If the name Rick McKay doesn’t sound familiar to you, perhaps his documentary Broadway: The Golden Age from the Legends Who Were There does. It was an outstanding look at what McKay considered the golden age of Broadway. (The 1930s-1950s).
Today it was announced that McKay had passed away. I don’t know the status of his follow-up documentary: Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age. The film had a work-in-progress screening at the 2016 Palm Springs International Film Festival. I hope, if it hasn’t been finished, that someone will complete the fine work McKay had no doubt done for that film. (IMDB shows a 2018 release date.)
I had the pleasure of speaking with Rick prior to the festival screening. The column I wrote for Los Angeles Magazine‘s website can be seen here.
Though a small part of what follows appears in the column, I wanted to share with you the full answer to my question: When you first went to a Broadway show, did you ever think your career would take you in this direction? How would that kid in the balcony (or wherever you sat) think of this trilogy of films you are doing and the experiences you’ve had making them?
The first show I saw, growing up in Indiana, I dreamed of living in Los Angeles or New York. I lived in Beach Grove, Indiana. My brother liked cast albums and he started ordering albums and so did I. I joined every record club I could join. I listened to the Applause album and this is All About Eve. I was ten years old. It was coming to Indianapolis with Lauren Bacall. I went nuts and my mother said I could use newspaper money and she would take me.
I don’t even know if that kid could comprehend how great the journey has become and what I’ve gotten back from it. I haven’t gotten rich. I still owe money on the first film. I did the second because I was worried that someone would make it and now I’m afraid someone wouldn’t. Before I moved to New York I was a scholarship dancer in NY. I saw the first tour of A Chorus Line in 1979. I sat there in my seat with tears running down my face. I said to myself, “I’m not going to be sitting in this Indiana theatre in 50 years watching a bus and truck production of A Chorus Line saying ‘I could have done something bigger.’”
I want to give back with these films to the things that gave back to me. There are so many of us in small towns all over the world that think they are the only ones who like these things. They go to bigger cities to find others like them. They don’t all have those opportunities. I feel like I’m making this film for the kid watching Lauren Bacall in Applause or A Chorus Line. People who never left those towns. That’s why I make them. Some of those shows and some of those people gave me the courage to fight for what I wanted. The theatre can do that more than movies often can.
Rest in Peace Rick. Thank you.