McKechnie's "Tick Tock"- Page 3
McKechnie's "Tick Tock"
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#50re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:23am
I kinda think it was a cop-out but workable way to complete the Instrument "concept"
as in , We get Patti to play Lovett but she can't really play anything
and we need an actress, Walsh who can't either.
So we will play that up.
Yes, they made that work but c'mon, it's a stretch.
I am all for finding new meaning to great works of Art
SWEENY and COMPANY are certainly that.
Sometimes it works, but not always.
Updated On: 3/13/07 at 01:23 AM
#51re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:24am
Me too! I remember reading, when the show wasn’t in NY, that Joanne played the triangle - and I thought they hit her character on the nail. "I don't really give a damn AND I'm drunk so I'm just gonna sit here and hit this triangle until you shut up."
In my opinion, that's Joanne's persona entirely.
But feigning a complete ignorance of the intent seems like a confusing and unnecessary way to express that.
Thanks for being blunt. I needed that, my headache is getting worse.
You will thus be able to avoid the other problems that he's seen in with his friends' marriages
I don't think that's exactly it. To have someone to lean on, to have someone who would take care of you and you to take care of, but not to be emotionally invested - that's what he wants. I think he's trying to tell himself that he doesn't want the problems of the typical marriage, but he is also completely unable to let someone in, and that's a higher priority than having to deal with these problems.
hard to believe that they wanted a better song than MARRY ME A LITTLE
I don't think better is the correct word here. I think that Marry me a Little is a gorgeous song, and I don't think anyone would say otherwise. What they wanted was a song that said something else. What they wanted was a song where Bobby would let someone in.
I think it was either in the Meryl Secrest biography or the Kennedy Center Sondheim interview where they discussed Happily Ever After vs. Being Alive. It's understood that Being Alive makes no sense to have at the end (why would Bobby change his mind after having every reason marriage is horrible is being thrown in his face?) but to have Being Alive is emotionally satisfying, and therefore makes more sense. If the show ends on Happily Ever After, we start at the same place we began, therefore giving it all no meaning.
LizzieCurry: No, you're more memorable
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#52re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:28am
Eric, I had seen the CAMP choreography for Turkey first and then seeing that recently posted video a sum total of about 5 times, it was strikingly similar.
The only difference I noticed was in some of the spotlight dancing McKechnie had because obviously some teenage blonde isn't going to be able to match anything close to hers. However, most of the girls as a trio and the company itself manage to come off having extremely alike dancing. Example, the "wishes come truuuuuueeee" line where the lean back and then snap forward was the same. There were many more that I just can't recall.
Sadly, the best evidence for staging the number may have to come from Camp.
#53re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:28amI honestly think a lot of things in the show work that way, though, CPD -- to the degree that sometimes the lines between intentional choices and necessities that happen to work and become symoblic within the concept become blurry.
#54re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:31am
Mistakes often cause brilliance, though. Maybe Walsh couldn't play an instrument, and by making her play something so simple, so absentmided, it added to her character.
I doubt they did the same with Bobby though, if that's your next point CPD
LizzieCurry: No, you're more memorable
#55re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:36amThe production is full of chicken-or-the-egg questions. It kind of makes my head spin in that respect. I'm not sure if the choice to have Bobby play piano when he does came before they cast Raúl, who doesn't know how to play anything else (except guitar, I heard, but that's irrelevant and possibly false) or what. I would assume it did, since it's kind of the crux of the whole thing.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#56re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:39am
Nope. I think that Bobby finally sits down and sings and plays the piano is the most brilliant use of actors playing instruments in this production.
But i wish they would had carried that thru and let him do it alone instead of the the others coming in.
It would have pointed out how he was not part of the group.
Updated On: 3/13/07 at 01:39 AM
#57re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:47am
But i wish they would had carried that thru and let him do it alone instead of the the others coming in.
It would have pointed out how he ws not part of the group.
Someone pointed that out to me a couple of months ago. It didn't bother me until then. I guess "bother" is the wrong word because I accept it and it still doesn't ruin anything for me, but I hadn't really given it much thought. I tried to come up with potential reasoning behind it, but the best I could do was that they had to go with it for the sake of the music and the theatricality of the moment.
I suppose you could make the case that if Bobby is singing this song in which "alone is alone, not alive," then to have him playing alone the entire time is a little bit contradictory. That's not too big a stretch and it makes a case for the accompaniment; he's gone and made this decision, but it's not one he can go at alone, and he needs other people there with him. He's decided, and now he has to join in. If you watch very closely, you see that the order in which the ensemble/orchestra joins him in very precisely calculated: first the girlfriends, one by one, then some of the wives, and so forth -- a minor detail that I think is really, really beautiful. Yet... that all kind of falls through because you can just as well say that he should stay seated at the piano and still be joined by his friends. I guess that's where even I'm willing to admit that it's a stretch -- it's a point at which they may have seen it best to abandon sticking straight to the concept and symbolism for the sake of making that moment as brilliantly theatrical as it is.
