STAGE TO SCREENS: Storyline's Zadan and Meron Discuss TV 'Music Man'
By Michael Buckley
29 Sep 2002
Naturally, Meron and Zadan are very pleased with their upcoming projects. In "Martin and Lewis," Dean Martin's singing voice will be heard. "Like Judy Garland, there's only one Dean Martin," says Meron. "We have Broadway talent in that, too. Kate Levering plays Jeanne Martin [the entertainer's wife]."
They consider "Chicago" to be "the best movie musical since 'Cabaret.' After Christmas [when the picture's released], Rob Marshall's life is going to be totally changed. Nobody has directed and choreographed a movie musical since Bob Fosse did 'Cabaret.'" For Storyline, Rob Marshall choreographed "Cinderella," and was director-choreographer for "Annie." Now, Kathleen Marshall is following in her brother's footsteps. "She's done an extraordinary job on 'Music Man,'" says Meron. "She's so good. We will nurture her, as we did with Rob." I suggest that we'll probably see Kathleen's name as director-choreographer of a feature in a couple of years. Says Meron, "Maybe sooner."
Neil Meron concludes, "To be able to make the movie musical a valid form again is sort of our unspoken mission and the reaction to our movies tells us that there's a humongous audience that wants musicals."
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Whether choreography is for stage or television, says Kathleen Marshall, the process "is the same in the beginning: putting together the creative team, working with the designers, the musical director, the dance arranger. But for TV, you're working in 360 degrees. There's no front, no proscenium; you're creating for the camera."
The camera allows unlimited movement. In "The Music Man," notes Marshall, "You've got a story about a man who's a pied-piper, who gets this town to follow him and [with a camera] we can literally travel through the town. You're constantly moving. 'Seventy-Six Trombones' starts in the high-school gym, then goes into the hallways, classrooms, locker room, balconies.
"A seemingly simple number, like 'Piano Lesson,' can happen naturally with Marian and Mrs. Paroo [Debra Monk] having a conversation while walking through the house. You're creating with a fresh palette. I like to think of it as remodeling a house. It's the same structure, but we're adding new details.
"They put as much as possible of the Broadway show in the original film. The show has three huge dance numbers: 'Seventy-Six Trombones,' 'Marian, the Librarian,' and 'Shipoopi'; a lot of musicals don't give you that many opportunities. We're doing 'Shipoopi' later in the show as it was in the original and in the movie. It's on the Fourth of July, the brightest, happiest moment for the town right before they find that Harold Hill is a fraud. My assistant, Vince Pesce, and I had to learn a whole new language talking in film jargon but working as a choreographer gives you a front-row seat in seeing how a movie is put together."
Marshall flew to London for the "Great Performances" taping of Kiss Me, Kate. "They used multiple cameras to film five performances in front of audiences. And they filmed two days without an audience, so that the cameras could get in closer for certain sequences. The only adjustment was with lighting. Stage lighting is brighter than television lighting.
"On Kate, I'd started from scratch but three years earlier. I hadn't seen the show in about six months. We had a brush-up rehearsal." Does a choreographer have the equivalent of a leading character's 11 o'clock number? Says Marshall, "In Kiss Me, Kate, it's 'Too Darn Hot.' I love all the numbers, but 'Too Darn Hot' is like a one-act play with its own beginning, middle and end."
The taping of "Kiss Me, Kate" preserves the great acrobatics that Michael Berresse (as Bill Calhoun) performs in the "Bianca" number scaling the backstage catwalks in order to reach the dressing room of his beloved Lois/Bianca (Nancy Anderson). How did the concept occur? Marshall explains, "Nobody knew what to do with that number. There was talk about it being cut. I said, 'I think we need it. "Bianca" is the only chance to reconcile Bill and Lois.' Robin Wagner's set with its multiple levels of catwalks was perfect for Michael Berresse, who's a wonderful athlete, gymnast and dancer. My vision for his character throughout was very Gene Kelly. I wanted to do a Gene Kelly moment Gene Kelly in 'The Pirate' [as he ascends to Judy Garland's balcony].
