Who saw BABY in 1983?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 12:41am

Listening to the CR the other day really makes me love this show more and more, unfortunatly I was not alive when this show was open, anyone here see it and have a story they would like to share?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 12:44am

I did.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:21am

I did as well. Not terrible, but the book relies on a lot of sit-com style dialogue and the authors do not successfully weave the three storylines together. But another fantastic score from Shire & Maltby. (Have you checked out the revue CLOSER THAN EVER?)

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:48am

I worked there...it was a nice show, I LOVE Martin Vidnovic (who was in it, and is Laura Benanti's dad, and was a great performer and baritone, in his heyday).
There were tons of very pregnant ladies coming to see the show and the house manager was kinda nervous...ya know??

[jewishboy]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 2:44am

I did not, but at Broadway Originals (a concert at Town Hall) about four years ago, I had the pleasure to see Catherine Cox, Liz Callaway and Beth Fowler preform "I Want It All." They brought the house down!

[larry64]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 5:29am

I saw it and didn't like it much. It was written like a canceled sitcom, but I listen to it to this day...

...and it made me a Liz Callaway fan.

[larry64]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 5:30am

I saw it and didn't like it much. It was written like a canceled sitcom, but I listen to it to this day...

...and it made me a Liz Callaway fan.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 6:20am

The show had these curtains that would move on tracks and reconfigure for different scenes. At the end, they lifted up and spiraled out to reveal Danny and Lizzie and their baby, with the other couples by them. I just remember the curtains moving around with a very loud "clacka-clacka" sound. There was also an upstage wall that was revealed from time to time which was sort of a college town collage. I thought highly of the cast and score, but the book does indeed leave tne main characters as just a little more than stick figures.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:37am

Great CD.
I missed the show by a few days.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:48am

the fairly recent revised PaperMill version of the book is slightly better, but they didn't go far enough. They also added another great song, but unfortunately it's another ballad in Act Two, which was already ballad-heavy (it's called END OF SUMMER, a trio for the three principal ladies). i have heard the libretto struggled with Arlene's decision about her late-life pregnancy, and the choices she might make...the new version tries to be a bit clearer, but still walks a line to not offend the pro-life/pro-choice divide. It is almost ambigous enough (depending on costuming) to let the actress/director decide the outcome, which is interesting.

i had heard the pre-PMP workshop for revision was better than the eventual production, but that's all subjective, and it's hard to track what changes went in/got cut.

It is also interesting that one of the best ballads, Nick's AT NIGHT SHE COMES HOME TO ME, has different lyric versions between different editions and the cast recording (and it's Vidonic singing it wonderfully there). i have worked on this show at least four times, as many theatres choose it for the score and the relatively small, actor-centric cast. There are great variations in the vocal books too, with back-up vocals for some songs from the ensemble floating in and out. The score remains terrific, and still plays very well these days.

i think i heard the librettist, Sybille Pearson (sp?) was working on another fairly high-profile project, but can't recall what it was.

i'm also most interested in Maltby/Shire's TAKE FLIGHT (i think that's the latest title), which so far i believe has only had workshops/staged readings. Their two revues, the previously mentioned CLOSER THAN EVER and the wonderful STARTING HERE STARTING NOW, have been highly influential (in my opinion) to modern musical theatre songwriters. They remind me in some ways of Sondheim, but with a more conventional song structure, hook-heavy, with very pop music flavors.

i believe i'm correct that the pop hit duet WITH YOU I'M BORN AGAIN (which in some ways is very similar to the BABY duets WHAT IF WE HAD LOVED LIKE THAT or WITH YOU) is at least partially written by the team, perhaps with another lyricist (though some sources also credit the hit to its singer, Billy Preston). Maltby/Shire have a reputation for writing terrific, character-driven (but still "lift-able") duets.

TMI, i know...sorry about that. Wish i could have seen the B'way original. i agree it turned me into a life-long Liz Callaway fan...and led me to her sister as well. She sounds just as wonderful more recently, as you can hear in the SPITFIRE GRILL cast recording. Sis, Ann Hampton Callaway, is going to be singing a local gala soon that i'm attending just for her, as i did a pops symphony concert last season. She is also a great writer/arranger, as evidenced in the SWING score. It's great, as you study the BABY score, to realize how the team wrote to Liz's voice, ending most of Lizzie's (yes, named for her) numbers on the C an octave above middle C, which she belted wonderfully. In those days, the musical theatre female belt didn't have to go all the way up another fourth or fifth the way it does now. Callaway's creamy, throaty lower register is also shown off in the score, along with her pop lower belt in some duets with Danny. The hardest female voicing line is Pam's, which is not only rangy and has odd interval jumps, but in most harmony cases has the middle note in some odd chords (though you can adjust that with Arlene and Lizzie if needed---the last time i did the show, my three ladies were so vocally proficient they traded off who sang which harmony lines in chords just to keep their voices in good technique---amazing harmony ears on all of them). Pam is also asked to belt a lot and then float for some ballads. It's a tough assignment.

