Tick Tock- Company — Page 7

What was Boyd Gaines?

Less iconic, less archetypal. Perhaps a little closer to a flawed portrayal of the traditional midlife-crisis Bobby than any of the two who came after.

Does anyone know if Michael Bennett adjusted the Tick Tock choreography to suit specific dancers like he did with Cassie in ACL? I think Priscilla Lopez took over when Donna left the NY company.

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Gaines (on paper) was a perfect Bobby, totally lovable and an actor who could play the flaws in the character. He has to be lovable for the audience, and his married friends to keep the audience rooting for him. Unfortunately singing the score done him (and the production) in. The cast loved him, as did Scot and Sondheim (read his letter to the editor). Even great Actors have insecurities. People put down that revival all the time, but that cast, Gaines, Monk, Cox, Bernstein, Burton, Canova, Krakowski, D'Amboise, et al were all wonderful and some of it is captured on the CD. But it got bad buzz and was a misstep of bad decisions and press. It would have been interesting to hear Rupert's take on Bobby.

which I read as meaning that the dance was intentionally a bit ridiculous, perhaps a bit of a parody of interpretive dance

It was not in the least parodic.

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The show is a period piece. Views on marriage, sex, love, age, and commitment have change drastically since 1969/1970.

Points that were shocking then aren't today. Points that weren't shocking at all then are today.

It would be an entirely different show.

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Surprised nobody's posted this (unless I missed it...): here's Donna McKechnie doing a shortened "Tick Tock" at the '93 reunion concert. Can anyone verify how close this is to the original?

There's also an audience shot if you look in the related videos.
Tick-Tock '93

I posted it :P Temms--but always great to see.

Fan, as PJ said (and he'd know better than I would) the dance was meant to be pretty straightforward (if playful in parts.) Bennett's dance vocabulary is typical jazz dance of the era (albeit particularly brilliantly done, of course.)

Sondheim himself always bristles when people ask about how much he relates or sees himself in his characters (I mostly agree with his arguments as to why not--pointing out how he rarely chooses the material, etc, though I think he protests a little too much.) That said, I think the "gay" scene basically succeeds in its job. Although, it's interesting, it was written for that "updated" revised version (at least I assume it was never used before) and yet, off the top of my head, Furth uses language like to "ball" someone, that at least from my perspective is still pretty dated to the 70s.

Eric, I saw the '95 revival (in fact I'm in the audience that was taped for the archives at the Library at Lincoln Center).

There were very mixed feelings. Yes, everyone was excited that it was the first major revival. But everyone also knew it was Roundabout doing it. Roundabout has this habit of bringing in talented actors and yet putting on crap shows. Also, excitement was running very high because the original cast had just done a concert version at Lincoln Center two years before to great success.

It was decided that the couples in the show would all be alike in social standing which I found a boring choice. (I loved the London revival that put them into different social classes).

Boyd Gaines, who looked good on paper, had vocal problems and missed performances, and you know how NY is when a star misses performances. His Bobby was a bit wooden, I think he was poorly directed and the keys to his songs were lowered losing the thrill in Being Alive.

I was anxious to see Debra Monk who I've always thought was a wonderful actress. But as Joanne, she didn't hit the right characterization. There was none of the Stritch stridency and Monk just came across as a pissed off Upper East Side woman. There was no bite to "Ladies Who Lunch."

Charlotte d'Amboise was a bit disappointing in Tick Tock. I sort of expected that since she's from a dance family background that it would be a bit more amazing. (I love those clips of McKechnie.)

I understand the LaChanze grinning comment because I remember during "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" all you could see were teeth. I had seen LaChanze in "Once On This Island" and I didn't remember the teeth so I'm wondering if the director told her to keep smiling.

The highlight of the show was Veanne Cox as Amy. Her "Not Getting Married" was a wonderful journey through madcap as only Veanne can deliver it. She was the standout in the show.

I also saw the revival in London with Adrian Lester as Bobby. I loved this production (except for the fact that they cut Tick Tock). It was interesting because the couples were of different social backgrounds and made for a more interesting interaction. Also, the thought that went into the characterizations was wonderful. There were small details in their performances that made them real people rather than characters in a musical. I felt that the London cast approached this as a serious work rather than the way Americans approach musicals which seems to be giving surface characterizations.

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"The characterizations were anything but superficial."

Which is why I think the 95 revival fell flat.

This is what I mean by London's character development (and someone correct me if I've got the scene mixed up):

I believe it was in the Jenny & David scene. There were children's toys scattered around and Jenny was having to pick them up. As the two are interacting, David makes a sudden move and Jenny jumps back in fright. It was such a subtle action lasting about three seconds, but it left me wondering if there was domestic violence in their marriage. That moment was so rich with subtext. That's what I'm trying to illustrate about the Brits digging deeper into characterization.

Plus the London revival had an interracial couple which gave another layer to the show.

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I wasn't challenging your point, Goth, just making a point about the original production.

darquek, since I don't have access to as much theater as those of you in large cities, I watch more TV. It's actually quite surprising how common interracial relationships have become and how little is made of them. PRIVATE PRACTICE wasn't a great show, but early on it split up its married black couple (Audra McDonald and Taye Diggs) and paired both individuals with white significant others. That's just one example; I can think of at least half-a-dozen others, from THE NEIGHBORS (sitcom) to TRUE BLOOD.

So we may be at a point where a present-day COMPANY could have interracial couples without comment. But not if the show remains set in the 1970s (where it probably should be).

It does seem that British theatre accepted "colour blind" casting before Broadway (to make a HUGE generalization)--not that Company being cast with different races--particularly if it's set in the present like the 1995 revision--is really colour blind casting.

Gotham--thank you so much for that detailed description! Everything you say makes sense. I wonder if Charlotte's Tick-Tock was dull due to Rob Marshall? I love some of his work, particularly earlier on (Spider Woman, the Mendes Cabaret) but his work can also be fairly nondescript--which really stands out when you see him do a well known Bennett or Fosse routine. Also, I suppose, if it was under-rehearsed as mentioned previously.

I had forgot Veanne Cox--who on the recording actually sings the song completely as written, unlike many others, and seems perfect. I only really know her from her sitcom work--like a hysterical episode of Seinfeld and I think Frasier as well, which would seem to fit. (I suppose I know her from Smash too.) On TV, anyway, she actually reminds me of Beth Howland's sitcom work--which seems fitting.

I've seen the Sam Mendes production with Lester from the BBC televised production and I like it a lot. Certainly, for a more intimate/serious play version rather than a musical theatre version of the show, I preferred it to the Doyle production. I need to re-watch it--it's been over a decade--but I remember a local production ripped off his idea of What Would We Do Without You being done in Bobby's head as he gets more buzzed doing lines of cocaine alone.

Gaveston, thanks for confirming my thoughts about the use of the term "balling"