If the last show isn’t as familiar to you as the first five, composer Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!) considered it his best show. Even though it includes a slew of some of his finest songs, the show has struggled to be successfully produced. The original Broadway production (with Robert Preston and Bernadette Peters) ran for just 66 performances and won none of the eight Tony nominations it had received.

Mack & Mabel, which is centered around silent film director Mack Sennett and silent film star Mabel Normand, is being performed in a concert presentation this weekend at North Hollywood’s El Portal Theatre. This All Roads Theatre Company production is being directed and choreographed by Scott Thompson. O’Connor is playing Lottie Ames, a film star who takes Mabel (Jenna Lea Rosen) under her wing. Dermot Mulroney plays Mack. Update: All performances of Mack & Mabel have sold out.

Last week I spoke with O’Connor about the reasons why Mack & Mabel hasn’t been successful, how the show is a throwback to when stars were the stars of the show and if time heals everything O’Connor has gone through in her career. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with O’Connor, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: Jerry Herman said that Mack & Mabel was his favorite of all of his works, but it was sadly his least successful. You were in the 1995 UK production for which you received an Olivier nomination for your performance as Mabel. Why do you think historically this show didn’t find an audience and what did the audiences miss by not seeing it?

We ran for about seven months, maybe a little bit more, which I think is probably the longest run of Mack & Mabel. I think that theater is quite often like fashion. I think it opened around 74, didn’t it? Weren’t we getting things like A Chorus Line and more modern musicals, maybe even Chicago? Those sorts of shows [meaning Mack & Mabel] seemed more like a revival. Whereas the modern shows like A Chorus Line, Godspell and things like that, it was just fashion and theater was changing. I just really believe that sometimes you see six revivals in a row. Suddenly that’s the thing and then suddenly brand new musicals. So I just think maybe the timing wasn’t quite right. 

Mack & Mabel shares something in common with Stephen Sondheim‘s Merrily We Roll Along. They have both been considered shows with many of their composer’s best songs. But until this season’s Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along, the show wasn’t fully embraced. Late in the second act of Mack & Mabel there’s a song, I Promise You a Happy Ending. Mack sings, “If you’ve had a bad beginning, you’ll come out winning in the close.” Do you think Mack & Mabel will ultimately have a happy ending the same way Merrily We Roll Along has?

Possibly. I mean, of all the places to do this show, Los Angeles is probably the right place. Just because of the subject matter, it being about a movie director in a movie studio. If we can’t do it here and for it to be understood and appreciated, then it’s difficult to know. I think it could be a show like those that come around and people go, wait a minute. This is a sensational. An amazing score. It’s been criticized quite a bit over the years, but I have to say Scott is doing a really sensational job of the show now.

Jerry Herman was still with us when you did the 1995 production. Was Jerry Herman around during that production?

He came to Leicester to be with us during the rehearsal period. Which you can imagine was absolutely thrilling. There’s nothing quite like having the the actual composer in the room. He just had the biggest grin on his face the entire time he was there. I think he was just so thrilled to be seeing the musical come back to life. Then opening night, in London, he was there and it was everything you could possibly dream up.

This 1995 production had the most major changes in the book.

We had quite a few changes during the rehearsal period. Quite a few went into the show. There was a slight nervousness about how it would be received. I just think it’s best to just tell the truth. You know, the real story. It’s not a happy ending. Mabel Normand had a pretty tragic life at the end and died very young. Their love was never what it probably should have or could have been. So there was a lot of tweaking backwards and forwards and everyone was very nervous.

What do you think your perspective was on Lottie Ames in 1995 and how has it shifted now that you’re taking on this role?

We had a wonderful actress called Kathryn Evans who played the role. She had a voice from heaven and was a wonderful dancer. So my recollection of the role is that it was brilliantly done by her, but also a lovely role. What I like about this female character within the show is that quite often you’ll have two female characters sort of against each other or competing with each other. I think it’s quite interesting in this show that Lottie becomes quite protective and supportive of Mabel. So it’s quite nice to have that sort of dynamic between the characters and it’s interesting. 

I really enjoy playing her now just because I love the show. It’s so strange. Everything’s flooding back in the room. [I’m] getting quite emotional thinking about it because it was such a great time of my life. So I feel blessed that I’m getting to experience it again, but also to play this other role.

Lottie’s second act number is Tap Your Troubles Away. What do you do to get over your troubles?

I’m never happier than I am when I’m at work. When I’m at home I do tend to sing around the house. I’ve got a little miniature poodle and she’ll sing along with me, howl along with me. I live in Queensland, which is like God’s back garden. So I spend a lot of time with lovely friends. But I’d have to say what makes me happiest is when I’m actually working.

You had previously done a concert version of Mack & Mabel in Melbourne in 2001. You also did a concert version of My Favorite Year at 54 Below in 2017. What are the differences for you as an actor in doing a concert performance as opposed to a fully realized production?

I don’t think it’s that different, to be honest with you. I think you approach it in the same way. You still try to find a full-bodied character. Of course, there’s not as much choreography when you do it in that way. But you have to do a lot of the learning in advance. 

You’ve played Cassie in A Chorus Line. You’ve played Phyllis in Follies. Some of the greatest musicals that we’ve ever had came out of the 1970s. Do you think that musicals from that time offer performers and audiences more than perhaps musicals do today? 

Yes I do. I can’t really put my finger on it. When I moved to England in the 80s, I really noticed that star vehicles were not the important issue anymore. It was that the show was becoming the star. Not the roles that you aspire to play. I do think that we got to the end of the 70s and they stopped writing things in that capacity. Which is a shame, because it gave you something to aspire to. I’ve always grown up going, oh my God, I would love to play that part that so-and-so played. So yeah, I think the fashion definitely changed. And the roles, even though they were still important, they weren’t seen in the same capacity anymore.

You mentioned roles that you’d like to play based on who else had played them. What are those roles? 

