|
 |
PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Souvenir: Brava, The Hard Way
By Harry Haun
11 Nov 2005
Souvenir is the second York piece to reach Broadway—"it's our Broadway debut with a new work," Morgan asterisked. (In 1990, York's Sweeney Todd was transplanted into Circle in the Square and won Tony nominations for Beth Fowler, Bob Gunton, director Susan H. Schulman and Best Revival. It was scaled down but had its own orchestra.)
Right now—until Sunday, when The Musical of Musicals: The Musical and Stephen Schwartz's Captain Louie end their Off Broadway runs—York has a hat trick not accomplished since the days of Joe Papp's Public: three homegrown shows in open-ended runs.
Melanie Herman, producer of The Musical of Musicals, arrived at the party late after a hard day at the "office" (Dodger Stages, where the show had just enjoyed a full and happy house). She said the show would be starting a 12-city tour in Iowa on Dec. 1, followed by gigs in Minnesota and San Francisco. And the Samuel French people will be publishing it.
Souvenir producer Ted Snowdon found himself strangely susceptible to the subject matter, and he suspects it's genetic: "My father had been an assistant to a big concert and opera impresario in the '30s and '40s—Charles Wagner—so I'm certain he went to see this woman during that period," he said. "He would have been a part of that musical elite. Sometimes, he would say to me, 'Florence Foster Jenkins, HA!' but I never pursued it. I never asked him much about her, and now I have produced a Broadway show about her."
A casual off-the-cuff remark is how Florence Foster Jenkins finally had her day on Broadway. "I ran into Ted at a reading," recalls Morgan, "and, as we were walking home, I said, 'You should know about this play we just did a reading of. It's about Florence Foster Jenkins.' He said, 'Really? It sounds interesting. I never say this, but would you get me the script? I promise I will read it this weekend.' We left each other in the middle of Broadway at about 62nd Street, and on his way home he stopped at Tower Records and bought a Florence Foster Jenkins CD. He was fascinated, and he just fell for the script."
Rip Taylor similarly flipped. "Like it? I've seen it four times," he said, leaving the Lyceum. And—at the other end of the showbiz spectrum, opera legend Licia Albanese was also singing praises of the show in her broken-Italian fashion. And she wasn't the only soprano at the opening: Dominic Chianese was likewise moved: "It's a powerful theme because it's not only about the performer and her angst, it's also about how people can accept things and they don't have to tell the truth. That's what it's about to me."
Jane Gullong, executive director of City Opera, which has employed Kaye on occasion (Candide, The Pajama Game), admitted her "crowd" might have a leg up on the show since the character is the stuff of opera legend, but was quick to point of the universality of the story: "The story is so interesting because it's a story of denial that we all know."
The Vivian Matalon Fan Club made a unified front on opening night—Grade-A actresses who have been directed by him (Elizabeth Wilson, Polly Holliday, Kaye Ballard). Wilson, in fact, got some direction from him at the very same theatre where Souvenir is playing—in 1980's Morning's at Seven, a favorite experience of hers. "Every time I'm in the Lyceum, I have such a rush of emotions," she admitted.
Estelle Parsons, a Tony contender for the 2002 Morning's at Seven, pointed out that her revival played the Lyceum, too—as did the original production. Currently, Parsons is playing director herself, "working on Adrianne Kennedy's Madame Bovary over at Signature for February. It's all white people. I said to her, 'What should we do with this? Are they black?' She said, 'No. They're white. All my black friends will hate me, but I've written enough for them so now I'm writing for white people." Now, the casting net is out.
Other first-nighters included Amy Irving, a cast of young Turks from the forthcoming God Sees Dog (Eddie Kay Thomas, Kelli Garner and America Ferrara), producer Marty Richards, and playwright, actor/actress and (of late) film director Charles Busch.
If there was anyone present who had actually witnessed Florence Foster Jenkins in action, he or she didn't step up to the mike, but some guests—Holliday, Parsons, Charlotte Rae—knew her from her record. "I remember hearing a record of hers when I first came to New York in 1948," said Rae. "I never thought before a writer could catch her."
Parsons seconded that. "I had heard her records before, and I couldn't imagine how they was going to make a play out of that. But they did. I thought it was a really wonderful, lovely evening. Very different. It's one of those things that is totally original. Totally."
And now that record won't be the only souvenir from the mouth that roared.
 |
|
Donald Corren and Judy Kaye give their opening night curtain call.
|
| photo by Aubrey Reuben |
Contact Us | Advertise | Privacy Policy
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2008 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
|