In general, the choral writing for the six leads and the ensemble (not sure who to credit that too) is terrific, and fun to sing (if you're not Pam).

Again, sorry, can you tell i'm somewhat obsessed?!?!?

Updated On: 10/30/08 at 07:48 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:43am

Great post, tx! Thanks for sharing all of that.

I think so many of us fell in love with Liz Callaway's voice on the cast recording. I was doing summer stock out of town when "Baby" opened, and never saw it, sadly.

But the score is terrific (and holds up well today), and while the book doesn't dig very deep into the characters, it's still entertaining.

I'm not a fan of the review "Closer Than Ever." But I love "Starting Here, Starting Now." Terrific songs.

I was on a Baltic cruise a few years ago with David Shire (and his lovely wife Didi Conn). David was a guest performer and lecturer. He played some songs from "Take Flight." (they were "okay") but I loved hearing him discuss the show, and Baby, and all the others he's written and/or worked on. I got a chance to speak with him later during the cruise, one on one, which was great!

He wrote one of my favorite film scores... "Return to Oz." (The CD is very rare and out-of-print.)

Incidentally, Shire wrote/arranged all the dance music for "Company" including Tick-Tock!

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:56am

wow, more great connections, thanx 12 BARS!

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 9:59am

oh yeah, two quick things:

did Didi sing while Shire played and if so, what of his stuff?

and one thing i love about Maltby/Shire is their tendency to "write to voice." TAKE FLIGHT workshops have used Lynne Winterstellar from CLOSER THAN EVER, and they really show her off. Also, the ladies at PMP BABY supposedly inspired that new BABY trio...unless it was the earlier workshop pre-production casting that did (not sure how much it varied, but i know their Arlene was a late replacement...was it Marin in for Carolee or the other way round?)

[once a month]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:01am

I was given a complete cassette of the LA version with Kerry Butler, Faith Prince and Alice Ripley. Even with all the dialogue, I prefer it to the original cast recording. David Shire (and his wife Didi Conn) are such sweethearts!

[jennamajig]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:04am

Wow, thanks for the tidbits on this show! I discovered this show when I worked on a community theater production of it my freshmen year in college (I did props) and it remained in my head for months afterward. The production I worked on actually had two separate lead casts (same ensemble). The director said it was because so many talented people tried out that she wanted to showcase them all. That's community theater, I suppose.

I still love The Story Goes On, but despite much love for Liz Callaway, my favorite version of it is the version Susan Egan did for one of her albums.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:07am

i like that Egan recording too.

and i'd kill for that cassette! what a great cast!

[jennamajig]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:11am

Kerry Butler, Faith Prince and Alice Ripley in Baby? That sounds like awesome perfect casting!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:11am

Since seeing this thread this morning I've listened to the CD again for the first time in maybe 15/20 years.
Its not such a fantastic score as I remember it being back in the 80s but still a very good listen. I still can't imagine how it would be staged. A Broadway classic none the less.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 10:45am

tx---Didi Conn did a lecture on the cruise. She was fantastic, no exaggeration. Mostly talking about "Grease" and her experience writing her memoir "yearbook." I bought a copy from her and she signed it. I truly fell in love with her after hearing her lecture. So warm and genuine. She even talked about "You Light Up My Life!"

The Shires went on several of the shore excursions with us, and they took along their young son who is a "special needs" child. Didi was so incredible with him. The way she worked with him and kept him focused and engaged. It was beautiful to watch. She really is an incredible woman.

And David is a wonderful guy. Very approachable. I struck up a brief conversation with him when we were in St. Petersburg, Russia. We discussed his music and music in general. He couldn't believe I was a big fan of "Return to Oz." It made him laugh, but I told him I thought the score was brilliant, even if the movie kinda tanked. A little Aaron Copland, a little Scott Joplin. Great stuff!

EDIT: Sorry! Didn't answer your question... No, Didi didn't sing. They had a couple of singers from the ship who performed his material. I can't imagine how thrilled they must have been to be singing the score to "Baby" and "Starting Here, Starting Now," out in the middle of the Baltic Sea, with the composer at the piano!

David also played some of his film scores including "The Conversation." He discussed composing for film vs. writing for theatre. A fascinating lecture.

Updated On: 10/30/08 at 10:45 AM

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 11:06am

b12b, i love your avatar. you are awesome.

I absolutely adore the cast recording of BABY, and I hope I see at least a staged concert of the show in my lifetime.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 12:48pm

I saw it twice and loved it, but the book was not as good as the score and the performers--who were pretty magical. It was a little ahead of its time--Mommy Culture really exploded about 5-10 years later and the musical (with a better book) would have had a better chance--and could have been televised for Lifetime or Oxygen.

I don't think it would work now.

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 12:54pm

I love love love Return to Oz...SOOO much like the books and I a agree that the score is fantastic. It's on my favorites on my I-pod.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:40pm

How was future CAMP director Todd Graff? I used to have kind of a funky crush on him.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:44pm

He was adorable.

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:19pm

Are there only 2 recordings of this show, or am I missing one?