PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: The Apple Tree Onward Kristin Soldier
By Harry Haun
15 Dec 2006
Alan Alda made a giant leap for mankind Dec. 14, graduating from Man the first man, Adam in 1966's The Apple Tree to The Voice of God, Who begins the revival of this sprightly Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick-Jerome Coopersmith musical at Roundabout's Studio 54.
"That's the one thing that really tickled me tonight because I didn't expect it," admitted Harnick as he ambled east a couple of blocks on West 54th to his opening-night
party-in-progress at the Hilton Hotel. "When I heard that at the beginning, I thought, 'That's terrific. [Director] Gary Griffin got Alan Alda to be The Voice of God.' That was lovely."
Harnick could have been traveling by cloud, so elated was he over the evening's
entertainment, which came in two acts and three stories, each reporting on the battle of the sexes through the years from Adam and Eve (via Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve") to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley (via Jules Feiffer's "Passionella"), punctuated by a little visit to pagan, if not downright DeMillian, Rome (via Frank R. Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?"). Although Coopersmith got "additional book
material" credit, the bulk of the book was done by composer Bock and lyricist
Harnick, and they are the ones who tweaked and cobbled and brought it up to 2006 speed.
The reason the show isn't done more this is its first Broadway revival is the scarcity of Barbara Harrises on the open market. Harris took the Tony for this handily for what is still regarded as an unduplicable comedic triumph, and the lingering legacy of it is that it has successfully scared away any brash newcomers from even thinking about
attempting it. However, Kristin Chenoweth, one year old at the time The Apple Tree opened, is a Mighty Mouse in the musical-comedy field, with Sparkle Plenty to spare, and
she has taken up the gauntlet and run with it into the waiting arms of adoring critics.
She made a flying run at the show in City Center's "Encores!" with Malcolm Gets and
Michael Cerveris for five sold-out performances, and the cheers over her work pretty
much screamed this revival into existence. This round, Brian d'Arcy James is her
Adam, and Marc Kudisch is her snake. Griffin directed both editions inventively.
"It was a tough act to follow," conceded Bock, "Until Kristin was free to do it, and it became a dream come true. This just blossomed with every rehearsal into previews. We
were involved all the way. It was great to do that again. Life does begin at 40, I guess."
In Harnick's view, the revival succeeds better than the original in its second story,
sending up sword-and-sandal sagas. "She's wonderful in it. And it's so elegant what
John Lee Beatty [sets], Jess Goldstein [costumes] and Donald Holder [lighting] have
done. They've taken it very seriously in that respect. Their work is exquisite, gorgeous.
"That's the only piece that remains pretty much as it was," said Harnick. "There are new
lyrics. There's a new lyric for Eve in 'What Makes Me Love Him' and some place else."
The golden girl of the moment, Broken Arrow, OK's own Kristin Chenoweth, made a stylish and fashionable entrance in the Hilton's second floor Sutton Complex. She practically radiated with happiness about the evening. "It far exceeded anything I
could possibly have dreamed," she beamed. "I've never been more challenged in my life."
The only thing that would have completed the picture for her were her parents, but
"they're coming in for my Met concert in January [the 19th] so they'll see the show then."
Most people are going to remember her taking daffiness to dizzying heights as a wanton
princess in the second story, but the first is, personally, the first with her. "Oh, I love the Adam and Eve story," she admitted. "It's such a delicate piece. It's a play, really."
Kristin arrived hand-in-hand with writer Aaron Sorkin, who wrote her into his series, "The West Wing." He has written Chenoweth as a character into his latest TV series, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," and assigned Sarah Paulson to play the part.
These days Sorkin is a man of many mediums including, for the first time since A Few
Good Men hit Broadway in 1989, theatre. "When I left 'West Wing,' I took three years
off to write a play, a movie and a new TV series. The TV series is 'Studio 60.' The movie
is 'Charlie Wilson's War,' which is shooting right now with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts
and Philip Seymour Hoffman. We're in about our seventh week of photography. Mike Nichols is directing. And I have a play that starts rehearsing in four weeks at La Jolla that
Des McAnuff is directing, and we hope to bring it in in the fall. It's called The
Farnsworth Invention. It's about the guy who invented television and the struggle he had with David Sarnoff. We'll run until March 25 and then, hopefully, come in in the fall."
On Kudisch's arm was his longtime main-squeeze, Shannon Lewis, who came in from the road specifically for his opening. "I'm on the Pippin tour right now," she explained. "Mickey Dolenz is playing Charlemagne, Jonathan Banks is our Pippin, and Andrew Ward is our Leading Player. We've been out for three months, and we end in January."
Kudisch, a former beau of Chenoweth, makes a great snake and enjoys the compliment.
"I appreciate that because all the characters I play here whether it be the balladeer in the second act or the narrator in the third they're all snakes. The show's not about
temptation. It's about the choices we make while tempted that's what it's about.
"I love all three of the characters that I play. I think the point of the character is: no matter what the skin, a snake is a snake. A snake sheds his skin and sheds his skin and sheds his skin but a snake is a snake. Even if they totally change characters and totally change relationships, the point of the show is: No matter who you are or what the relationship, temptation is temptation and the choices you make are the choices you make."
The dashing d'Arcy James (expected to be Young Frankenstein, and again with Chenoweth, in the new Mel Brooks musical) plays well in the sandbox with his leading lady. "I'm having the time of my life," he said. "It's so bubbly that every night going to work is a joy for me. It's a lot of fun. It truly is because the show is so unique. To get to do all these different characters and to share the stage with Kristin and Marc and everybody else in it, it's been a very smooth experience."
"Everybody else in it" consists of eight dancers out of nowhere four boys, four girls and
Walter Charles, who doubles as the heroine's royal father in the second sketch and the heroine's producer employer in the third. "The most I have to do is the king, of course,
but what I like more is the little producer scene. Kristin loves that scene as well." Continued...