I did Gypsy and I loved Ethel Merman growing up. When I was a little girl growing up in Australia, I was probably about 11, I’ve got a cassette of me singing Rose’s Turn with Ethel. It’s funny to me because I didn’t want to play Baby June. Obviously I want to play Mama Rose. I just loved the sound. And I remember thinking, that must be what Broadway is, because I didn’t know what Broadway was. I used to listen to the albums and think that sound, that big orchestra, and you could hear the character coming across. I couldn’t see them, but I could tell every emotion. Of course, Angela Lansbury in probably everything. And Chita Rivera, of course, probably my greatest inspiration, because she was also such a magnificent dancer. I did four of her shows: West Side Story, Chicago, The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman. The dream is that you get to create a role that somebody else would like to play in the future. 

You also had the distinction of having been in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! as Nini. Which means you got Tango Roxanne as your big on-screen moment. Why do you think Moulin Rouge! resonates with people as strongly as it does?

The music primarily has to be part of it because of the recognition. Everybody feels comfortable when they hear something that they recognize. The experience for me was one of the best of my life. Very unexpected thing that happened, too. I didn’t think at that stage of my life as a dancer, because I was in my late 30s, that I was going to get the call to do something like that. I don’t think we’d seen a musical movie in quite some years. He brought them back into fashion again.

You’ve been doing this for four decades at this point, which means you’ve had good times and bum times and you’ve seen it all. When you look back on your career, does time heal everything that wasn’t so great and offer perspective on those things that were?

Yes, I think so. I remember the George Burns quote, which was that show business is a hideous bitch goddess. And I thought, that’s so true because you love it. It’s very hard work. It can be very disappointing as well. You have to hang in there. You never who’s going to produce what. There’s no plan. You just always have to be ready to be prepared and to be able to go for something. So I think that time does heal everything. Sometimes you have great disappointments. I know over the years you think, gosh, why didn’t I get to do that? And then something else marvelous to come along. So, yes, the unexpected is always a wonderful surprise. This certainly was an unexpected surprise. So may they long continue.

To see the full interview with Caroline O’Connor, please go here.

Main Photo: Caroline O’Connor (Courtesy Caroline O’Connor)

The post Caroline O’Connor Returns to “Mack & Mabel” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

THIS IS THE TWELFTH AND LAST OF OUR BEST OF 23 REVIEW OF INTERVIEWS: There aren’t too many actors who have appeared in productions of West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Follies and A Little Night Music. Not many can also hold the distinction of originating a role in Company. One person who has done all five shows is Tony Award-winner Donna McKechnie.

She was the original Kathy in Company – one of the trio of women who sing “You Could Drive a Person Crazy.” As for her Tony Award, she originated the role of Cassie in A Chorus Line.

Company was, of course, written by Stephen Sondheim. As were Forum, Follies and A Little Night Music. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music for West Side Story and the lyrics were Sondheim’s.

After earning rave reviews for her show Take Me to the World: The Songs of Stephen Sondheim at 54 Below in New York, McKechnie is bringing the show to Los Angeles for two performances this week at Catalina Jazz Club. She will also perform at the Purple Room in Palm Springs on January 13th and January 14th. Next week she’ll bring the show to Feinsteins At The Nikko in San Francisco.

Last week I spoke with McKechnie who was in her apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City. We spoke about her career, her relationship with Sondheim, the joy in singing his music and, of course, A Chorus Line. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

For those who know you were in the original Broadway cast of Company, they might think that was your first introduction to Stephen Sondheim. But if my research is correct, you were actually in a touring production of West Side Story.

Oh my God. Yes, you’re right. Wow.

But when you auditioned for the the touring production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum that was the first time you sang… 

It was my first singing audition and Stephen – that’s the first time I ever met him. Of course, I barely remember anything because I was so nervous. I was so nervous that I could not control my hand from shaking when I read for George Abbott, the director. I couldn’t find my timing. I kept losing my way and inadvertently it made him laugh so much. He actually fell off the chair.

Can you imagine my first time out in a role, coming from the chorus of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, to be in that? First of all, it took me a whole year on the road practically to find those laughs again because I didn’t know what I was doing. But what a great way to learn from the best people; a great cast. And a great way, when you’re 19, 20 years old, to see the country. 

Do you remember the moment where an awareness clicked in with you that what Stephen Sondheim did was different?

It was so sophisticated – as much as I could be sophisticated in those days. It was clever, witty, funny. It was very edgy. I appreciated all of that. I mean, the show was fantastic and this was his first Broadway show, of course, where he wrote both lyrics and music. It was great. They cast it very well and including me, I think. I did learn on the job. I had a great time. 

When you do a Sondheim show does it give you a skill set that is different than it might have been had you done other shows? 

I was lucky to work with so many great composers. But, any time I do a Sondheim show, it always makes me feel I’m a better singer and I’m a better actor because of really digging in to that material. Because that’s how he writes. He writes from a character-driven point-of-view and there’s so much finesse in it. I always improve. 

I heard him say over the years that he was always looking for actors who could sing versus singers who could act. If you are approaching your career as a singer/dancer does a vote of confidence from someone like Sondheim make you think there is more to me as an actor than perhaps I imagined?

I’ve always acted. It’s always been my basis for anything. Many years ago it pushed me into a place of resenting being labeled as a dancer/singer because everything I did had that acting. I studied. I was a professional student. My first chorus job, my only one, really, How to Succeed... I had never seen anything like a roomful of people telling a story with music and movement. I thought I have a job now. If I go to acting class and voice lessons I can learn how to sing and act. Then I can have a career perhaps longer than a dancer’s life. That was the whole plan.

Naturally I had to really work. But there was always an affinity for connecting with the character. That’s why I love Sondheim so much and and so many people. Michael Bennett was all character-driven. As was Jerome Robbins. We’re telling stories in a very specific way.

You’re someone who has sung the music and lyrics of Marvin Hamlisch, Edward Kleban, Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter. The list goes on and on. But when you sing Stephen Sondheim what resonates most with you as a person when you’re singing his songs? 

