Tick Tock- Company

[qazdannywsx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:02am

I'm choreographing a production of Copmany in Jerusalem, and I'm interested in hearing what people here think of Tick Tock. How odd does the dance feel in the run of the show? Did something feel missing with a production you saw that ommited it? I've seen both the 2007 revival and the 2011 concert.
Is it odd to add other dancers to Kathy's moment? Which choreography did you prefer, original or concert?
I feel like Tick Tock along with Poor Baby and Barcelona make Robert's scene with April very long.
I would obviously love to choreograph this, but we're having a problem with orchestration for the number and to make it work it would take a lot of time that I want to make sure is worth it, from the audience's perspective at least.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:02am

I love Tick-Tock. It was there for a reason, or a couple of reasons.

Sondheim has said it balances our look at the three "current ladies" in Bobby's life: April (Barcelona), Marta (Another Hundred People), and Kathy (Tick-Tock). Without it, Kathy gets the short end of the stick (as it were).

I also think it adds a physical carnality to the show that is missing if you cut the dance and just have songs and scenes. It's a sexy, strong moment that ends in an artistic "orgasm." I also love that Bobby is in bed with April, but Kathy is the one doing the dance, as if Bobby is thinking of her while he's sleeping with April.

As far as other dancers in the number, I would keep it to a bare (no pun intended) minimum. This is Kathy's moment, not a chorus of Victoria's Secret models. I didn't mind the other dancers in the concert version, because they were kept in the background for the most part. I would have preferred it with Kathy alone, though. We don't need to see the off-stage chorus singers suddenly on stage behind Marta while she sings Another Hundred People. Why should we need to see a group of chorus dancers behind Kathy?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 9:20am

Tick Tock is the only opportunity for sex in the show.

Poor Baby, Tick Tock and Barcelona may be long but they form the center of the show: In Poor Baby, you see the women pitying Bobby for not having a girlfriend while Bobby is getting as much sex as he wants. In Tick Tock, you "see" the sex. And in Barcelona, you see him shying away from the commitment.

Without that sequence, the audience experiences only part of the story.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:21am

I too like Tick Tock.

I absolutely don't think it belonged in the Doyle revival (on which I can elaborate but I know I already have in older threads), but I do think it can have a place in other productions. However, I didn't really go for the 2011 concert version where they added other dancers. Tick Tock is, in a broad sense, a referent to the sexual revolution, but its primary purpose in the story is that it's about Bobby, and what it shows us about him. I found all those other dancers distracting from what the audience needs to get out of that moment.

As the others have said, it adds a contrasting element to what we see in Barcelona. Yes, if you consider the trio of Poor Baby/Tick Tock/Barcelona one scene, it is kind of long, but what it shows us about Bobby is really important, and important enough to justify it.

I want to make sure is worth it, from the audience's perspective at least.

Tick Tock has the potential to do a lot for the audience. But whether it's "worth it," as I'm sure you know, is up to you.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:50am

I agree with best12bars, but have a slight alteration in his analysis.

April has the butterfly monologue (Barcelona is not really "her" song), Marta has the song, Kathy has the dance. See how that works? Monologue, song, dance. Without the dance, the girlfriends become unbalanced. It leaves Kathy with no means of expression as an individual.

I saw the production in London in the 90s, and cutting Tick Tock marred an otherwise brilliant production.

Tick Tock must stay and I have yet to see any reason to cut it.

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 11:50 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:59am

I agree with that, to a degree -- depending on how much weight you put on the Bobby/Kathy park scene, I think that can really hold its own as Kathy's moment in the "trilogy." Plus, that's where the show really sets up, IMO, that Kathy is the girl that got away.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 12:05pm

"depending on how much weight you put on the Bobby/Kathy park scene, I think that can really hold its own as Kathy's moment in the "trilogy."

But what does she do that is different from the other two girlfriends? That's the point. Each girlfriend has to make herself different, an individual, in some way from what the other two are doing.

[evic]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 12:11pm

If you have a sexy Kathy who can dance, it works. And there's no topping that music with original orchestrations. Saw both Donna in original production and Antonia Ellis in London. Both exciting and danced the hell out of it. Do you have elevators? That original set was incredible. Poor Baby is a very funny song and gives the women a catty moment- they all want him and are jealous of his conquest. Barcelona is a great song with many psychological layers. Perfect musical. Good luck.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 12:14pm

And please do me another favor. Cut "Marry Me A Little". It doesn't belong at the close of Act 1 and it's not a strong enough song to match the other music in the show.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 12:23pm

But what does she do that is different from the other two girlfriends?

Theatrically? Nothing. Which is why I said I agree with your point to a degree. But in terms of the story, that scene does set her apart.

Also, I think Marry Me A Little Gets a bad rap, but keeping it in adds a lot of power to Being Alive, in that it allows you to see another one of Bobby's stepping stones to that breaking point. (The other being Someone Is Waiting.)