"In rehearsals, there was nothing we could do [without the set]. When we got into the theatre, it was Michael who started playing around going upside down, swinging around. He was like a kid in a jungle gym."
Growing up in Pittsburgh, Kathleen spent many a Sunday afternoon watching old movie musicals on Channel 53, where Gene Kelly, a Pittsburgh native, reigned supreme. The Marshalls consider Pittsburgh their hometown, although they were born (Rob and twin sister Maura are two years older) in Madison, Wisconsin, while their father was in graduate school.
All three Marshall kids made their stage debuts in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera company's 1973 production of The Sound of Music, starring Constance Towers. Other shows followed, and both Kathleen and Rob got their Equity cards at Civic Light Opera, where they returned years later to direct. (Maura is married and has an architectural-design business.)
Since both sets of grandparents lived in Boston, the Marshalls often traveled there, and would stop in Manhattan long enough to take in a Broadway show. "For a long time," recalls Kathleen, "New York meant coming through the Lincoln Tunnel, getting fried clams and hot dogs at Howard Johnson's, seeing a show and going on our way." The first Broadway musical they saw (ironically for Rob) was the original production of Chicago.
After graduating from Smith College, Kathleen followed Rob to New York, where she enjoyed a brief career as a dancer before becoming assistant to her choreographer-brother. Their first Broadway show together was Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Chita Rivera ("our idol"). After working in tandem on the She Loves Me and Damn Yankees revivals and The Petrified Prince, Kathleen started her solo career with Swinging on a Star.
She spent four seasons as Artistic Director for the Encores! series, and is now director-in-residence. For Encores!, she choreographed Call Me Madam, DuBarry Was a Lady, The Boys From Syracuse, and Li'l Abner; as director-choreographer: Babes in Arms, Wonderful Town and Hair. Kathleen's other choreography credits include the Broadway revivals of 1776 and Follies; Seussical, Ring Round the Moon, Violet, As Thousands Cheer and Saturday Night (which she also directed).
Upcoming on her busy directorial schedule: the Sept. 30 benefit-concert reunion of the original cast of Merrily We Roll Along, two Kristin Chenoweth performances (Oct. 11, 12) for the American Songbook Series, the Encores! Broadway Bash benefit concert (two performances Nov. 24; another, Nov. 25) and the Encores! House of Flowers, which she's also choreographing, Feb. 13-16, 2003.
Working with "Music Man" director, Jeff Bleckner, was an enjoyable experience. "It was my first movie musical, and his first musical movie." She considers Matthew Broderick perfect casting: "Matthew is charming, sly, winning, persuasive an instigator who makes the whole town fall in love with him." Her brother offered "some very good hints," and Kathleen Marshall says, "Just remembering Robbie talk about his experiences with 'Mrs. Santa Claus' [the Jerry Herman TV-movie musical, starring Angela Lansbury], 'Cinderella,' and 'Annie,' I realized that I absorbed a lot more than I thought I had."
STAR GAZING: Fans of old movie musicals (especially "Royal Wedding" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers") should watch Jane Powell as an Alzheimer's patient on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Oct. 11, 10 PM, NBC).
END QUIZ: Which TV character was created by Pert Kelton, the original Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man on Broadway and in the film: a) George Burns and Gracie Allen's neighbor, Blanche; b) Alice, wife of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason); c) Peg, wife of Chester A. Riley (Jackie Gleason)? (Answer: Next column, Oct. 27)
Answer to the Sept. 1 question (Which of the following actors won an Emmy for playing a defense attorney on "Law & Order": a) Jane Alexander; b) Len Cariou; c) Elaine Stritch?): c. Stritch won a 1993 Emmy for her guest star performance.
Michael Buckley also writes interviews for Show Music magazine, The Sondheim Review, and TheaterMania.com.