I just relate to it so much because he is so clear and decisive. There’s so much clarity in his work. He doesn’t want it to be a cookie cutter of any idealized performance, some imagined performance. He wants you to bring yourself to it completely and fully and bring it alive. He wrote it for actors to do that. There’s not just one way to do it. The new revival of Company had his blessing and it was totally changed. Very different but quite fantastic to hear that score again.

Did you like the production if you saw it? 

I did. I went opening night. It was thrilling and it was very different. I decided to just give myself over to that world and let them take me. And they did. And it was just fantastic. The ghosts of the past would come on stage and I would have to kind of live dually with them.

Another project you did put you on the stage of the Shubert Theater in March of 1973, which was Sondheim: A Musical Tribute. Basically anybody who was anyone who had been in a Sondheim show was involved. You were also the choreographer of that event. So you’re working with all these people who have performed his work. What do you remember most about that March evening? 

The last number of the show. We’re at the dress rehearsal and Bert Shevelove (librettist of A Funny Thing…) is the director. He’s asking all the stars on stage to gather around the piano. It’s like they’re in Steve’s living room. There’s Angela Lansbury and there’s Chita Rivera and Jack Cassidy, Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith, and Larry Kert. That time is one of the most exciting times of my life because of all of these people; the collaborative effort that went into it and and working with Angela. With Chita who said, “Well, what do you got for me?” And I went, “Oh, God, what are we going to do?” And I showed it to her in a very timid way. And she went, “Oh, yeah. Don’t you know that actors ask why, but dancers just do it.” She’s adorable. Love her.

Working with Angela was intimidating, and I learned a lot from her. I had this incredible very busy dance going on while she sang her big number. I was out of breath when I showed it to her. I finished and I looked at her and she looked at me and said, “I think I’ll just stand here and sing, if you don’t mind.” I didn’t mind. What a mistake I made giving her so much to do. She was so generous and kind. I learned a great lesson that sometimes the power is to just stand there and sing.

Two years later the Shubert Theater became a very important home for you because that’s where A Chorus Line played when it opened on Broadway. In your Tony Award acceptance speech you called A Chorus Line “a personal experience that taught me so much about performing and about people and humanity.” What has doing the work of Stephen Sondheim and his various collaborators taught you? 

I worked on all of this material at a very difficult time when we were going through COVID. He found the most beautiful and poetic expression of every experience and the human condition. There’s so much and it’s rich. When I do Losing My Mind, as much as I did it in [Follies], I’m still finding deeper ways to go. I’m unearthing different things and different feelings. You hope that is communicated to the audience, but the response has been really great. It’s a very wonderful thing to be able to do especially since losing him.

I feel his presence so much because of the material that I’m doing and I’m associated with. But it’s just to keep him alive in that way. He worked and loved his work so much and was so generous. He was also a great teacher and a friend. He cared so much about, not just his work, but everyone’s work and making it better. It’s all there; the human frailty. He doesn’t skip over things very easily. Sometimes when I’m working on the material, I go, How did he know that?

As for Follies, you played Sally at Paper Mill Playhouse in 1998. You then played Carlotta in 2005 at Barrington Stage Company. I looked up then New York Times critic Ben Brantley‘s review of the 2005 production. He said, “In superb voice, McKechnie endows her solo with a warm and even elation, as well as a truthfulness that suggests her Carlotta has not just survived, but enjoyed the bumpy road that is her life.”

Have you enjoyed the bumpy road that is your life? 

Yes. Mostly, yes. Because I appreciated that that’s what it was going to be. I loved being given the chance to do what I love. I’m able to pass it on to younger students of theater. I say, “You’re going to get rejected a lot.” You’re set up for it. So you have to really love what you’re doing. And the humor you have to have. Sometimes I get it after the fact. I’m going through something and it’s kind of it feels traumatic and chaotic. Then after you think about what happened it’s hilarious. So I’m more easy with things now.

Sammy Williams (the original Paul in A Chorus Line) told me that actress Celeste Holm said to him after he won his Tony Award for A Chorus Line to understand that this was not the peak of your career, this was just a moment in your career. And to expect those bumps and to expect highs and lows. I’m assuming you agree with her advice. 

Especially after you get an award! You go, “Okay, where are they?” The work doesn’t always happen that way. You always have to keep creating the demand. It’s really hard not to worry about it when you don’t have a set future. Now I have more work than I ever expected. 

Send in the Clowns is in your setlist for Take Me to the World. How does that song resonate with you now 22 years after you performed it in the context of the show? 

It seems actually perfect. I’m that much older and living a completely different kind of life. I’m not really that different, actually, but different in my head. It just fits perfectly because I find the personal connections in it that I relate to. If you think of it you could do that song so many different ways about so many different situations. But it is a woman dealing with the irony of what she was expecting, what she experienced. When you look at yourself and have an honest moment with yourself. It’s tough and it goes through all of these different changes. It’s touching. It’s funny. It’s sad. It can be anything as long as your truth is there.

That’s such an important word. That was very true with any company of A Chorus Line, too. Baayork Lee (the original Connie in A Chorus Line) who’s taken it all over the place, if she had a chance to give one note it would be just play the truth of your character.

Has your relationship with A Chorus Line changed? 

Oh, yes. It makes me appreciate it even more – if that’s possible. Having the great opportunity to go back in the show ten years later at 45. Not just getting back into shape and doing the show, but also emotionally and with a different perception. It was very gratifying. I had a better time.

The first time around it was Chorus Line fever. It was so hard and we were tired. We were very happy for the success, but we were just spinning. To be able to take a break and come back to it and really experience it and what everybody did, what everybody contributed, it was great.

I think a lot of people who are fans of A Chorus Line know that it took actress Marsha Mason to say Cassie needs to be cast in the show just before the finale. Do you think the show would have been successful had Michael Bennett not taken that advice?

