"Working" the musical

[MarkRascati]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:29pm

Is this musical a fun one to perform?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 6:31pm

I do not know about performing it but i saw the original with a than unknown Patti Lupone. I throughly enjoyed it

It played the than 46 th Street now the Richard Rodgers

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:17pm

This was our musical my senior year of High School, and I really, really enjoyed it. The show is dated, but is still really amazing. It is one of the most demanding shows I've ever done dramatically (Tall, thin 12 y/o looking me playing Joe, the retired guy), but the research put into it on everyone's behalf showed through.
Mr. Roxy- What was the set like for the original production?

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:25pm

I did it a few years ago (I played Mike Dillard). It was so much fun! Great score too!

[pjsings]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:30pm

it was my first show at college...i think it has really great moments...we had the "updated" script...good music...great ensemble piece

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:30pm

I don't there was a set per se

I think they just had specific props for each song

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:35pm

I've done the show as well... I played Frank Decker the truck driver, and sang "Brother Trucker" and "Fathers and Sons." (Yes, I was the only Diva in our show with TWO songs, 'cause I sang awful purdy.)

It was one of the best experiences I've had being part of an ensemble show. Our director had a lot of creative vision, and worked on the flow and synergy of all the characters on stage, so it didn't feel too disjointed or segmented. We each stayed as one character throughout the entire show, and turned up in other character's scenes and numbers, when appropriate. We each had a lot of extra "business" on stage, interacting with each other through the entire thing. So, a character you saw as "atmosphere" in one worker's environment would eventually be the focus of another one. It really helped the arc of the entire show.

And it was a big hit for us locally. After the reviews came out, we sold out for the rest of our run.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 7:52pm

My friends were in it during a summer theater season awhile back.

I didn't see it, but they told me it was awesome to perform and be around doing all the different jobs.

My friends were Babe the Checkout Girl and the Delivery Guy and The UPS man.

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 8:33pm

I think it is fun if it is done right. It is more of a small casted show. There are some great musical numbers though, and you can clearly tell which Bway Composer wrote them.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 8:36pm

^ definately! There's a part of All the Live Long Day that sounds just like One Short Day.

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 8:59pm

i did tech for this show about 2 years ago. i really enjoyed it!

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 9:28pm

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 9:31pm

My friend was in it, he liked being in it, but i didn't think it was a very good show... (I guess I'm not a Steven Swartz(sp?) fan...)

[new_philosophy_girl]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 9:44pm

My high school did this my senior year and I did sets and makeup. It is a lot of fun to do, I know everyone in the cast really enjoyed themselves. One of the highlights was during the UPS man's delivery, instead of having a girl go out and sunbathe in a bikini we sent out our friend Larry in a bikini. All 200 hairy pounds of him in a bikini, priceless....especially when the boy playing the UPS man turned around and saw him

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 10:56pm

I love the music, I wish that the horrible OBC recording would be updated.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 11:01pm

brdlwyr-
Well, while the OBC is by FAR superior, there is a recording by LA Theatreworks, which is about on par with a coaster. However, I do beg you to reconsider, while some of the men leave lots to be desired, the women are almost spot on brilliant. Lynne Thigpen tears it up with "If I Could've Been" and Susan Bigelow breaks my heart with "Just a Housewife." For a show that had 25 total performances, the talent is unbelievable.

[Jon]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 11:10pm

For those only familiar with the original, the new revised version cuts out the Newsboy's song (Thank goodsness!) and adds a new song for Babe, the supermarket checker, and the old James Taylor song "Traffic Jam" as an ensemble number. Some of the original monologues are gone and some new ones added. The merchant marine is gone, and there's a new monologue for a telemarketer. In a very clever re-write, the hooker's monologue is interspersed with a monologue by a wealthy society lady who does volunteer fundraising for charities.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 12/12/06 at 11:14pm

The newsboy cut was def. an improvment, that is one of the songs I skip, everytime. I liked the revisions fairly well actually, I just didn't like the recording.
For whatever this is worth, this is one of the few musicals that if I could go back in time and see in it's original version, I would.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 6:57am

There is a DVD (maybe out of print by now) of a version of the show. It runs 1 1/2 hours. I thought i would hate it but it is rather good unlike the horrendous Jacquel Brel movie

[once a month]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 8:15am

I also have a video of the PBS version of the show. It starred Beth Howland as the housewife, Taylor as the truck driver, Patti LaBelle as the cleaning lady. I was charmed by the show when it opened (to very unfavorable reviews). It's an enjoyable ensemble piece.

[Jon]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 9:46am

The video is the same PBS version that's on DVD. It also has Barry Bostwick as the steel worker who sings "Fathers and Sons", and the late Scatman Carothers as "Lovin' Al".

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 9:59am

Those changes sound very interesting! Especially the hooker/society lady volunteer.

I did the show about five years after it was on Broadway, so it was the "original" material.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 10:36am

I was in this show as 12 year old kid playing the newsboy. You're all right that it's an annoying song, but it got me my first fangirl/stalker!

My sister did a production about 4 years ago in which she played the millworker in the updated script. I thought it worked as well as the original, but with some problems still there.

The best staging I've seen added Joe and the newsboy into Fathers and Sons during the chorus, more visually than musically, I guess, but man was it a tearjerker!

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 10:47am

Ourtime992 --- We also had Joe and the newsboy in our Fathers & Sons staging! It helped so much to have various other characters seen throughout the show and involved in shaping the songs, monologues, and the locations. At the end of that song, we had this REALLY little kid (I think he was only THREE) run out on stage and jump into my arms on the last note. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 12/13/06 at 10:48am

I did this my freshman year of college. I played Roberto. I had a good time, but I'm not sure if that's because of the show or the fact I was a freshman in a mainstage show, haha.

~Steven