'One Shining Moment': the JFK Musical (1983). Anyone see it?

[markypoo]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 4:30pm

I did.
It was at the original Drury Lane Water Tower in Chicago. The show was written by Allan Jay Friedman & Leslie Bricusse. I think the director could have been Dennis Rosa.
Kevin Anderson and Megan Mullally played (I think - it's been many years) JFK and Jackie.
Looking back, the most interesting thing to me is that all the players were teens/early twenty-somethings ala the original "Merrily"; which makes me wonder which show might have been in gestation first/had the idea of using strictly young performers first.
As far as I know, after Chi the show was never done anywhere else again. It had previously been workshopped somewhere else though - maybe somewhere on the east coast.
Does anyone have any further comments? I'd LOVE to be filled in on whatever else I don't currently remember.
Updated On: 8/5/09 at 04:30 PM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:19pm

I also saw ONE SHINING MOMENT at the Drury Lane at Water Tower
(spent many an hour in the Rizzoli bookstore there) because I was working on a show that was scheduled to follow it in the months to come. I remember absolutely nothing about it because it was completely DREADFUL.

[twitchy+bitchy+manic]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:25pm

I've got a copy of another JFK musical, a German one called JFK the rock opera, written in English, albeit with terrible lyrics and a very strange marilyn monroe plot. has anyone else heard / heard of it?

[Pgenre]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 8:38pm

Yes, I have... and I thought I was the only one! I mean, JFK: The Rock Opera...

There's one TERRIFIC song in the show that has even been covered by a few performers on their solo cds... I think Matt Bogart did it most recently on his sublime SIMPLE SONG. I'm blanking on the title... guess it's time to dig out the ole rock opera.

And you may have my favorite screenname on the board, twitchy+bitchy+manic... and that is saying A LOT. Cheers (and APPLAUSE).

P
Updated On: 8/5/09 at 08:38 PM

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 8/5/09 at 9:44pm

Pgenre, are you still in search of those Ben Bagley recordings?

[Jon]

Posted: 8/6/09 at 11:50am

And Alan Ruck (pre-Ferris Beuller's Day Off) played LBJ.
Updated On: 8/6/09 at 11:50 AM

[markypoo]

Posted: 8/6/09 at 2:09pm

Other things I just remembered:

The "big" song of the show was entitled IMITATE THE SUN.

Joe Sr. had a song with lyrics that went something like this:

I'm tellin' ya Rose, that boy'll be President...
he's a natural born White House resident...

They don't write 'em like that anymore!