Thoughts on Jerry Zaks?

I know I've mentioned this on these boards a few times, but I'd like to hear your take on the subject.

There's obviously a lot of anticipation for the upcoming revival of Hello, Dolly!, but the one (slight) concern I have is that it's being directed by Jerry Zaks. In 1986, he made a successful Broadway debut as director with the original production of The House of Blue Leaves. He would go on to helm several more successful productions that included Anything Goes (1987), Lend Me a Tenor, Six Degrees of Separation, Guys & Dolls (1992), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996).

But since he tried to fix The Capeman, his track record on Broadway hasn't been the same as when he started out. Some of his credits after that included The Civil War, Little Shop of Horrors (2003), La Cage aux Folles (2004), The Addams Family, Sister Act, and most recently A Bronx Tale.

What are your thoughts on Jerry Zaks' track record as of late.

Updated On: 12/26/16 at 06:25 PM

an inexplicable choice.

I might be biased-- in another life I worked on Jerry's original 1985 production of HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. But I will also say that very few musical revivals have ever given me so much pleasure as that 1992 revival of GUYS AND DOLLS. Part of the magic of that show was the brilliant sets and costume designs of Tony Walton. Well blessedly he has the genius Santo Loquasto doing the sets and costumes for DOLLY, along with lighting design by the gifted Natasha Katz.

So I for one have high hopes and optimism for this.

That track has been pretty well covered with dust. When was his last successful musical, classic or otherwise?

HogansHero said: "That track has been pretty well covered with dust. When was his last successful musical, classic or otherwise?



Sister Act? I'm pretty sure it made back its investment, toured extensively, and is produced all the time regionally now. It wasn't a massive hit, but I would definitely call it a success.

According to early preview reports, Hello, Dolly! seems to be a long-awaited return to form for Jerry Zaks...
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1099717&dt=154

He apparently joins the ranks of John Doyle, Diane Paulus, and Bartlett Sher as theatre directors who are much more successful on revivals as opposed to new musicals.

Musical Master said: "I agree with Jeffrey that Zaks is at his best when he revives old shows (with Sister Act being a personal exception) and what's interesting is that it's what both Jerry Zaks and Bartlett Sher have in common despite the two having vastly different direction styles."

Although Jerry Zaks did win his first three Tonys for taking on new plays such as The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation. You could almost say the same thing about Bartlett Sher where the most success he's had with new works have pretty much been on The Light in the Piazza and Oslo.

"Oh and Bartlett Sher making revivals of either Dear World or Mack and Mabel would be freaking incredible! :)"

I'm not familiar with either one of those musicals, but they both sound like Jerry Zaks would be a better fit.

RippedMan said: "Well...only one of those is a musical, so..."

Um, Dear World and Mack and Mabel are both musicals and the both of them have music and lyrics by the wonderful Jerry Herman. If revivals for those shows happen, Dear World is a show I could see Bartlett Sher directing; while Jerry Zaks could do magnificent things for Mack and Mabel.

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "
Although Jerry Zaks did win his first three Tonys for taking on new plays such as The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me a Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation. You could almost say the same thing about Bartlett Sher where the most success he's had with new works have pretty much been on The Light in the Piazza and Oslo."

Atlhough The House of Blue Leaves had never been on Broadway before when Zaks directed it in 1986, the play was already well known. It was first produced off-Broadway to great success in 1971.

Jerry Zaks is a comic genius.

He does musical comedy very well. I remember enjoying his work on the revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He even made a cameo appearance during Whoopi Goldberg's last performance.

Not to thread-jack but can anyone explain why the 2004 La Cage revival was so ill-received? I remember loving it but I didn't have any knowledge of show itself back then.

I'll try my best to give you two an answer. It was ill-received to people (and me) because the revival felt like it was going through the motions and not giving any spark of theatrical punch nor memorability when it came to the cast and crew in comparison to the wonderful 1983 original production. Only Daniel Davis giving his best as Georges, the Cagelles, and William Ivey Long's beautiful costumes we're the only things that kept the revival from being a bad mess. Gary Beach wasn't right for the role of Albin and seeing his disjointed, uncomfortable performance certainly didn't help. There was some debate about whether or not that Davis either quit or was fired due to him fighting with Beach or wanting to do a different show, but either way, Jerry Zaks did the best he can by hiring Robert Goulet as Davis' replacement but in doing so was one of the final nails in the revival's coffin. Despite winning the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical in a very weak season, it didn't boost ticket sales and the show got a closing notice soon afterwards.

Basically, the revival failed to live up to it's huge expectations to a good amount of people. It only took the cast and crew of the scaled down 2010 revival years later to bring that spark back to a beautiful old-fashioned musical that pulled off the smallness beautifully well.