Should 'Subways are for Sleeping' be considered for an Encores! Presentation?

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 9:02pm

It is truly a wonderful and underrated musical with a phenomenal score. Of course the book has problems, but it really does seem like a show that deserves some sort of revival. Hell, even a concert performance would be nice. Considering that it includes one of the best broadway overtures ever to be composed and that the score is incredibly tuneful and hilarious, wouldn't it be nice to see it presented again?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 9:03pm

Encores only likes doing shows that get productions everywhere all the time, as evidenced by the upcoming season lineup.

SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING is too obscure, and not performed enough.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 9:03pm

I'd LOVE to see it.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 9:28pm

Orson Bean once told me this story...

It seems that at one point in the production Jule Styne took over as director.

At one particularly difficult rehearsal he gave Syd Chaplin (star of the show and Charlie Chaplin's son) a piece of direction that Chaplin refused to do. They started to argue.

The arguement ended with Chaplin shouting from the stage:

"Yesterday if you told me to suck your d*ck, I would have. But this morning my father sent me a check for $25,000, so go F*CK YOURSELF!"

Chaplin stormed off and didn't come back for the rest of the day.

I howled when i hear that.

Updated On: 9/22/08 at 09:28 PM

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 9:46pm

That's horrible! Wow, how unprofessional.

Having never had the fortune of meeting Mr. Styne, I have no idea what kind of person he was. Would you happen to know if he was pleasurable to work with, or was he egotistical?

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 10:11pm

Styne and Chaplin had a good working relationship. After all, Chaplin starred in three Jule Styne shows.

I think it was more an issue of an actor frustrated at a constantly changing script, songs, directors and none of it of it making the show any better.

It didn't help that the two featured players were walking away with the show.

I think his outrage was more along the line of: Get back to me when you get your act together!

Updated On: 9/22/08 at 10:11 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 11:00pm

It is EXACTLY the kind of show ENCORES should do.
But as WannaBe said, they go for the more "popular" shows, which I feel is against their original priciples.

[dayao]

Posted: 9/22/08 at 11:08pm

SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING features Jule Styne's most sophisticated score and some of Comden & Green's most intelligent and wittiest lyrics. The book is not the greatest but even without any changes it is better written than most of what is passing for writing on Broadway these days. "Comes Once in A Lifetime" is one of the greatest songs ever written for any show and the rest of the score is equally infectious. ”Subways” is less dated than "Damn Yankees" and some of the other shows Encores have done recently.

Here is a revised list from a previous post of who I think would be an ideal cast today for a revival of SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING:
Laura Benanti as Angie
James Anest as Tom
Kerry Butler as Martha
Matt Morrison as Charlie

With a cast like this, that fantastic score and given today's headlines of our country's shaky economy, which is the very core of this show's book, SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING could be a big hit today, in my opinion.

Updated On: 9/22/08 at 11:08 PM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/23/08 at 10:12am

"Encores only likes doing shows that get productions everywhere all the time, as evidenced by the upcoming season lineup."

Unfortunately, Encores has strayed from its original mission. The original mission was to give a listen to rarely heard scores that would never get a Broadway run. Shows like "Sweet Adeline" fit that bill.

But they strayed from their mission and now want to compete with Broadway, even though they say at every show "We're not trying to be a Broadway production company".

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 5:43pm

I really was thinking how much this show represented Encores' original mission. It's a shame that they've strayed from the path...but I guess everyone needs money.

I completely agree that this is Jule Stynes most complex score, and that it contains some of Comden and Greene's wittiest lyrics. The premise of the show is great, and even the title 'Subways are for Sleeping' is a pretty witty and inviting title.

I'd love to see it reproduced somewhere, but I doubt it'll happen anytime soon.

[Jon]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 7:22pm

If Encores wants to do another Jule Styne show, how about a real oldie like HIGH BUTTON SHOES? The original choreography of the Keystone Kops Ballet can be recreated by someone from Jerome Robbins' Broadway.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 7:32pm

'High Button Shoes' is an inspired choice, and it would probably have a better shot at being produced!

