REDHEAD - The Musical..

I've recently got the cast recording for this old and unpopular show. Mainly for Verdon. The score is a little underwhelming for me. Gwen is good, but not her strongest vocally. I feel this is when the raspiness really started kicking in, and it just got worse with Charity & Chicago.

Some here have said the reason the show wont get revived is because this was just a star vehicle for Gwen. But according to the liner notes, this is NOT true. This musical was a project throughout the 50's. They originally asked Beatrice Lilly, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Celeste Holme, and Gisele McKenzie, but they ALL turned down the project. Then they asked Gwen, who was popular for her 3 past Tony Wins. Gwen took the role, but Fosse said he wanted to direct & choreograph. And they allowed him.

The show opened to GREAT reviews, and raves for Gwen. Critics were comparing it to MY FAIR LADY, WEST SIDE STORY, and THE MUSIC MAN. The only turn off for the critics was they thought the book was very confusing. The show was a big hit, recouping its investment quickly. REDHEAD was also a big Tony winner, winning BEST MUSICAl, BEST ACTRESS, and many more. There was also a movie planned for this musical starring Gwen, but SADLY it fell through.

So in the liner notes they say the only reason REDHEAD wont get revived is because of its confusing book. But this got me thinking, nowadays it isn't rare for a book to get rewritten for a revival. I think the Weisslers should get a star, have the book revised, and I think it would be great for this show to be back on Broadway. And plus the Weisslers love reviving those Verdon shows, and classic hits from the 50s and 60s.

So any thoughts on REDHEAD?

Updated On: 9/23/05 at 02:37 PM

Interesting. The last thing we would want is Cilento choreographing, I agree.

It just makes me a little sad that some shows that were hits at one time or another, most likely wont be seen again. But then again who expected to see WONDERFUL TOWN revived again? Until Encores got it. Because a lot of people thought the show was nothing without Roz.

But honestly, from reading the synopsis - I don't understand the story at all! and I feel the songs tell me nothing about the plot.

Updated On: 9/23/05 at 03:03 PM

In an e-mail Steven Suskind told me that the musical had THE worst score of any Best Musical Tony winner. My pick would have been APPLAUSE, which Suskind told me was his pick for SECOND-worst.

As for me, the score was truly hit-or-miss. Basically the show was a nice way to kill an evening.

The book would have to be largely re-written. If I remember correctly one of Essie's dreams was to have a dozen kids!

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Updated On: 9/23/05 at 03:06 PM

It just goes to show how truly magical Verdon and Fosse were. At the peak of their powers, they could take such inferior material and turn it into a Tony-winning hit show.

It's really sad that (far as I know) there's no film footage of any of the show (I believe Verdon only did Ed Sullivan for SWEET CHARITY and not for REDHEAD OR NEW GIRL IN TOWN).

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This is a dreadful show- awful book, awful score, awful lyrics...Only Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon could have taken this dreadful show and made it work. Since both are dead, the show should remain dead...

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If you recall ljay, we had a lengthy discussion about this on one of the revival threads. I'm with you in thinking that a successful revival could occur. In that thread I even linked to Goodspeed's production which did rather well. I'll also say again that the choreography is indeed still intact and documented. I personally know a few numbers ("Erbie Fitch's Twitch", "Pick-Pocket Tango", "The Uncle Sam Rag" and "The Dream Dance") that were taught to me by Gwen herself. I like the music. It is very reminiscent of vaudeville too. But yes, the book is rather confusing to say the least. It needs to be made simpler, there is no question about that.

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I have to ask you, WonderBoy- Where do you find these WONDERFUL pictures?!

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I love Wonderboy too! He always has some great info, and wonderful pictures to share.

WonderBoy actually was taught by the legendary Gwen Verdon?
Now THAT impresses me!
Forget meeting Idina at the stage door.

He deserves total respect-also for that FANTASTIC Lainie Kazan avatar!

Hahahaha! You all are too sweet and kind. I really do appreciate the kind words. I don't have the video of the movement (it is out there somewhere) but I do have extremely detailed notations. I always throw a little Fosse in a show and I would love to choreograph any Fosse show either using original or 'in the style of'. I was very fortunate and I worked very hard to be able to work with all the Fosse legends and not a day goes by that I don't thank the powers that be for it.

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