Curious about COCO

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 10:31am

Did anyone see it?
What did you think?

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 12:24pm

Coco?

Coco's the food chain? Excellent pies!

Coco Peru? Hysterical...

What other Coco is there?

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 1:52pm

Google it.

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 1:54pm

I'm lazy. Give me the Clift Notes version :)

[Nipper]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 1:54pm

I'm cuckoo for Coco (sic) puffs

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 1:59pm

Nope. I've done my homework, you do yours.
If anyone in the group has seen it and would be kind enough to share their memories, that would be sweet.

[Nipper]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 2:02pm

What would be sweet is to know what the f*** we're talking about

[Broadwaylilhead]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 2:04pm

homework? i've been out of school way too long...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 4:37pm

COCO -- a show about design legend Coco Chanel by Alan Jay Lerner and Andre Previn and a star vehicle for Katharine Hepburn. I didn't see it (I was a mere babe), but from what I've heard and read it was an extraordinary spectacle. Showgirls, mirrors, stairs, mirrors, Cecil Beaton costumes and more mirrors -- it's important to Broadway history because it probably gave a heck of a lot of ideas to young gifted choreographer Michael Bennett (who took over staging much the show when then alcoholic director of record -- who was known for his work in the classics, but knew nothing about musicals -- proved incompetent). I dare say that the "Mirror number" (and all those stairs and showgirl numbers) from "Follies" and all those mirrors in "A Chorus Line" (and maybe even some of the production numbers in "Ballroom" and "Dreamgirls") owe at least a little something to things Bennett learned and created in "Coco."

Updated On: 6/13/04 at 04:37 PM

[Nipper]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 5:01pm

Oh, THAT Coco! I thought there was a revival somewhere I hadn't heard about.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 5:02pm

I saw COCO and thought it was dreadful. Kate Hepburn had no reason to be starring in a musical. She absolutely murdered the score.

A few months after the show closed it was done at the Westbury Music Fair, starring Ginger Rogers. What a vast difference! THe show almost worked with a leading lady who had a sense of musicality and the ability to play softness. On my second viewing, the score seemed better than it did when Hepburn was croaking her way through it.

The OBC is one of the worst recordings ever done. It sounds like the whole cast recorded the show using tin cans and string.

[CastAlbumFan]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 5:13pm

Haven't seen COCO, but Here's what I know about it:

-It starred Katharine HNepburn in her only Broadway musical

-It lost the 1969-70 Tony to APPLAUSE (although I personally think that PURLIE was superior to them BOTH!)

-Katharine lost the Best Actress Tony to Lauren Bacall from APPLAUSE

-Rene' Auberjonois won the Best Feature Actor Tony for the roll of Sebastain


-The number for the Tony Award ("Always Mademoiselle") was not done live at the award ceremony. It was taped because Katharine loathed live television performances.

-The show ran 333 performances at the Mark Hellinger Theatre (Now a church) and closed exactly two months after Katharine left. It barely made a profit a year later after Katharine did a small tour of the show.

-The show has one of the all-time worst cast albums EVER, and I've listen to about 300 of them so I'm NOT exaggerating!

-The logo for the show was very creepy looking!

Updated On: 6/13/04 at 05:13 PM

[Glebb]

Posted: 6/13/04 at 10:46pm

Wow I can't believe someone on the board actually saw COCO! Thanks everyone for the reports. I saw Katharine Hepurn in A MATTER OF GRAVITY. It was not a musical. It was many years ago and when I asked my mother why we were all standing at the end, she said that if Katharine could stand for two hours we certainly could give her a standing ovation.
I do remember the Mark Hellinger Theatre before it became a church. I was actually on stage there with Nureyev. :)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 9:41pm

I thought I'd push this thread back up to the top, because I'm watching Broadway's Lost Treasures II and they keep showing a scene from COCO during the pledge breaks in the telecast (apparently their Tony number will be an extra on the DVD).

One question -- just what the hell did Katharine Hepburn think she was doing "singing" on stage?????? Now I love and respect Mme. Hepburn as much as we all do -- one of the all-time great stars and many of her movies are among my personal favorites. But why did she think that she could pass off that atonal croak as a legitimate vocal instrument? I do give her props for courage and sheer gall, but it's a testament to how beloved a star she was that she was able to pull in sold out houses for a year that were willing to pay to hear her destroy Alan Jay Lerner and Andre Previn's music (according to one of the Bennett bios I have, she herself wondered in rehearsal just what the hell she had gotten herself into with that show).

Updated On: 8/9/04 at 09:41 PM

[MusicMan]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 10:11pm

Read Cecil Beaton's recently released unexpurgated diaries for a withering review of Hepburn's performance in COCO (which he designed) as well as her offstage behavior.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 10:17pm

I've been meaning to get the Beaton diaries. A friend was reading them and simply raving (I also want to get the recently released Gielgud letters which are also supposed to be a very good read).

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 10:19pm

Gielgud was reported to have enjoyed the Caligula set very much.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 10:28pm

I'd like to see Dixie Carter attempt "Coco".

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:15pm

Dixie Carter might actually make the show work.

Who was that French actress who replace Hepburn on Bwy? Danielle something or other.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:16pm

something like Derieaux.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:21pm

According to IBDB, Danielle Darrieux played out the last two months of the run.

[Mamie]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:24pm

Daniel Davis (now in The Frogs) replaced Rene' Auberjonois in the national road company of Coco. He has some wonderful stories to tell of touring with the great lady.

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:25pm

Miss Channing, you make my evening on Broadwayworld.com a delight.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:34pm

Oh my god, Mamie, is that Myrna Loy? Great picture!

[Glebb]

Posted: 8/9/04 at 11:37pm

I bet Margo respects Nora. :)