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 10:53pm

I think it's a little gem of a score. It's fun. "I Was a Shoo-In" is a great piece of comic writing. Did anyone hear "Capital Gains" featured on NPR this past week?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/24/08 at 11:07pm

Yes it has been ignored long enough

You can not go wrong with a Styne score.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 3:13am

Much as I enjoy a lot of the score, I think that show would play a bit uneasily today, with its cutesy attitude toward homelessness. But they could tackle just about any other show with a Styne score and I wouldn't complain.

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 3:33am

BFB,

What a fabulous story!

Thanks for sharing it!!!

[twogaab2]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 10:37am

Whatever the problems with the book---the score should be heard again. Thankfully, an excellent cast album was released. This is the type of thing I would be glad to see Encores do, however there are many more worthy contenders to consider (Did I hear anyone say "Golden Apple", "Do I Hear a Waltz? etc.)

Just my opinion, I may be wrong.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 1:09pm

I adore the score for Subways are For Sleeping and would jump at the chance to see it performed. I think Gypsy is Styne's most complex and sophisticated score, but Subways (as well as Do Re Mi) is one of his most charming

[huckleberry22]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 1:55pm

They did do "Sweet Adeline" already, didn't they? I think they still do some obscure stuff. I don't think " Music in the air" would be considered a very popular show...

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:18pm

"They did do "Sweet Adeline" already, didn't they?"

Yes. I chose that as an illustration of they were doing right in the past.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 2:36pm

Any musical that references my old neighborhood of Van Cortlandt Park can't be all bad. I mean, it stinks, but so what? I love it.

[puppet]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 3:22pm

Of the more than 400 LP show albums that I have SUBWAYS is the one I play least. A revival would not change my mind and I would not want to see one.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 3:34pm

RE: Music in the Air. No, it hasn't been done in a long time. The 1951 revival didn't succeed because of the dated book, but it has a lovely score and is well worth a rehearing. There was a pared down, one-performance-only version done at Town Hall in the mid-90's (I was there) with June Summerhays. And I believe another non-staged production in the 70's (I wasn't there). I am pleased beyond belief that Encores! is doing it because it was the second musical I ever saw (Summer Stock in 1953).

[monestere]

Posted: 9/25/08 at 5:41pm

Neither "Subways are for Sleeping" nor the book from which the musical version was adapted is about homelessness, cutesy or otherwise. "Subways" is about Tom and a small group of professional people who have willfully checked out on conventional means of living because at some point they have come to realise that they were not happy in that lifestyle, a lifestyle which most people would envy. Instead they have chosen to live day to day using their wits and a byproduct of this may be that they had to give up a conventional place to sleep. Tom has given up financial independence for emotional independence. This was a controversial choice in 1961 and is just as controversial a choice today. Angie, a reporter, can't initially understand why anyone would be truly happy living this way. Tom and Angie's relationship becomes a classic love story and at the same time a most unconventional one. "Subways are for Sleeping" is about the choices we make in life and the consequences to ourselves and to those who love us but do not understand the reasons behind those choices. It was an innovative but controversial story for a musical when initially presented and would still be so today. "Subways" has a score that is, in my opinion, Jule Styne's masterpiece, and as much as I like Stephen Sondheim, his lyrics cannot hold a candle to the brilliance of Comden and Green's in any show, but especially "Subways are for Sleeping". This is exactly the kind of show Encores should be doing and Dayao, your casting suggestions are inspired, especially James Anest, my favourite singer and a superb actor, as he would bring an intensity to the role completely lacking in Sydney Chaplin, who was the one serious flaw and major reason for the failure of the original 1961 production. You have to have a believable Tom for “Subways” to work for an audience.

[Whispering]

Posted: 9/26/08 at 2:45am

Wow, I haven't thought about this musical for years. When I was small we didn't have much money and one day my father came home with an album someone gave him. It was the cast album of this play - I think I might have it in the attic. We played this album so often and knew all the songs, but our friends had no idea what we were singing, they were more into radio.

I am up for seeing this finally if someone brings it back!