It would not have been successful. He was smart enough to see that immediately. Don’t forget, we were locked in this little black box of a theater. He and Bob Avian, they’re there every day and you lose objectivity. You would invite your friends, your savvy friends. He invited Neil Simon and Marsha and a lot of people. Sondheim, Hal Prince, they would all come and give their feedback. Only people that he really respected and could trust. As soon as it was brought up he immediately went, “Oh yeah.”

He couldn’t see that if you don’t give any anyone any hope…In other words, if Zach doesn’t give her the job, he didn’t see it yet that she was the symbol for second chances. He was trying to be true to what would really happen, I think. He did the same thing with Promises, Promises, to try to make it to realistic. He had to raise the the heightened reality a little bit.

We’re now just a little bit over two years away from the 50th anniversary of A Chorus Line. What are your hopes, not just for this 50th anniversary, but how the show will be considered in another 50 years?

It’s bigger than any one of us. It’s bigger than the theater. It’s human beings connecting in such an artful, positive way and over generations. The lives it saved. The people it’s inspired. It’s even inspired some people not to get into the business. It looks so rough there. It has given so much. It’s the gift that keeps giving and I love it.

You told Playbill in 2010, on the occasion of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, that the highest compliment he ever gave to you was when he said, “Tonight I saw the actress and the character come together.” If Steve were able to have been at 54 Below last year or was able to be in Los Angeles to see Take Me to the World, what do you think his response would be and why do you think he’d have that response to the way you’re celebrating his work?

You just made me cry. I would hope that he would approve and like the way I was doing it. I have a feeling he would and I think he would appreciate the fact that there’s so much love and really good arrangements servicing his music and his intent. And doing a different interpretation, perhaps. I feel proud that he might really approve. I would love it if he would give me notes because his notes are so great. 

Photo: Donna McKechnie (Courtesy Chris Isaacson Presents)

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The return of Tim Dang to East West Players, where he served as Artistic Director for 23 years until retiring from the organization in 2016, was one born out of a new transition for East West Players: the appointment of his predecessor, Snehal Desai, as Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group.

“He had contacted me to find out if I was interested and available to take on this project. He was slated to actually direct this play,” said Dang in a recent conversation.” The play in question is Spring Awakening, the musical that won 8 Tony Awards for its original production in 2006 and whose 2015 revival was critically acclaimed (and in my opinion, a much better production). The East/West Players production of Spring Awakening officially opens this weekend where it will play through November 19th.

If you’d like to see the interview with Tim Dang, please go to our YouTube channel.

If you haven’t seen Spring Awakening, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s musical is based on Frank Wedekind’s 1890 play that depicted teenagers in all their angst navigating self-doubt, sex, sexuality, suicide and the parents and teachers who fail miserably to be of comfort or use. It was those themes that interested Dang the most.

“It was a very intriguing idea in terms of how East West players could bring something different to Spring Awakening post-pandemic,” he revealed. “And with all the things that are happening in America that actually parallel the play which takes place in 1890 Germany.”

Dang elaborated the parallels which are shockingly still being addressed over 125 years later.

“When you talk about oppression and the power structures back in 1890 Germany, whether it was religion, the education system, the treatment of women, and then you draw parallels today where you still have oppression of religion, you have the overturning of Roe versus Wade, the banning of books, discrimination against the LGBT community… all of these themes are also very relevant today. If we are able as a company to really have robust dialog about some of these themes, I think we will have succeeded in what I think the creators of Spring Awakening originally intended with giving the youth rebellion that opportunity to change the world.”

To make sure that conversation was possible, Dang had to first determine the best way for it to start.

“With East West players being primarily an Asian-American theater, we are actually going through this concept of being very race specific in our casting as opposed to just being colorblind or being multicultural or diverse. We thought that was very important to bring to this production that would make it unique.”

But it wasn’t only race issues, but growing up through a worldwide pandemic that informs his cast and this production. Dang contrasted his own youthful period to the recent lives of many of his company members.

“I believe that all members of our cast are Gen Z,” he said. “They have gone through this period of isolation. They were attending college during COVID; attending classes by Zoom. Colleges were supposed to be the best years of their lives in terms of social interactivity and they did not have that. So when you talk about those themes of isolation and mental health, a lot of our cast members were very honest and forthcoming in terms of how traumatized they were during COVID. Not just because of fear of catching the virus or anything like that. But just in terms of their own mental health, in terms of being able to socialize and to network and to be with other people during this time where they thought they could be free.”

Given that Dang had different experiences of this time than his company, he realizes he has to rely a lot on what his cast has to say and not just be a director with a vision for them to follow. One area where that is of utmost importance is race.

“We talk more and more about intersectionality. In our company of 16 performers, nine of them – including our lead – are of mixed heritage. If you’re familiar with Spring Awakening, [we follow] Melchior’s journey through adolescence and coming of age. [Thomas Winter] is actually half-Japanese and half-white. Having cultural backgrounds in two worlds makes this character’s intersectionality a little bit more different than other productions of Spring Awakening. He doesn’t look Japanese enough or Asian enough to fit into auditioning for Asian roles or he doesn’t look white enough because he has Asian features. That’s a new intersectionality that this production deals with [that] weighs very big in terms of our production.”

Long before Dang was a director he appeared in a 1987 East West Players production of A Chorus Line in the role of Richie, a role described on various casting websites as African-American, basketball player, funny, enthusiastic. Surprised by the reference to a role he played 36 years ago, Dang spoke about how unique it was to have an all-Asian cast doing this wildly popular musical.

“As I recall back in 1987, we kept all the dialog the same. There were there was a little bit of confusion. There’s all these Asian people and there’s Richie, there’s Diana Morales. But after five or ten minutes, we just became those classic iconic characters of A Chorus Line and I think that was the goal.”

What was the goal in the late 1980s is a completely different practice in theater today. The end result for actors who get to take on roles originally written for other ethnicities is ownership and identity.

