Hal Prince school project — Page 2

Just checked Clarke Dunham's design website for a great image or two of GRIND. They're there but of such low res that they fail to convey one tenth of the genius that was presented onstage in GRIND. The centerpiece was a turntable unit that contained the burlesque stage, its wings, FLY-RAIL and FLY-LOFT(!!) as well as a jungle gym of dressing rooms on multiple levels that surrounded the stage. (Two auxiliary winched turntables carried additional dressing rooms, stage door, etc.)

Now picture a 2-story tall image of a 30's showgirl backing the center staircase like a goddess in a temple. Now picture all those brick walls painted on SCRIM so the entire skeleton of the theater could bleed through to exterior views at the back. Best of all, the onstage backdrops for the burlesque scenes could raise and lower AS THE TURNTABLES TURNED from backstage to onstage and back again.

With apologies to Derek McLane, just imagine if a set like Clarke's could have been used in the recent revival of FOLLIES! Lordy what a missed opportunity.

This may have been mentioned but Prince's primary influence was George Abbott, for whom he served as a stage manager and at whose feet he learned how shows are put together.

P.S. to Eric: the FILM of KISS is another argument entirely. But whatever its many limitations, at least it doesn't condescend to Puig in the way the stage musical does.

The same may be said of Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse, I suspect. They didn't get their theatrical visions from Abbott, but it's very unlikely they learned nothing from working with him.

(P.S. re KISS film: I agree that Hurt was badly miscast and very busy overacting. But at least the screenplay respects the political and aesthetic themes of Puig's book. The straight play is pretty straight-forward: just the two men and maybe an interrogator or two in the second act.)