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 12:23 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 12:51pm

The 2011 concert version was hardly an argument in favor of its continued use. Unless it's a Michael Bennett-Donna McKechnie showstopper, it can easily come across as somewhat dated, awkward moment.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 1:36pm

"How odd does the dance feel in the run of the show?"

Very odd. And pointless, really.

"Did something feel missing with a production you saw that ommited it?"

Not at all. I was glad it was gone.

"I feel like Tick Tock along with Poor Baby and Barcelona make Robert's scene with April very long. "

I agree. Best to omit it altogether.

Good luck with your production.

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 4:47pm

Whether or not it works in the show, Tick Tock is certainly an oddity in theatre: not only a dream ballet after the era of dream ballets, but also a piece of very literal "interpretive dance."

How many other musicals other than the show-within-a-show in The Music Man have interpretive dance sections?

[qazdannywsx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 4:52pm

Thank you for all the insight! Everyone but AfterEight seem to think it's a necessary part of the show, which is funny, because I always found that his scene in the park with Kathy is one of the most important scenes in the show and that Kathy is enough of an established character, keeping in mind her solo in You Could Drive a Person Crazy, to not have to have Tick Tock to balance out the girlfriends.
Luvtheemcee: our production isn't fully staged like the original, and yet it's not completely black box like the Doyle revival... So it could work either way, I guess. Also, and I'm still trying to get used to the idea of it,the theatre we're using is almost in the round. The audience is on three sides of the stage, and I'm wondering if anyone happened to see a regional production of Company, in the same kind of a theatre?

[qazdannywsx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 4:55pm

Darquegk: that's so funny, I never thought of it as a type of dream ballet, but I guess it is...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 6:17pm

The audience is on three sides of the stage, and I'm wondering if anyone happened to see a regional production of Company, in the same kind of a theatre?

The John Doyle production was originally produced by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; their space is a thrust. It was stunning.

I've also seen the show staged in a much smaller thrust space.

The dance was originally created to showcase the dancer, but I still don't quite think of the number as Kathy's big moment in the show -- it's using movement of a character who's not even in the scene to comment on that scene. A total oddity.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 9:00pm

Yes, it's necessary, for reasons outlined above.

Yes, it's better with Kathy alone.

Yes, Kathy needs her dance to hold her own with the other two girlfriends.

Yes, the original choreography was the best. (Has anybody ever topped Michael Bennett?)

Yes, it's a long scene, but it's also most of the second act. And the three featured pieces (monologue, song, dance) are different enough that the scene doesn't feel long to me.

But I agree with After Eight this much: good luck with your production!

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 09:00 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 10:28pm

The dance was originally created to showcase the dancer, but I still don't quite think of the number as Kathy's big moment in the show -- it's using movement of a character who's not even in the scene to comment on that scene. A total oddity.

You mean like Joanne does when she sings "The Little Things You Do Together" or Marta does when she sings "Another Hundred People?"

They're also commenting on scenes they aren't in.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 10:48pm

Of course. I meant that it stands out because it's danced, not spoken. And that it is, in my mind, separate from, say, April's butterfly monologue and Marta's "pulse of the city" scene, which I believe someone drew comparisons to.

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 10:48 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:08pm

It was thrilling. And it cemented the impression that Bennett was going to take over the mantle of Jerry Robbins in integrating dance with words and music, which he then furthered with Chorus Line and Dreamgirls.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:34pm

^And no one has successfully accomplished since. Dance isn't being used that way in theatre anymore because no one else is doing it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:36pm

very true. Bennett & Fosse were the last true, great broadway choreographers. no one's even come close to them since.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 11:46pm

"Has anyone ever topped Michael Bennet?"

I hear Jennifer Holliday did.

When performed excitingly TICK TOCK can be thrilling, the orgasm moment adds a lot to the feel of the entire piece.

When D'Amboise's understudy went on in the revival they decided to cut it whenever the understudy went on.

[After Eight]

Posted: 7/1/13 at 12:05am

"Has anyone ever topped Michael Bennet?"

Perhaps no one since, which is more of a reflection on his successors' lack of genius than any on his part. He was talented, to be sure, but in no way exceptional. I did like Turkey-Lurkey Time, though.

As for the stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb Tick-Tock, audiences were both confused and bored by it. Nor was it an especially effective dance. Give it the old heave-ho. The audience will be grateful to you.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/1/13 at 4:47pm

"As for the stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb Tick-Tock, audiences were both confused and bored by it."

Maybe you and your Gramma Wilhemina were confused and bored, but not me or anyone I know.

When done well, it's totally thrilling musical theatre.

(I agree that "Marry Me A Little" has no place in the show - it expresses the same idea already expressed in "Someone Is Waiting.")