SEESAW
SEESAW
Understudy Joined: 11/12/04
SEESAW#0
Posted: 12/1/04 at 1:58pmHas anybody seen, been in or directed this musical? The score is awsome and I need to more about the show, the "other parts" and how well it palys in front of an audience. Pleast let me know.
Understudy Joined: 11/12/04
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
re: SEESAW#5
Posted: 12/2/04 at 7:33am
Mr. Tune -
I recently read your autobiography. You are one strange, sick dude!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: SEESAW#6
Posted: 12/2/04 at 8:00am
You mean the part where I cut out holes in my t-shirt so my nipples would show? I thought they edited that out!
Leading Actor Joined: 11/1/03
re: SEESAW#7
Posted: 12/2/04 at 8:17am
To answer the initial question there are three real characters:
Gittel Mosca - the misfit Brooklynite Jewish dancer who is unlucky in love (Lainie Kazan in Detroit and then Michele Lee in Detroit and onto Broadway)
Jerry Ryan - a straight-laced lawyer from the mid-west whose marraige is falling apart with his wife back home (Peter Howard)
David - a wanna-be choreographer who is Gittel's neighbor and confidante (part didn't exist until half-way through the Detroit tryout and was played by Tommy Tune).
Ultimately Michael Stewart tried to make the city of New York another "character" in this romance between Gittel and Jerry.
Leading Actor Joined: 11/1/03
re: SEESAW#8
Posted: 12/2/04 at 8:17am
To answer the initial question there are three real characters:
Gittel Mosca - the misfit Brooklynite Jewish dancer who is unlucky in love (Lainie Kazan in Detroit and then Michele Lee in Detroit and onto Broadway)
Jerry Ryan - a straight-laced lawyer from the mid-west whose marraige is falling apart with his wife back home (Peter Howard)
David - a wanna-be choreographer who is Gittel's neighbor and confidante (part didn't exist until half-way through the Detroit tryout and was played by Tommy Tune).
Ultimately Michael Stewart tried to make the city of New York another "character" in this romance between Gittel and Jerry.
Understudy Joined: 11/12/04
re: SEESAW#9
Posted: 12/2/04 at 8:19amOkay very funny guys. I asked a serious question and did put this up on the board cuase I need input about the show. I am thinking of producing it and wanting to know experirnces from others who know it well.
Understudy Joined: 11/12/04
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: SEESAW#11
Posted: 12/2/04 at 12:02pm
Honeyhoney, why not produce new shows instead of reviving old flops?
Understudy Joined: 11/12/04
re: SEESAW#12
Posted: 12/2/04 at 12:41pmGood sugestion music man! I have produced new shows and blockbusters my whole professional life and would like to try something challanging and a little differnt than other theatre companies. That's what makes good theatre and intresting for director's such as myself. Updated On: 12/2/04 at 12:41 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: SEESAW#13
Posted: 12/2/04 at 4:22pm
If you want to do something challenging, honeyhoney, why not revisit Youman's RAINBOW which was revolutionary in its day? Or Jones and Schmidt's experimental and innovative PHILEMON? Or 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE which, despite its narrative flaws, contains some ambitious music by Bernstein? Don't get me wrong, I think SEESAW is among Coleman's finest scores but adapting TWO FOR THE SEESAW for the musical stage was simply a bad idea. Opening up the story by treating the city as an additional character was, let's face it, a left-over idea from COMPANY. And the slight story, essentially a character study, doesn't sustain the additional and unnecessary frou-frou. It's THE BAKER'S WIFE all over again.
By the way, Beaverhausen, CHICAGO's original production ran for almost two years, chalking up 898 performances. Hardly a flop, as opposed to SEESAW which did not recover its initial investment.
Updated On: 12/2/04 at 04:22 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: SEESAW#14
Posted: 12/2/04 at 5:02pm
I completely agree with your last sentence. I've always felt the score was second-tier and the book more mean-spirited than humorous.
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