“Whether it is a performer of color or a person who is from the LGBT community, it is very important that when they embody a character, that they bring 100% of themselves to that character.”

Though great strides have been made since Dang was onstage singing “gimme the ball,” he’s not terribly optimistic that these conversations will one day be relics of a different time and place.

“I don’t think it’s going to go away. Identity just keeps on changing over and over and over again. There’s just so much to unpack in it. America really is this diverse place. I think [this] conversation is really important and that we actually keep on talking about it. Because the more that we talk about it and the more aware we are, I think the more we are accepting of our differences as well. That we can live together in a society where people accept and respect what everyone else is thinking.”

To watch the full interview with Tim Dang, please go here.

Main Photo: Mia Sempertegui, Thomas Winter and Marcus Phillips from Spring Awakening (Photo by TJ Ramirez/Courtesy East West Players)

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If Cilento’s name sounds familiar to you it is perhaps because you know him as the original “Mike” in A Chorus Line or as the choreographer of the musical Wicked.

His latest role is as Director and Musical Stager of a revival of Dancin’ which now has the name Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. The show is running at The Old Globe in San Diego through June 5th. The production has already announced it will open on Broadway at a theatre and on a date yet to be determined.

Cilento appeared in the original production of Fosse’s dance-musical Dancin’. The show ran for 1,774 performances and was nominated for seven Tony Awards including two for Fosse (he won Best Choreography) and one for Cliento as Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Recreating Fosse’s work and bringing into a 21st-century focus was an enormous undertaking for Cilento as he revealed when we spoke via Zoom earlier this month. What follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

For seventeen years Fosse’s daughter, Nicole, has been trying to get a revival of Dancin’ off the ground. Why did all the pieces come together now?

I think maybe it’s probably the best time after the pandemic; celebrating him in a different way. My whole approach was getting him back out there the way he was as a dancer, what inspired him and what drove him to create what he created. So I did a lot of research and I went back. I know that Dancin’ was something that was out of the ordinary in 1978. He did it in a dance format, three acts, which was unheard of. There was no plot and no storyline and no particular reason to do it. But he wanted to explore and express different styles of choreography and music. I have to hand it to him. It’s a rough thing to do.

If anyone could do something like that it could only have been Bob Fosse.

Exactly. He was always pushing the envelope. Always looking for something new and fresh and innovative; pushing buttons, politically, socially, whatever. Just do it.

Even though you were in the original production, re-assembling his work from 44 years ago must have been an enormous challenge.

I can’t tell you how complicated it is. The big thing with this show was reconstructing Bob’s work. And it wasn’t about me as a choreographer or anyone as a choreographer filling in pieces and making the show work. It needed to come from Bob’s work and I was adamant about that.

Without any complete film of the original production to rely upon, how much did your own personal muscle memory allow you to recall what you had done before?

I was in every number in Dancin‘. It was very complicated. But there’s parts of my body that will just fall right into it. I didn’t do Crunchy Granola, so I have no body awareness. I sang it so I knew what I did up on the ladder, on the sides. I did Percussion, too, so I know what that was. I didn’t know the specific steps. Christine Colby [Jacques], who was in the original company, helped reconstruct all of the dancing material.

Then there’s a whole other part of this show that I wanted to insert viewers in this 21st century kind of world. So we can update it and lift it up into a place where, if Bob was doing this today, what would he do? So that was going on in my head. Corinne McFadden Herrera is my associate and Lauren Cannon is the assistant dance captain/assistant choreographer. They got into it and did the reconstruction, like looking at film work and looking at pieces of choreography and figuring it out. It’s such a long process. So first you have to identify what we want to reconstruct.

Did Fosse leave behind any archives with material you could access?

No. We’d identify the pieces that I wanted to dig into. The girls went and they pulled out the work and started. Then we started picking out pieces of the choreography or steps from the pieces of choreography that we want to string together to represent the number without doing the whole number. Needless to say it’s a very complicated job to take on. But when it’s done correctly, it’s completely rewarding because it’s the essence of him and the essence of his work as a choreographer and as a performer. I hope I managed to capture that and put it on the stage.

The original production was notorious for how strenuous it was on the dancers. There were countless stories of injuries. Is Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ just as difficult to do as the original?

I didn’t water down the the project at all. But the choreography is the choreography. And the dancers today are amazing in their training. They’re so rounded in technique: street dancing and hip hop and all of that stuff. I think their capability of picking up stuff is a little bit faster and easier for them. It’s just the specific style that slows them down because he’s very unique. He had a posture. He was very technical, but yet he wasn’t turned out like a ballet dancer. He was turned in. He wore a hat. He wore his head down, which brought you his vocabulary. He was a little bit hunched over, so it rounded off his shoulders. He had a built in mechanism that kind of like identified his style. It depended how far he wanted explode and how far he wanted to really pull it in.

The revival of Chicago has been running for so long, is there a built-in expectation amongst dancers that what that show presents is textbook Fosse?

It’s very successful and Annie [Reinking] did a really great job. But again, her building was in the style of Bob Fosse. Does that mean that’s Bob Fosse? Kind of, but not really. I think she created a format and a style within Bob’s style. And it became very specific. And I think the derbies and the black clothes and very exaggerated, beautiful body posture moves and stuff like that became iconic in itself. I think it misled a lot of people in thinking, oh, that’s Bob Fosse. This is what he does. And yes, he does that. But he also does 100 other things. And he’s an explosive dancer that wants to fly and he flies. And that’s a complete contradiction to what you see in Chicago. Everything’s very still, very isolated, very perfect. It’s beautiful, but that’s a different part of him.

If A Chorus Line gave an identity to the dancers in a Broadway show who heretofore didn’t have much of an identity, what did Dancin’ do? 