#58re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:53amI think that's an issue that you should take up with the show's book/score more so than this production, though. It's written into the score that Bobby's friends encourage him throughout the song, and the logical extension of that would be for them to prod him along with their instruments as well as their words. He's not "joining the crowd" in this particular instance -- his friends are helping him to realize that he's been missing, and that's that he needs to decide for himself what he wants.
#59re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:55amWait, I'm confused. I don't think the issue is that he's being joined by his friends, but that once they join him, he gets up and stops playing the piano. They've encouraged him and he takes this big step, but then he abandons it and goes away when the orchestra takes over. I think you could say that they're supporting him, etc., but that's most probably an example of an accident working... since it doesn't completely work.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#60re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 1:59am
Sex
TICK TOCK
this production lacks it
back to topic..
#61re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 2:10am
Well, CPD mentioned the others joining in as a problem that he had with it and said he would rather Bobby have played the song alone. I agree that it probably would have been more appropriate to the conceit to have him stay at the piano and play out the rest of the song instead of letting the others take over completely. On the other hand, though, Bobby's playing at all seems like such a large step forward for him that I don't really see him falling back into his old habits.
Anyway, Tick Tock and sex! Is the current revival really that sexless, comparatively? It's the one scene that's different, and sex is still implied as much as it can be given the confines of the staging. Tick Tock is actually a suggested cut in the most current versions, right? It isn't as though there was sex everywhere and the revival chose to sterilize it.
#62re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 2:16amYes, yay sex.
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#63re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 2:35am
I was at the Lincoln Center concert and Donna's dancing of Tick Tock really didn't have the electricity it had in the show - first of all, she was twenty-something years older, and second, in the show it was everything - the lighting, the set, the atmosphere, and she threw herself into Tick Tock like nothing I'd ever seen before. She was the orgasm.
On another note (C#), I have both the Tony performance of Turkey Lurkey (in a surprisingly clean copy) and the Sullivan performance (right off the master tapes). The difference between the original cast and the replacements is pretty large.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#64re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 2:58am
All of my life--yeah Turkey Lurkey seems to be ogne already--I thought that evil site was ok with Tony clips as they were filmed for tv for promotion of the show and aren't audience bootlegs--most have lasted on that site for ages no prob. If anyone knows of another way to see it please let me know--as I said it's no joke that I've been trying to see it for over a decade--since I read Mendelbaum's book on Bennett and his musicals which mentioned it in the section on what was on tv.
Sweetestsiren--I'm a huge Chess fan too (it's perhaps my fave British megamusical score)and agree with everything you said about it being a missed opportunity without Bennett. I know he intended the production very much as a pageant with the personal story playign against this background (sorta in the way some of the most famous grand operas do). I still need to learn more about the London production---I knwo ti played several years but only recently found out, for instance, that The Story of CHess was moved to the start of the show--not the end like on the concept album (I always assumed it wasn't move till New York).
I'm not even sure if the name of the Jimmy Webb musical was Scandals but it was somethign close--that book by Mendelbaum I mention has a lot of info and is a good read--I know someone on here told me that Webb has recorded one of the songs from it since then which is meant to be gorgeous (Webb's one of my fave pop composers of the 60s/70s--up there with Bacharach and I'm always surprised that the closest he got to a musical was the songs for The Last Unicorn--I believe after Scandals, as I'll call it till I know better, he did another score that never made it past workshop)
bk--that makes perfect sense of course that the elctricity of Tick Tock was missing in a nostalgic concert revival of COmpany--stiull as a dance fan it's great for me to see the basic steps for the first time.
My Ed Sullivan Broadway tapes are all from master copies (complete with timecode stamps which is a bit annoying) but Turkey Lurkey is missing--still which performance had the replacements? I was a bit annoyed that Broadway's Lost Treasures used Basketball as their clip from Promises Promises over Turkey Lurkey--oh well one of these days I'll track it down...
(C it's good to know the Camp choreography was similar anyway--I sorta suspected it was though I don't think Benett gets credit)
So one more mini tangent re Bennett and Sondheim--that site we don't mention also has a full performance by the London Follies cast of Who's that Woman. I know often this number is recreated from its original Bennett choreography--ie Papermill where it was the only reconstructed number--the London Follies was choreographed by Bennett's old assistant Bob Avain--anyone watching it who might know--is it basically the Bennett original?
