessions.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/19/11 at 8:57am

Gaveston, I share your love for Lane, one of the true masters. If he only written "If This Isn't Love?" he'd still be one of my faves.

Would it be fun to do a parody of the Sondheim letter to the Times re: the A.T.C. Porgy and Bess about this new On A Clear Day?

Nah, prob not.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 4:03am

I'm sure you could make it fun, henrik, and I couldn't agree more about the score to Finian's Rainbow. Hell, even Carmalina sounded lovely in the theater.

(Jeeze, Louise, Lane was cursed with awkward and unruly books!)

I actually checked this one on the poll thread for most anticipated revival. I find Harry Conniff, Jr., a weak actor (but I can only judge from his Lt. Cable on TV). I loved John Cullum on tour and find him a much stronger vocal and acting presence, but the shrink isn't the key character.

Success of the show, I expect, will depend on what they do with "David"/Melinda.

(ETA Good God, the man's name is Connick, not Conniff! This early onset Alzheimer's is a terrible thing.)
Updated On: 8/20/11 at 04:03 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 9:12am

I was reading an article on the original production of ON A CLEAR DAY and it's original leading man was Louis Jourdan. He was replaced by Cullum right before it came to Broadway.

I'm not a fan of the changes they are making to this new production.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 9:42am

I think the score is one of the best, ever. And about a billion times better than just about ANYTHING that's been on Broadway for the past 40 years! I don't see how the proposed changes to the book will do anything but muddy the already muddy waters it's always faced.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 11:33am

I'm open to the new concept. It sounds intriguing, to me. That score is one of my favorites, so hearing it on Broadway, in any form, will be a treat for me. I think Connick will be fine. I'm just curious as to how far they will go with him being unable to separate David from Melinda.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 6:14pm

I agree the book changes SOUND like a mess, but maybe the adapters know what they are doing. (This isn't Porgy and Bess they are rewriting.)

I remember when word filtered through the Broadway community that Prince and Sondheim were working on a show about a murderous barber who made people into meat pies. Everyone thought they had lost their minds. (The night before I attended the first preview, I dreamt the show was written in middle English except for Angela Lansbury, who spoke nothing but French!)

[Miranda3]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 10:27pm

The revival has motivated me to post for the first time. Be gentle! I listened to the original cast LP in junior high, then saw the road company in Houston with Van Johnson(!) in the Cullum role and a youngish Linda Lavin as Daisy. Always wondered why "What Did I Have That I Don't Have?" never became a standard. First thought on the revival: the lead female role has been diminished, in that the incomparable Barbara Harris was both the current Daisy and the past Melinda. Daisy is now Davey, so now Melinda will be another performer. Keeping mind open.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 11:27pm

Having seen the original several times (yes, Barbara Harris was truly amazing, and the score is one of the best theatre scores in history), and having produced a limited revival on Theatre Row some years ago (working with Burton Lane, who generously gave us "trunk songs", and featuring the wonderful Jennifer Prescott in the lead), I am very familiar with this show and its book problems. I've also seen the first reworking of the show by Powerhouse Theatre last summer, and am frankly stunned that it is still being pursued. What worked best in the original was the Daisy/Melinda character. In the reimagining making Daisy into Davey, and making Davey a gay man with a crush on the straight doctor Mark, and turning Melinda into a 40s jazz singer, and making Mark the center of the show...well, it just doesn't work. Perhaps the piece is still being rewritten, but without the Daisy/Melinda character as the center, there is no center.

[undercoveractor]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 11:34pm

I too would like to chime in on the quality of the score. I think it is FANTASTIC! The only song that I do not care for is 'Tosey & Cosh', but other than that I really love the piece. Sadly, scores just are not written like this one anymore....now we get a bunch of songs that do not always function as a cohesive piece. Just songs.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 8/20/11 at 11:35pm

and for your chance to see Barbara Harris and John Cullum perform numbers from the original, get a copy of the Bell Telephone Hour tribute to Alan Jay Lerner from 1966, while the original production was still running:
http://www.ioffer.com/i/bell-telephone-hour-the-music-of-alan-lerner-1966-121766471

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 1:20am

I've said it many times, but i'll say it again. The new concept WORKS. I think people will be surprised when the show opens.

I'd even say the book is finally on par with the score.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 1:30am

Wow, two completely opposite reactions from jay and idina.

No wonder art isn't easy!

I look forward to seeing what they do...

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 9:29am

I am totally unfamiliar with this show, and most of the music. I think it will be interesting to see how the changes are rec'd. I'll go out on a limb and say that those, like me, for whom the experience will be new will likely be happier with the book than those that are already attached. (Which I suppose is normal.)

I am definitely intrigued by all the adoration for the score!

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 11:37am

Anyone have a songlist from the Vassar or Vineyard workshops? Also curious as to who sings what...

[goldenboy]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 2:19pm

I saw the reading at the Vineyard. It looks promising.

I think the new book is a great improvement and does make it more interesting.. The David addition gives the plot a new twist with not only sexual chemistry for Melinda and the Doctor but David and the Doctor. The actor playing David was delightful and funny and of course the score rocks. There is also another love interest with a female colleague.

The title actually makes sense but I don't want to say how as it ruins your enjoyment of seeing it.


The switch makes the Doctor the Central Character of the show.
He is surrounded by David Gamble and Melinda and his female colleague.

It is now has a male protagonist versus a female one. It is more of an ensemble piece now rather than a star vehicle for
a female (such as Barbaras Harris or Streisand) but more cohesive in its whole.

They still have some work to do like adding some better songs to act one. The good songs seem to be mainly in act two....but they are on the right track with it.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 4:20pm

Goldenboy: Have they dropped the subplot with the Greek character who sang "When I'm Being Born Again" in the original? I think less is more there.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 4:37pm

^^^^

Amen!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 4:56pm

The Encores! production with Cheno as Daisy was absolutely delightful. With its streamlined book, the show worked very nicely.

[Miranda3]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 5:11pm

Just reread Ken Mandelbaum's great liner notes to the OBCR CD. KM recounts how the show was postponed several times due primarily to Lerner's slow writing pace. The first incarnation of the show was developed by Richard Rodgers and Lerner, whose partnership split up before it was produced. The Dr. Bruckner role was initially offered to Richard Burton, who turned it down in the first incarnation, as did Maximillian Schell, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Jason Robards later. Bob Fosse was hired to direct in the second incarnation, but it too never materialized. Barbara Harris evidently grew tired of waiting and Lee Remick was considered for Daisy, but Harris ultimately stayed. Many interesting details in these notes!

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 5:39pm

Thanks, MIranda. I have the CD but I'd forgotten a lot of that history.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 8/21/11 at 8:27pm

There is no Greek Character in the rewrite.
The Title of the show makes more sense with the way the show has been rewritten.