What Michael [Bennett] did was an idea from dancers that I danced with like Tony Stephens and Michon Peacock. They were at a point where they were disgusted that we as ensemble dancers in the show do production numbers, the thing that is carrying the show forward. It could be a horrible show, but the choreography could be amazing. So they wanted to do a show about dancers and they got Michael involved with that to get some dancers in a room. And I think he did an amazing job, too. To have dancers have a voice and a life and a history; where we were coming from and how we got to Broadway and were auditioning on the line.

I think what Bob did with Dancin’ was he made 16 of us principal dancers that were going to do an evening of dance. And we did everything. We sang, we read, we danced. We held the whole show together. So he put us up on another level. When Annie [Reinking] and I got a Tony nomination for Best Supporting Actors in a musical that was completely unheard of. But that’s what he did. He made the world recognize that we were as talented as principals in Broadway shows. We were a principal in a Broadway show, so he really pushed it over the edge for us.

I urge you to watch the full interview to hear stories of how Wayne Cilento got cast by Fosse in Dancin’, the big name star (and former collaborator with Fosse) whom he left to join the show, his experiences performing one of the most emotional parts of Dancin’ – “Mr. Bojangles” and how he chose to reinterpret that number for the new production. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable conversation.

Main photo: The company of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ (Photo by Julieta Cervantes/Courtesy The Old Globe)

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Before I go too far, I’m keenly aware that I was one of Stephen Sondheim thousands of friends. There are certainly people who knew him better and more intimately. I was just surprised, humbled and thrilled that I could call this giant of musical theater Steve.

Since first discovering Sondheim and his music, I was familiar with his passion for puzzles and games. It made sense, at least to me, that he would therefore enjoy going to The Magic Castle. I was a member at the time, so I sent him a letter inviting him to join me coinciding with his making some appearances on the West Coast.

Mr. Sondheim’s response came via e-mail. “My time really isn’t my own,” he said of this upcoming trip. He did say that on another trip he’d love to revisit the club having only been once previously as Carl Ballantine’s guest. (Ballantine was a world-class magician, but many know him from his role as Lester Gruber on McHale’s Navy.)

It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t be available, but I held in my hand a golden ticket to future conversations: Stephen Sondheim’s e-mail.

As another event came up in early 2008, I reached out to Sondheim. He accepted my invitation and plans were made to go on Friday, January 13th. Joining us for lunch (on the only day when lunch is served there) would be Frank Rich, then of the New York Times, his wife, Alex Witchel and possibly Steve’s then-partner (now husband), Jeff Romley.

Jeff did not join us. In his place was playwright John Logan who would go on to win a Tony Award for his play, Red. He also adapted the Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd for film.

Mr. Sondheim immediately insisted I call him Steve when we met face-to-face. I couldn’t believe I was sitting across the table from the man who had written so many musicals I had loved. The three hours flew by quickly before Steve told me that had another appointment to get to at Barbra’s house.

I remained in contact with Steve. He invited me to his home on three occasions for wine and conversation. The first visit lasted over two hours. It was there that he asked me how I became familiar with his work.

As I usually do when asked about my passion for musical theater I responded by telling him it started when I saw A Chorus Line. Before I could finish the story he joked, “One of my best shows.” I told him that my aunt taking me to that musical opened up the world of musical theatre for me. But it was seeing Sweeney Todd in Los Angeles with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn that felt like finding religion.

He couldn’t have been more generous with his time on each of these occasions. He told me whenever I wanted to see one of his shows that all I had to do was reach out to him and he would make sure I could purchase house seats.

For over thirteen years I would send Steve a note here or there and he would respond. Like so many who have commented since his passing, I was so excited whenever there was a letter from Steve in the mail.

The last note I got from him was earlier this year. I had sent him a letter thanking him for his kindness and generosity over the years and to wish him a happy 91st birthday.

I concluded the letter by saying:

“It is my hope that when the world finally rights itself and we are able to travel and see people freely, that we will have the chance to see each other face-to-face. Not knowing when that will be, I wanted to make sure you know how grateful I am.”

In typical Sondheim fashion, I got a polite and to-the-point response from him. What stood out to me was, “As always.”

Last Friday was tough. I imagined, perhaps fantasized, that we would have one more conversation in person. Another glass of wine to be shared. Another letter in the mail.

Through his work and by virtue of who he was, Stephen Sondheim was “the god-damnd’est thing that has happened to me.”

Thank you my friend. The music and the memories will last me through the rest of my days.

Photo: Christian Witkin for The Wall Street Journal (Courtesy WSJ)

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As you can imagine, Broadway has been hit hard by the pandemic with shows closed for months and likely to remain so until next summer at the earliest. So how did this show come to be? The host, Tiny Fey, certainly had a lot to do with it.

Not only has she starred in two hit shows for NBC (Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock), she is also the writer of the book for the musical, Mean Girls, based on the 2004 film she wrote and starred in along with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The musical was still running when Broadway was shut down.

Amongst the musicals being represented in One Night Only are Ain’t Too Proud–The Life and Times of The Temptations, Chicago, Jagged Little Pill, Diana: The Musical, Jersey Boys, Mean Girls and Rent.

Diana: The Musical has yet to open on Broadway. Rent hasn’t been on Broadway since 2008. Jersey Boys is off-Broadway after concluding its Broadway run. The latter two shows remain amongst the most popular shows of all-time.

Cast members from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will also appear.

Joining Fey in the two-hour broadcast are Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Antonio Banderas (A Chorus Line in Spain), Lance Bass (Hairspray), Kristen Bell (The Crucible), Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Sutton Foster (Anything Goes), Peter Gallagher (On the Twentieth Century), Josh Groban (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday in the Park with George), Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises), Ron Cephas Jones (Of Mice and Men), Patti LaBelle, Nathan Lane (The Producers), Camryn Manheim (Spring Awakening), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill), Jerry O’Connell (A Soldier’s Play), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Mary-Louise Parker (The Sound Inside), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), John Stamos (Bye Bye Birdie), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge – The Musical), Blair Underwood (A Soldier’s Play), Vanessa Williams (Into the Woods) and Susan Kelechi Watson (A Naked Girl on the Appian Way).

