What Were Older Shows Like When They Opened? — Page 2

My opinion, as a rule of thumb most DANCE-intensive shows go badly downhill after the first cast-change. This is due to original cast being choreographed and directed in by the original production team.. the second cast are then basically told to do what the first cast did, and so the quality depreciates with each week that passes, the steps get looser and looser before you end up a horrible Chicago-shaped mess

Spamalot in London during previews and the first few months, compared to third cast in, the difference was huge. In the words somebody very senior related to the show, "it's gone down-hill a lot, oh well".

The sign of a quality show is the ability to be 'timeless'.. Phantom, and Les Mis in particular have lasted so long because of tourism and the quality of the piece as a whole commercially.

It also helps if, like Chicago or Blood Brothers, you can afford to run at 25% house Mon-Thurs and still be profitable.

I urge all young Broadway superfans (and you know who you are!) to chat with older theatergoers, especially those who live in the Tri-State area. You will learn great insights. One of my favorite stories:

I was discussing "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" with an older upper east side couple, while leaving a performance by the complete original cast in January of 1986 (Buckley, Laine, Rose, McGillin, Murphy, etc.). The husband wasn't thrilled with the show, but the wife (and I) had enjoyed it very much.

When I asked him what musicals he had seen recently that he HAD enjoyed, he said (and this is a direct quote): "Now, 'My Fair Lady' with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, now that was a show!"

I had two reactions: (1) cut these people some slack, old man, it was perfectly enjoyable, and (2) omg, tell me EVERYTHING you remember about "My Fair Lady"!

Which, you realize, was 30 years before. So, you just never know what shows the person sitting beside you may have seen.

And, regarding "Cats," I think that is really the first example of a show's logo that did not include the title. Mackintosh, Dewynter's (sp?), et al. really changed the whole way that shows were marketed and merchandised with the "big four" British popera megamusicals of that era.

go to www.bluegobo.com and you can see clips of a lot of musicals going WAY back and get an idea of what they were like.

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Paul, that reminds me of when I rushed Company and chatted with the older couple sitting next to me. they were telling me how they used to take their children to shows and get cheaper seats. they had seen Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand for something like $3 a ticket, and had seen the OBC of Pacific Overtures (which is one of my favorite Sondheim cast recordings). I was in awe.

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"Older" shows, whether plays or musicals, were not nearly so technically complicated. Scenery, costumes and lighting enhanced the show and weren't a show unto themselves. Shows could switch theatres relatively easily and quickly.

Example: My Fair Lady closed on a Saturday night at the Broadway and loaded out; I Can Get It For You Wholesale loaded out of the Shubert, moved to the Broadway and reopened Monday night; Stop The World, I Want To Get Off loaded in to the Shubert and began dress rehearsals to prepare for a Thursday opening (no previews in those days).

This was a very busy 48 hours for everybody, but was not unheard of, and keep in mind that the first two shows were very heavy scenically and every other way including large casts.

One of the reasons that Phantom has stayed at the Majestic is that it would be nearly impossible to move easily: the set, the complex lighting, the chandelier. (Another reason is that to get the show - which originally was looking at the Minskoff - the Shuberts had to promise that there would not be a stop clause, but that's another story.)

Lighting got complex with A Chorus Line in 1975. When the original tours went out a year later, the set and lights were double built and leapfrogged one another from city to city. Michael Bennett wanted the stage to hold no surprises for the cast and to make no adjustments. This continued for each touring company including the bus-and-truck.

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For you youngsters, it was like seeing the Cirque shows of my day----i was amazed people could turn triples, sing high C's, and fly on trapezes. Plus ACT, really inhabit, something like a cat. Now that kind of thing is common nature in lots of shows, so maybe the spectacle has to keep getting bigger.

Thank you, TwoStep! I think the youngsters, who love to automatically bash any show that had a long run, forget that shows could possibly have had an impact when they originally opened that simply is not possible 10+ years later when innovation, trends and styles have already progressed into a new era. I saw Cats at the New London as well and it was simply breathtaking.

