Who is Mr Karp? in ACL ---A Chorus LIne Question

According to this story:
http://www.bmi.com/musicaltheatre/newsletter/newsletter0401.pdf
Mr. Karp was based on Larry Olvin, a teacher at the performing arts high school in New York. http://www.laguardiahs.org/about/welcome.html

---

Good to know! I just performed "Nothing" last night in front of 200 ballet dancers! My favorite song in the show... and now there's a supposed backstory to add to it!

I heard that Karp had died.

---

and now there's a supposed backstory to add to it!

There's nothing "supposed" about the backstory. That's true of the vast majority of the show.

---

'Cause I felt nothing...

---

There was a fantastic song in (I think) UPSTAIRS AT O'NEILL'S called "Something" in which Mr. Karp is in heaven, giving his side of the story. Truly hilarious.

---

Here is some more info (from the NY Times archives) on the 1982 show hertilson mentions; people still sing this song around town:

"In the Broadway hit 'A Chorus Line,' a young woman named Morales denounces her drama teacher at the High School of Performing Arts, Mr. Karp, for making her feel like 'Nothing!' because she wouldn't do the assigned improvisation and pretend she was a bobsled.

In a cabaret at 147 West 43d Street these nights, a young man named Douglas Bernstein is bringing down the house with 'Something: the World According to Karp,' the drama teacher's point of view on his former pupil.

Having succumbed to a combination of ill health and aggravation from the likes of Miss Morales, Mr. Karp looks down from heaven with dyspeptic rage as Morales defames his memory with her complaints.

'Every kid was alert and involved - except Morales,' he recalls, fuming. She just sat there like a lump I said, do something! Please, just do something! If you would try it, you'd really do it well You're probably nervous Do you speak English? You've got lots of real potential, I can tell.*

When Morales protests, 'They don't have bobsleds in San Juan,' Mr. Karp snaps, 'Don't give me this ethnic guilt trip - Gonzalez was a great bobsled!'

Updated On: 7/30/06 at 09:35 AM