Bounce to Be Recorded by NYPL's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Nov. 15

By Robert Simonson
November 12, 2003

Very soon a few lucky New Yorkers will be able to say they've both heard and seen the new Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical Bounce, all without having boarded a plane, train or car bound for Chicago or Washington, D.C.

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive is in talks to record the Kennedy Center production on Nov. 15, the archive confirmed to Playbill On-Line. The news came just a few days after Nonesuch Records committed the Bounce score to disc. The recording sessions were held Nov. 10-11 in D.C.

The Theatre on Film and Tape Archive most often trains its camera on Broadway and major Off-Broadway productions, recording them for posterity. It is less usual for the unit to venture outside on New York City.

The archive is open only to qualified researchers; members of the general public simply wishing to view a show are not generally awarded viewing time.

It remains uncertain whether Bounce—which received poor marks from Washington, New York and national critics following its Kennedy Center opening—will make it to Manhattan. However, the out-of-town actions of Nonesuch and the archive would appear indicative of a belief that the musical will not venture beyond the Beltway.

A 2004 release date for the cast album is expected.

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Bounce officially opened at the Kennedy Center Oct. 30. It began previews on Oct. 21, following a world premiere at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, June 20-Aug. 10.

Bounce is inspired by the lives of the colorful, early-20th-century, American capitalists-cum-con artists, the Mizner brothers, their parents, their loves and their endless capers and schemes.

The song list, as it ran in Chicago, follows:

Act I
"Bounce," Wilson and Addison Mizner
"Opportunity," Papa, Addison, Wilson, Mama
"Gold!," Prospector Wilson, Mama, Addison, Alaskans
"Gold!," Poker Players
"What's Your Rush?," Nellie
"Next to You," Addison, Wilson, Mama
"Addison's Trip Around the World," Addison, Salesman, Guatemalans, Servants
"What's Your Rush?," Wilson, Mrs. Yerkes
"Alaska," Mrs. Yerkes, Wilson
"New York Sequence," Wilson, Nellie, Reporters, Photographer, Ketchel, Armstong, Jockey, Gamblers, Policeman, Wilson's Women
"The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," Wilson, Nellie
"Isn't He Something?," Mama
"Bounce," Addison

Act II
"The Game," Addison, Nellie, Wilson, Promoter
"Talent," Hollis
"You," Addison, Hollis, Aristocrats
"Addison's City," Hollis, Wilson, Addison, Nellie
"Boca Raton," Boca Girl, Sportsmen, Fashion Models, Yachtsmen, Caruso, Salvador Dali, Wilson, Addison, Nellie, Hollis, Prospector, Varmints, Bobby Jones, Mae West, Princess Ghika, Chorus
"Last Flight," Addison, Wilson
"Bounce," Wilson, Addison

In an earlier interview with Playbill On-Line, Weidman said that "Alaska" had been cut from the score and replaced with a different song. Also, "You Are the Best Thing That Ever Has Happened to Me," a ballad which Michele Pawk and Howard McGillin sang a full version of very close to the end of the first act, has been moved to earlier in the act.