Do I Hear A Waltz?-reassesment

DO I HEAR A WALTZ? has some really ravishing melodies. It really needs another look.

Another musical I'm curious about is Michael Bennett's BALLROOM. I never saw the show, but I'd love to hear from people that did and what they thought of it.

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by LA does that mean the Carole Lawrence recent production? and i love the BALLROOM concept as well. Some regionals have done it, believe it or not, with Tyne Daly. Can't picture that at all.

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I saw the original productions of both shows. DO I HEAR A WALTZ? was really quite lovely. My only complaint was that Elizabeth Allen was too young and attractive to be Leona. I had a hard time understanding why this gal had problems getting men interested in her.

The sets were unique--all scrims that gave everything a watercolor appearance. I also recall a beautiful lighting effect as the three women sang "Moon In My Window": the water of Venice's Grand Canal seemed to be reflecting on the wall of the palazzo they were looking out from. The music, of course, was marvelous.

Wouold it make it as a movie today? Naw. When you stop and think about it, this is a story about a middle-aged woman losing her virginity. It would seem almost comical by today's standards.

As far as BALLROOM was concerned, I liked the show very much. Michael Bennett's choreography was striking. But this was a "lady's musical" and did well at matinee performances, but died at the evening shows. Hetero men were bored by it. Then again, hetero men tend to be bored with everything except their remote controls.

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I never saw the show but I do have the recording and I believe it ranks with the best of Rodgers. I love the opening, when the music suggests the awakening of a woman to love and hope. Perhaps one day I'll see the show. If not, the cast album gives many opportunities to paint a show right in your mind!!!

Miriam

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Dollypop

Beautifully put!

Also, having worked with Rodgers, I am almost sure that, being the romatic that he was (yes!!!), he also fell in love with the melody to Someone woke up.

Miriam

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Updated On: 10/4/03 at 09:46 AM

Barry and I are going to Florence for Christmas.

My favorite Venice memory was a slightly drunken walk back to my hotel room at 2:00 am after a long and merry dinner accompanied by three of my equally tipsy colleagues. While walking across a nearly deserted Piazza di San Marco, with the majority of the cafes closing for the night, we heard a squeaky little five-piece dance band across the piazza by a cafe that was about to close. They were playing "Alexanders Ragtime Band". It was absolute magic.

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Tex - stop! You'll give Barry ideas. It's bad enough that he has this lovely fantasy of "I can't wait till we're in Florence, LcZ! You'll take me to the Uffizi and San Marco and the Brancacci Chapel and show me around then I'll go to the baths while you go home and make a freshly cooked Tuscan meal waiting for me when I come back to the apartment! Won't that be fun?"

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Dolly...sorry for the late reply, just figured out how to use the Search function to find references when i so infrequently visit here now.

Very interested in you as Dolly, and had the privilege of seeing the Wittop designs in a museum display at University of Georgia...Wittop attended and taught some master classes as well as giving public lectures...what a fascinating man, and what a career he had. So sorry to hear he passed away.

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I rather love the score. Sure it isn't the greatest, but songs like "Moon in my Window" "We're Gonna Be Alright" and "Someone Woke Up" are wonderful.
As the then Broadway Bulldog (now Jose') said, this show, though flawed, is much better than most of the crap on Broadway today.

agreed Veuve.

why it needed to be done in the first place is beyond me...

I was watching an interview with Sondheim the other day, and he attributes Do I Hear A Waltz?'s failure as a musical to Richard Rodgers becoming to frightened to revise the score. He said that as Richard got older, he became afraid that "the well would run dry" so rather than fix the errors/problems in the score, he refused to dip his brush back in the well.

interesting.

Sondheim said that the score is 90% there, but falls short.

I would have to agree.

But it wasn't a demotion...

It was Oscar Hammerstein's dying wish for them to collaborate.

I think they could have collaborated on a better piece though, perhaps the feuds would still occur, but I'm sure it would work better, simply because the piece suits musicalisation better than Waltz?.

Oscar told Sondheim to collaborate with Rodgers if they found the right piece. Perhaps they were a little too eager after Oscar's death...

And your right about Leona. Why does she sing?

And I think that the score is nearly there, but it lacks something...

Reviving it for the score alone is worth it - either full fledged revival or Encores

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