Whatever Happened to? (broadway folk of the 80s and before)- Page 3

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 1:35pm

The story of Philip Anglim and The Elephant Man was that he found the play in an off-off West End Theatre and recognized that it would be a good fit for him. His family's $$$ got the rights, and he then took it to Crinkley who produced it first off Broadway and then moved to the Booth where it stayed 2+ years and had a couple of road companies and countless regional productions. Anglim (or his family and under a corporate name) was a major investor in The Elephant Man and Tintypes which Crinkley produced but Anglim was not in. If you want the corp name, find the credits for the latter. ("in association with...")

The Elephant Man was considered a foreign play in NY even though the author was an American living in London and that the play did not have a major production there until after the NY one was open.

Anglim's performance as the reserved, shy, deformed man received very good reviews and a Tony nom.

It was only after his performance a couple of years later in The Scottish Play that critics took a second look and realized the man had no passion. He was perfect as the Elephant Man, heartbreaking in fact, but when it came to That Role in That Play, he was woefully cast. There was no there there.

John Simon, never a favorite of mine, wrote to the effect that casting needed to be done in a theatre and not in the bedroom since Anglim's BF was widely known as the producer at Lincoln Center for that one season. For once no one accused Simon of homophobia of which he was and is guilty.

The production and his performance was such a disaster that Anglim never set foot on a NY stage again and that is what, 23 years ago? Sarah Caldwell never directed a play in NY again either. That's a whole other story.

The great character actor and two-time Tony winner Hiram Sherman said, "I love the theatre. It's show business I can't stand." Small wonder after a back story like this.

[musicgal04]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 1:36pm

Robert Fitch was the Governer in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with Ausin Musical Theatre in 2000. He did a tap master class with the company's youth troupe and was amazing. Wanda Richert was supposed to be in AMT's production of "Sweet Charity" but something happened that took her out of the production.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 1:42pm

I sa Ann Crumb opposite John Cullum in Man of La Mancha in Houston around 1994. They were both wonderful.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 2:04pm

Thanks, WOSQ. My facts on the Anglim legend were at least correct in the rough (one never knows if such stories are lore or the whole truth). I did see him in both shows, and in the Caldwell production he was truly at sea with the verse and the characterization. I was sitting down front, and watched him tremble on stage, literally. The great Anderman did what she could, but this was not a very sexy version of that famous couple. Playing that king as a deballed milquetoast requires an actor who can suggest depths beyond the castration, so to speak... (Caldwell employed a long, LUCIA-worthy grand staircase as the center of her set, if my memory serves, and negotiating it at key moments added about 15 minutes to the running time.)

Anglim had a baby bace, a kind of perpetual pout, and a wide-eyed innocence that made his ELEPHANT man sweet and almost infantile. (Sidebar: I'm in the minority, but I've never been a big fan of the script's convention, however -- all these buffed men in diapers playing the worlds most deformed creature. I know, I know, and innocent within and all that. Still...)

Unless I'm crazy, I think Anglim ended up with a small role in that very moving Jane Alexander film about a nuclear holocaust -- TESTAMENT. Not bad.

But anyone who enters the biz via funds or a casting couch or both better be damned good. Or good enough to outlive the access.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 2:14pm

Be Wright DID play opposite Donna McKechnie (and was rather good) in State Fair in '96, so if he left the business in 1990 after turning down Assassins, then he came back...

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 3:45pm

Yes..Ben Wright DID do State Fair...he left the business after State Fair. The Assassins fact was not connected with his leaving the biz after SF.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 3:57pm

realize that I sounded testy, Tuttle...sorry.
I'm not really that upset by misunderstandings of Ben Wright's bio...didnt know i cared so much!
Actually you just reminded me how surprised I was that I liked him in State Fair...

[NBC]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:44pm

Anyone know whatever became of Gregory Drotar, who was in Dancin' and Gigi on Broadway, and the movie Mame? I saw some things of his up on ebay awhile back and was just wondering. (I don't think he was the seller.)

[Tom_Andersen]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:05pm

I think Terri Klausner still does concerts. I had the pleasure of co-starring with her and the equally wonderful Deborah Tranelli in 'This Life,' a 2000-2001 revue of Portia Nelson's songs, at the FireBird Cafe and Don't Tell Mama. We had a blast, and the show even won a Backstage Bistro Award. ... And I saw Terri White in the Irish Rep's 'Finian's Rainbow.' What a talent. She sang the hell out of 'Necessity.'
For a photo of Terri Klausner & co., scroll down to October 2000

[devonian.t]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:33pm

Thanks for a great thread! And no cat-fighting! Fab!

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:02pm

Or whatever happened to Jere Shea, the original Giorgio of Sondheim's PASSION (technically a performer of the '90s)? He subsequently appeared in a made-for-tv film and then disappeared from view. Didn't even participate in the PASSION concert.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:14pm

Yes, Jere Shea. Winner of a coveted Sondheim role and then into thin smoke. (He looked like Will Farrell, oddly enough, though in a more traditional leading man way.)