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It’s September 2, 1924 and we’re going to the opening night of the new musical “Rose Marie” at the new Imperial Theatre. You’re wearing your new “Judith Anderson” gown, based on a gown worn by the famous actress on the London stage and afterwards it’s dinner and dancing at the Palais d’Or, at Broadway and 48th Street.
…….
It’s September 15, 1932 and it’s finally here – the opening night of “Flying Colors” starring Clifton Webb and Patsy Kelly. We still can’t decide on the post-show entertainment. It’ll either be Ozzie Nelson and his Columbia Broadcasting Orchestra at the Hotel Paramount or Cab Calloway at the Cotton Club!
……..
October 7, 1943 is finally here and we’re off to see that wonderful Broadway sensation Mary Martin with Kenny Baker and John Boles in “One Touch of Venus”! That new gown from Bergdorf Goodman will look FABULOUS, especially when you take it out dining and dancing later. But where to go? Frank Sinatra’s at The Waldorf Astoria, Benny Goodman at the New Yorker, and Hildegard is at the Persian Room. Decisions, decisions…
……
October 12, 1950 and it’s Ethel Merman opening in “Call Me Madam”! Dressing has become so casual now. No more tuxedos and gowns – now it’s cocktail dresses and dark suits. But the evening still isn’t complete without a visit to the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf for dancing the rumba to the music of Xavier Cougat and his orchestra, and featuring singer Abbe Lane.
…………….
It’s August 15, 1960 and it’s STILL Ethel Merman – this time starring in “Gypsy”! Even the cocktail dresses have become a little simpler. There aren’t so many places to go to after the show, but there are lots of nice restaurants to choose from. The Absinthe House on 48th Street is featuring frogs legs, and the Russian Tea Room has borscht and blinchiki. The ad for Tavern on the Green says it’s the city’s only country-club restaurant and that they have dancing in the Rose Room! At last – we found one!

I have a collection of old Playbills and these were pulled out of just a few of them (and these were all from one theatre – the Imperial). People definitely knew how to enjoy the theatre then!

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Happy to - but I'll have to wait till I get home from work. I love going through them!

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I was at the opening night of Cats in NY. My best friend Reed Jones was playing Skimbleshanks. It was the 3rd of 6 times I saw that show, and not because I liked it that much. We went to Sardi's afterward with Ken Page and Armelia McQueen and then to the party. Somehow we all ended up at Les Mouches. Like after most evenings when I ended up at Les Mouches in the 80s, I remember very little.

Seven years later we held a memorial service for Reed on the stage of the Winter Garden, provided gratis courtesy of the producers and the stagehands. It was one of the first of all-too-many AIDS memorials on the stages of Broadway shows.

The cast of the 1980 revival of West Side Story performed the Jets Song (Reed had played Action). Mark Fotopoulos, who had played Tiger, was sitting in the front row, too ill to perform. But when he heard the opening notes of the Jets song, he had a sudden surge of energy and jumped onto the stage and performed it with them. Two dancers then performed the Somewhere ballet, which Mr. Robbins had repeatedly cut Reed from during rehearsals.

At Reed's request Mandy Patinkin sang "No One Is Alone" and Debbie Gravitte sang "Junk Man" and Ashford and Simpson sang a spiritual. Betty Buckley ended the service by singing an a capella "I'll Be Seeing You," which came out like a prayer.

He's been gone almost 20 years and I still miss him.

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When Phantom opened there were reports about it for several days on the news and entertainment shows. It was a huge deal - I remember taping a lot of the interviews and reports. (Some reviews described Sarah Brightman as "Minnie Mouse on quaaludes". I still like that description.) Then everyone started pulling together pieces on ALW (biographies, retrospectives, etc) and showing old Michael Crawford stuff like Barnum, Hello Dolly, etc. We had just moved back east from AZ and even though all of the reports said sold out for a year, I thought I'd call up, and see if maybe we could get tickets for the following summer (it opened in Jan.)I asked when the next available tickets were and to my and the ticket agent's surprise he said "How about next Wednesday?" He said "take them now - obviously no one knows these are available". Apparently a large group had just returned two of their tickets (when we arrived at the theater it was obvious we were in the middle of a large group of people who knew each other). So we saw the OBC a week after it opened.

When Jesus Christ Superstar opened in '71 it was on the cover of Time magazine.* It was quite controversial at the time (some nuns at my elementary school got in trouble for teaching the songs to us). The article mentioned there was the smell of pot backstage...oooh what a scandal! JCS was the first Broadway show I saw and the following night my mother took us to see the second-last performance of Hair.

*I wonder how many Broadway shows have been on the cover of Time...obviously JCS, Rent, ALW for Phantom...what else?

I remember that "Les Miserables" was on the cover of Newsweek. I remember because I still have it! lol

Tx, if any of them were friends of Reed's, ask them to contact me.

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I mentioned Reed's name to Ken a year or so ago, and the two of us got very teary.

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