The show will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

One Night Only: The Best of Broadway airs at 8:00 PM local times.

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You will notice that as the inability to hold in-person performances continues to be the reality for performing arts organizations that more original programming is becoming available. With that comes fees to view many of those new offerings. It’s just a fact that performing arts organizations are struggling like any other business during these troubled times. Not only does this new material keep the conversation going between venue and audience, it helps keep the theatres in business.

This weekend there are truly options for everyone in your family: from kid-friendly programming to cutting-edge explorations of topical events; from a new vision for two popular one-act operas to a Latinx Broadway extravaganza; from an exploration of parallels between present-day America and the Rome Republic to gender-bending farce. And more. Much more.

Without further ado, here are your Best Bets at Home: October 1st – October 4th.

Still. – PlayhouseLive – Now – November 1st

PlayhouseLive is a new digital platform introduced yesterday by the Pasadena Playhouse. The site will offer a combination of free material and paid material – all of which is completely new and/or newly discovered. To help launch the site they enlisted three-time national poetry slam champion Jovan Johnson. Still. is his show.

Still. finds Johnson performing his poetry.

Fans will recognize some of the material (Cuz He’s Black, Black and Happy) and there will also be new work that has never been filmed or recorded.

Johnson directly tackles several of the major issues of our time. But he does so in a way that both forces the viewer to confront his/her own thoughts while at the same time generating tremendous empathy. By the time Still. is over, you have gone through an incredible journey that will ultimately leave you somewhat hopeful.

I interviewed Johnson recently. You can read that interview here.

Update: This post has been updated to include a period – “.” at the end of the title of the show. Still. is the show’s complete title.

Kiki & Herb: Seeking Asylum! – Joe’s Pub/The Public Theater – Now – November 5th

Justin Vivian Bond and Kenny Mellman are well known, when performing together, as Kiki & Herb, a lounge-singing duo in their 70s who have failed in their pursuit of fame. In 2016 their show Seeking Asylum was both a critical and commercial hit. The show sold out at Joe’s Pub. In fact, the entire one-month run sold out within minutes.

Promo materials for the show describe their misadventures leading up to this show like this:

“After major successes at Carnegie Hall, on Broadway, and on the International Concert Circuit, cabaret legends Kiki and Herb took a break from the live performance grind to explore other opportunities. Kiki’s sabbatical included a stint as a Middle East correspondent for Al Jazeera, while Herb found himself in hot water—both literal and proverbial—in Southeast Asia.”

Joe’s Pub and The Public are making the show available on both Joe’s Pub’s YouTube page and The Public’s website for viewing through November 5th. There is no charge to watch this thoroughly entertaining show.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s The Circus – PlayhouseLive – Now – November 18th

Pasadena Playhouse’s new series, PlayhouseLive, launched on Wednesday. Amongst the shows available is a new film of a classic show by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater: the 1950 classic The Circus.

With over 100 hand-made marionettes, the lives and performances of a circus troupe come to vivid life. Everything you expect from the circus is performed with these amazing creations: animals acts, clowns, trapeze artists, acrobats and more.

For those who went to Bob Baker’s theater downtown before they moved to Highland Park, you know how magical their performances have always been. Puppeteers are not separated from the audience. That brings an immediacy to what they are doing and also makes the marionettes approachable for younger audiences.

This filmed version of The Circus is available for $14.99 and allows repeated viewings over the course of 48 hours. Trust me when I say that these shows appeal to the kid in all of us, regardless of age.

The Tribute Artist – Primary Stages/59E59 Theaters – October 1st – October 4th

Playwright/actor Charles Busch debuted The Tribute Artist in 2014. The play tells the story of a female impersonator who assumes the identity of his newly-deceased elderly landlady. Since he doesn’t have work, why not pretend to be her and live in her townhouse? Because this is the work of Charles Busch, you don’t really think things are going to go as planned do you?

The Tribute Artist was the last show presented by Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters.

The original company of that production has reunited for virtual readings of the show. Joining Busch are Mary Bacon, Julie Halston, Keira Keeley, Carole Monferdini and Jonathan Walker. Carl Andress, who directed the original production, returns to direct this reading.

Tickets are $36.50 which includes a $1.50 service charge.

The Boys in the Band – Netflix – Now Available

Does history repeat itself? Mart Crowley’s play The Boys in the Band opened in 1968 at Off-Broadway’s Theater Four where it ran for 1,001 performances. Before the show closed in September of 1970 it was already a feature film. William Friedkin (The French Connection; The Exorcist) directed the film adaptation. Friedkin’s film featured many of the play’s original cast members.

In 2018, the first Broadway production of the play opened at the Booth Theatre. The limited run of the play was directed by Joe Mantello.

The cast included Matt Bomer, Robin De Jesús, Jim Parsons, Andrew Rannells and Zachary Quinto. The show went on to win the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.

Mantello and the cast reunited and the film of The Boys in the Band just started running on Netflix.

What is The Boys in the Band? It depicts a group of gay friends who have assembled for one of their birthdays. During that party each man is challenged by the party’s host to place a phone call to someone he has loved and tell them about it.

Edward Albee had the “game about the baby” and Crowley (who passed away earlier this year) has “the game about love.”

New York’s 92 Street Y is streaming a conversation with Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer and Joe Mantello discussing The Boys in the Band on Friday, October 2nd at 4:00 PM EDT/1:00 PM PDT.

WHAT THE HELL IS A REPUBLIC ANYWAY? – New York Theatre Workshop – Now – November 8th

If you had the opportunity to experience An Iliad by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, you know how powerful their approach to history and theatre can be. What might first appear as merely an intellectual pursuit, in their hands, becomes palpably exciting.

New York Theatre Workshop was the home for An Iliad. So it is only appropriate that their latest project, WHAT THE HELL IS A REPUBLIC, ANYWAY?, finds itself streaming through the company’s website.

