David10086 said: "I'm curious if anyone here saw the original B'way production of GIGI, which starred (for a while) the wonderful Agnes Moorehead as 'Aunt Alicia'? Any memories to share?
I know Moorehead was able to play the role from its' Broadway debut (November 13, 1973) until a few weeks after, being replaced by Arlene Francis due to illness (Moorehead died on April 30, 1974 from cancer).
I was able to get my hands on the CD from this cast, and enjoy Moorhead's singing voice on 'The Contract'. It's too bad she didn't have any more songs to sing in this show. I would have really loved to hear more from her.
This was one of the first times I remembered truly being disappointed by a show. At the time, the movie Gigi was not a distant past memory. It had come out only 15 ears before the show opened. And boy did I love the movie; I think it still may be my favorite movie musical. Key problems:
1. It opened at the Uris, now Gershwin. Gigi is actually a small musical (think of the movie) and it got smothered up by the huge theatre.
2. Without a single exception, the entire cast paled next to the movie originals, although Moorehead came closest because the role of Aunt Alicia was a little more prominent in the show than the movie. Still not a large role, but definitely more prominent. (Worst, unfortunately, was the ingenue playing the title role. She was just mediocre, with not an ounce of stage presence. To add insult to injury, Daniel Massey -- who I never saw in She Loves Me, which was just a little before my time -- was about as unsexy a performer as you could find; since he was replacing Louis Jourdan, who may never have been a big star this side of the Atlantic, but who had looks, charisma and sex appeal to spare, that was a serious void that only further emphasized the void at the center. Massey also really didn't have much of a voice and Jourdan's voice was PERFECT for those songs.
3. I mentioned getting swallowed up by the Uris. The creative team decided to bloat the show at every opportunity they could find. Had the numbers been brilliantly choreographed or designed, it would have still changed the tone, but it would have been entertaining nevertheless. As it was, they came across as filler.
4. I have come to enjoy many of the songs that were added, but they made no impression on first listening. I remember being particularly disappointed by The Contract, which was singled out by the critics as the best of the new bunch. it was a very long song, with much of the music a direct replay of the title song in a different tempo, and lyrics that were actually top Alan J Lerner cleverness (but lost in that huge theatre on first hearing).
5. By the time it was over, the audience had lost interest. Curtain call applause were tepid; and tepid applause in a huge, sold out theatre (it was Christmas week Sunday matinee) must have been incredibly discouraging for the cast.. Alfred Drake received many more entrance applause that at the curtain call.
As I said, Moorehead was fine, but Dee Hoty made much more of the role in the more recent revival (I really don't remember enough to tell you whether the role was re-written that much, but the big number The Contract was far superior as done by Hoty, and Hoty did pop up very effectively in several other songs in the recent cast recording, which I actually love, so I guess the role was revised enough to give her a bit more singing than Moorehead).
Ironically, despite the dismissive tone, I didn't hate it. I was just so disappointed; and, since that was the days before VCRs, I just had to wait for the movie to be on TV again or at a revival house (I did live in Manhattan at the time) to see the real thing.