E
Updated On: 3/13/07 at 02:58 AM
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#65re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 3:03am
Oh and about the Company changes--I only own a copy of the first Random House script--I know of the changes from reading the revision from the library and seeing a local production as well as the televised Mendes production. I believe there's a good essay online somewhere that goes into all the changes (probably originating from the SOndheim review) but basically nearly every page has one or two detail changes--lots small things like in the revision everyone drinks *a lot* less
*edit*
Oh! This isn't the article I was thinking of but here's a great comparison between the two scripts--warning as it's quite long.
COMPANY REWRITTEN: http://www.sondheim.com/commentary/company_rewritten_1.html
The guy who wrote the article doesn't seem to have as big a problem with the changes as me (and I admit it--I'd always do COmpany as a piece set in 1970)--but poitns out many great things like how extremely toned down Joanne is just from dropping minor lines -- I do like the new bits for Kathy though even if I kinda enjoy how much of a cipher she was in the original
E
Updated On: 3/13/07 at 03:03 AM
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#66re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 4:21pm
Now I just hope sometime we can see Bennett's infamous original "very busy/difficult" Drive a Person Crazy choreography recreated--I have the original three girls singing it on That's Singing but apparantly it's not very much of the original choreography.
#67re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 4:38pm
late in the convo...I was there that night...it was magical, and I cried in the middle of watching this creature recreate beautifully what was choreographed for her DECADES before. She was acting, not just dancing...as b12b mentioned earlier.
btw, I also cried during "Another Hundred People" because it I loved it so, and Pam Myers sounded so great, and she was the loving force behind the reunion concerts.
oh yeah...I also cried after Ladies and Being Alive.
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#68re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 4:51pm
doodle, you love to cry at weddings too, don't you?
Donna stands out from the crowd as a dancer, no matter what she does. It's that extra communication. Again, you could argue that there are better chorus dancers, with higher kicks, sharper turns, etc.
That's never been what it's about, for me. It's the ability to express yourself and communicate emotion through a series of movements. It's how she stands, how she pops the head, extends her arm, tilts her wrists, leaps, and turns. Different than almost all other dancers you see. It's something "extra." It's what makes her unique. It's what made her a star. It's what made her "Cassie." That's why in the scene where Zach asks her NOT to dance like that... like everyone else around her... was so heartbreaking. He was asking her to remove what was special about her as an artist. "Become everyone else."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#70re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 5:08pm
If any of you ever get the chance to see that Tony Awards clip of "Turkey Lurkey" you are in for a treat. Donna McKechnie does some amazing things in that number that left me in awe. Jaw dropping to say the least.
It was easy to see why this number stopped that show night after night after night. How that woman didn't snap her neck in the middle of all of it is beyond me. She's a force of nature.
#71re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 5:09pmDA...another fav of mine...the trio of her, Sappington and Lee...YOW!
"In Oz, the verb is douchifizzation." PRS
#72re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 5:12pmYes doodle! Baayork Lee and I believe Margo Sappington completed the trio along with Donna. Some amazing choreography by Bennett. Bennett was such a master at what he did and he was at the height of his powers when he did that show!
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#73re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 5:42pmA few years ago, Barney's Christmas window spotlighted Broadway shows. They had Donna, Baayork and Margo dolls dancing "Turkey Lurkey" (except the dolls were just spinning around, not actually dancing the choreography).
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#74re: McKechnie's 'Tick Tock'
Posted: 3/13/07 at 6:09pm
Thanks Angel--
Bar, I agree with you that DOnna has that extra ability that just carries--with Tick Tock I suspect that when she did it during the actual run her movements were a bit sharper to the music--but it doesn't matter, you still get what the point of the dance is wonderfully. Being a big ballet fan I remember my mom, when I was growing up, was obssessed with Margot Fonteyn and one of the things she told me about seeing her live, at quite an old age for a ballerina was how technically her legwork, etc wasn't all that amazing (and honestly it never was) but she put so much musicality, emotion and heart into it that it didn't matter
(Having seen Charlotte D'Amboise, and being blown away by her, in Chicago back in 99 on tour--I suspect that Charlotte, who was perfect for the colder role of Roxie, is missing some of this when doing DOnna's numbers in Chorus Line--but I admit I can't fairly say that not even seeing any illegal footage of her dancing in it)
It's interesting with Bennett's choreography for PP and COmpany (and, maybe less so, Chorus Line and Follies--at least who's that Woman) to see how his choreography contrasts with the other big choreographer at the time, Fosse. It's certainly more dated and I think comes off as looking less technically demanding than most modern chorus dancing (which is probably true--the training of choruses and what they can do has come a long way) but it's also so right for the show and character.
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