Marilyn An American Fable: YOU ARE SO BEYOND!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/10/06 at 2:43pm

So ever since the Flopz 2 Concert, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Chris J. Hanke's performance of "You are So Beyond" from Marilyn An American Fable. I've always been intrigued by this show, but now I am absolutely dying to know more about it. Did anyone on the board get to see it in its short 1983 Broadway run???

I was reading "The Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen: The Last 25 Years of the Broadway Musical" by Ethan Mordden today, and I came upon this INCREDIBLY interesting excerpt, concerning the song and Willy Falk, who played one of Marilyn's fans:
"Willy Falk also got a major opportunity, with his hymn to his idol, "You Are So Beyond"." The lyrics are not only the worst in all of Marilyn, but the worst ever heard. Still, the melody is valid. Falk didn't care; he sang the song as if it were "You'll Never Walk Alone." As he reached the final A of the refrain, the orchestra jumped the key signature a step up and Falk soared into the vocal inflections of rock so dazzlingly that an audience that had been jeering all night gave him an ovation DURING the music. The applause following the number briefly stopped the show, and- after a very short book scene- Falk got another ovation."

I LOVE this song!! Is there any recording anywhere? How come "You Are So Beyond" hasn't been a track on an Unsung Musicals CD? Is there a casette tape, a promo tape, an LP, anything??? Agh! I need to hear the song again!

Anyone know anything about Marilyn?

Updated On: 3/10/06 at 02:43 PM

[dry2olives]

Posted: 3/10/06 at 2:59pm

I have fuzzy memories of seeing that messy show. It began with a little girl Marilyn singing a song about reaching for the stars or something, and then a magical trio of singer/dancers named "Destiny" appears and tells her that they will follow her everywhere. I may be wrong, but I believe when I saw it (it changed a lot in previews) "You Are So Beyond" was sung by 2 fans of hers as an example of Hollywood idol-worship. Scott Backula was good as Joe Dimaggio, as was Allyson Reed as Marilyn. Mary Testa and another actress, as newspaper columnists, had a silly/funny song called "Gossip" that they'd reprise every so often. The show had one really great line: "How can you be so boring? You're Arthur Miller!"

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 3/11/06 at 3:43pm

dry2olives, you're so lucky you actually got to see it! that's interesting that You're So Beyond was sung by both of the fans at some point. do you remember the famed bubble bath scene with plungers?
did anyone else see it?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/11/06 at 4:11pm

I ADORED that song at Flopz 2, as well. Know where we can hear it again?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/11/06 at 4:26pm

A friend of mine from LA saw the show in previews - he was one of the priviedged few to witness the "Foster Home" dream ballet: where the child Marilyn dances over to one home where she is attacked by a family holding liquor bottles...then whisked away to another home where she is attacked by a family wielding Bibles and crucifixes.

I was very, very jealous.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/11/06 at 5:19pm

Thats the funniest thing i ever read.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 4:14pm

That is SO amazing and funny... I'm using it in my thesis project on flops!

Augh, I really wish we could hear "You Are So Beyond" again!!!!

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 4:18pm

GOD why couldn't I have been there for that?????

[WOSQ]

Posted: 4/10/06 at 4:28pm

How can you completely hate a show that has an abstract character named "Destiny" which was played by three singers? This role made Marilyn more than just a bad musical. It became a bad musical with aspirations.

Still Marilyn was a top-drawer stinkeroo. We don't get the likes of it much any more. In My Life came real close.

Does anyone remember that the show had a happy ending? Talk about poetic license.