I think the archetype for that sort of "whatever happened to..." remains Dean Jones. He created Robert in COMPANY, and anyone who watches the infamous recording video can see that he had a raw heart-on-his-sleeve power that Larry Kert, good as he was, never approximated. Jones didn't stop acting, but what might've been a launching pad away from lesser Disney -- think Sally Fields transcending Gigdet -- proved anything but. He returned to more G rated pablum, and never revealed that "Robert" side of himself again, as far as I know. I know he went through divorce and became a born again Christian. But it's too bad. He had a boyish vulnerability -- the male version of the single girl who comes to NY. There was nothing slick about his performance -- and vocally, the pain was just right there. I don't think he and Stritch have ever been eclipsed.

Updated On: 11/22/04 at 07:14 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:16pm

Bob Holliday ( Superman of 60's musical fame )

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:20pm

Dean Jones was in a remarkable musical flop in the eighties...I can't remember the name, something like INTO THE LIGHT. It was a musical about the Shroud of Turin.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:26pm

Yes! Borstal, you've got a steel trap working for you. INTO THE LIGHT -- didn't it close in previews? A musical about the shroud, with a born-again cast. (The Alvin, yes? Now the Simon? Same theater as COMPANY, ironically. It played around the time we had THE LITTLE PRINCE, another fast-fold.) Poor Dean.

But speaking of Christian handcuffs blocking more adventurous casting: Jodi Benson, memorable voice of LITTLE MERMAID ("..what's a fi-ER, and why does it--what's the word?!--buuuuuuuuurrrrr-nnnAH!") and CRAZY FOR YOU, never came back, did she? Because she wouldn't play anyone naughty? She was very effective in SMILE, and introduced Disneyland.

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:43pm

distinctivebaritone, i always thought that Kim Crosby would make a perfect Sarah in "Guys and Dolls"

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 7:51pm

If I'm not mistaken--and I'm really delving into my memory bank here--Wanda Richert suffers from a crippling form of arthritis. I believe that's why she stopped performing. News of that surfaced when she took over in SWEET CHARITY.

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 8:22pm

Wow..I cam here to post:

"I can't believe that no one has asked where Jere Shea from "Passions" is..

...and wouldn't you know it!

So..I'll be happy to answer your question..

Jere has indeed left the business. He is residing in Boston and has been teaching for a university there. He is happily married and is not missing the "spotlight". In regards to the recent "Passion" revival..Jere was indeed asked to be a part of it. However, he happlily and politely declined their offer as he is happy to have his original memories.

And..here's another trivia fact to go with my Ben Wright one. Did you know who was originally offered the role of Joe Hardy in the Bebe/Garber "Damn Yankees" revivial? Yep..Jere. And he could have won the Tony!

[RockyRoad]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 8:25pm

Thanks Mr T for the info..I too had been wondering as I loved him on the cast recording.

And you seem to know a lot about Jere...hmmmm...

[Jon]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 10:23pm

Robert Fitch was also a replacement Senex in the FORUM revival (Nathan Lane/Whoopi Goldberg/David Alan Grier).

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 12:22am

Whatever happened to Kathleen Rowe McAllen?

[MusicMan]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 7:05am

This is where I came in.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 8:49am

Tom Anderson, entertainer extraordinaire in your own right -- how generous of you to share info on Klausner and others. I'd invite everyone to visit Mr. Anderson's website in his post. Some incredible photos, which illustrate his impressive career and the gifted folks who've worked with him. (Don't call me a shill, people--we've never met.)

Klausner looks great in the photo. It's terrific to know she's out there. I had a fondness for her Evita performance -- she was a dancer, and was very young. She had a rock-power voice, and was the only Eva of that vintage who burned up the stage in "Buenos Aires."

[honeyhoney]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 8:58am

AMAZING THREAD!!!!
Does any one know what happend to Meg Bussert? I know she taught at AMDA when I was there in the late eighties early ninties. Although she was not my teacher, I remeber having wonderful conversations in the hallways about being on Broadway and her work she did at The Stratford Festival in Canada. She was such a nice lady. I do know that she became a replacment in Damn Yankees, several years back. However, after that I am not sure. If any one knows more please post!!!!
Thanks Updated On: 11/23/04 at 08:58 AM

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 9:34am

One of the first shows I saw was Philip Anglim in a touring production of "M. Butterfly" in the late 80's or early 90's (in Boston). I thought he was excellent.

Also, I saw Kathleen Rowe McAllen do a great "Evita" at the North Shore Music Theatre. And speaking of that venue, anyone know what became of Jodi Benson (who I saw as Florence in "Chess" with Romain Frugere?).