O’Hare and Peterson look at what is going on in American democracy through the prism of the Roman Republic. This is a four-part series. Part one launched live on September 22nd, but there are two remaining “re-runs” of that episode.

Here is the full line-up:

Episode 1: Rome & America: Joined at Birth (Special Guest: Roberta Stewart)

Encore showings: October 4th at 2:00 PM EDT/11:00 AM PDT; October 5th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Episode 2: Citizenship (Special Guest: Sonia Sabnis)

Live presentation: October 6th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Encore showing: October 11th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Episode 3: How Republics Fall Apart

Live presentation: October 20th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Encore showing: October 25th at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Episode 4: The Election

Live presentation: November 2nd at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Encore showing: November 8th at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Not only will audience members be watching what’s going on, they will be asked to participate in the democratic process (at least during the live presentations).

Tickets for each episode are $10.

Coming Together – 5 Boroughs Music Festival – October 1st – 5:00 PM EDT/2:00 PM PDT

This is the world premiere of a film featuring the Quodlibet Ensemble and countertenor Reginald Mobley performing Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together.

The text was written by Samuel Melville, a leader of the revolt at New York’s Attica Prison in 1971. Melville was killed during those riots. The text is from a letter he had written that was published after his death.

Rzewski composed Coming Together shortly after the riots took place.

The film, created with Pastor Isaac Scott, presents the journey we’re all probably on right now – navigating our way through difficult times and still finding a way to have hope. Footage of the musicians performing remotely and safely is included.

Bach’s Cantata No. 54 and songs and spirituals by Florence Price are also performed. Part of these performances were filmed this month at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

There is no charge to watch the film. However, donations are encouraged. The date listed is when the film becomes available. It will remain available for viewing after its premiere.

The Skivvies: Classic Undie Rock – Radio Free Birdland – October 1st – 7:30 PM EDT/4:30 PM PDT

Lauren Molina made her Broadway debut in the 2005 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd as Johanna. She also appeared on Broadway in Rock of Ages. Around the same time she was in Sweeney Todd, Nick Cearley was making his Broadway debut in All Shook Up.

No Broadway shows together, but they do appear together as The Skivvies.

They are the duo that performs unique arrangements of songs uniquely. Make that stripped down arrangements while stripped down. Yes, they perform in their underwear.

Perhaps you’ve seen their videos on YouTube?

They have filmed a concert at Birdland in New York. Their show is part of the programming of Radio Free Birdland. The performance was filmed without an audience, but they do have two special guests.

Matt Doyle, who appeared on Broadway in The Book of Mormon and was in previews for this season’s revival of Company, and Tamika Lawrence, who appeared in Come From Away and is in the revival of Caroline, Or Change that was forced to postpone its opening, will both be joining. They’ll be stripping down to their underwear, too.

The only fully-dressed people at a Skivvies show are usually in the audience. But you’ll be at home. Who will know if you’re wearing clothes or not?

Tickets are $23.50.

¡Viva Broadway! Hear Our Voices – October 1st – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

In spite of the success of In the Heights and On Your Feet, Latinx talent isn’t frequently seen or heard on Broadway. Since October is Latinx Heritage Month, Playbill and The Broadway League have teamed up to present ¡Viva Broadway! Hear Our Voices. The show will be available on Playbill’s website, their YouTube Channel and on The Broadway League’s website.

Andréa Burns, who originated the role of “Daniela” in In the Heights, serves as the host. The show is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo (Ain’t Too Proud).

The show will feature a reunion of In the Heights cast members (including Christopher Jackson and Karen Olivo) who will be joined by Anthony Ramos who stars as “Usnavi” in the upcoming film of the musical.

There will also be a presentation from the Spanish language production of A Chorus Line that starred Antonio Banderas and was co-directed by Banderas with original cast member Baayork Lee.

Lest this all be a trip down memory lane, three new shows will be given an opportunity to shine during ¡Viva Broadway! including John Leguizamo’s Kiss My Aztec!, Arrabal and Passing Through.

The list of artists making appearances and performing includes Lucie Arnaz, Gloria Estefan, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Moisés Kaufman, Leguizamo, Matthew López, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chita Rivera and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

This show will remain available for viewing through October 5th at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Sessions Episode One – Chicago Symphony – October 1st – October 30th

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is launching a new series of small ensemble performances filmed with social distancing guidelines as a way of keeping the music playing.

For their first episode of Sessions, the program features Three Preludes by George Gershwin; Fuga y misterio by Astor Piazzolla; Bachianas brasileiras No. 6 by Heitor Villa-Lobos; Rapide et brilliant from Sonatine for Flute and Bassoon by Pierre Gabaye and Carl Nielsen’s Wind Quintet.

The small ensemble includes Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson on flute, William Welter on oboe, Stephen Williamson on clarinet, Keith Buncke on bassoon, David Cooper on horn, Jennifer Gunn on flute and William Buchman on bassoon.

Tickets are $15 to watch the performance.

Salón Los Ángeles – Los Angeles Philharmonic Sound/Stage – Begins October 2nd

The second newly-filmed concert in Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Sound/Stage series is called Salón Los Ángeles. The concert features performances of Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 1 and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Gustavo Dudamel is conducting and Jean-Yves Thibaudet is the soloist for Rhapsody in Blue. Given these performances were filmed with social distancing and minimal musicians, it is probably safe to assume the original jazz band version of Rhapsody in Blue will be performed.

Márquez appears in an interview during the show and there will be performances of Mexican danzón and boleros.

There is no charge to watch this program. However, donations are encouraged.

Sound/Stage is a multi-episode series. For a full preview of the entire series, please go here.

Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci – Royal Opera House – October 2nd – November 1st

Perhaps no pairing of one-act operas is more popular than the combination of Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Cavalleria rusticana had its world premiere in Rome in 1890. The opera is based on a short story which later became a play by Giovanni Verga. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci adapted them both for their libretto.

Mascagni’s opera centers on a love triangle. Turridu, who has returned from military service, goes to see his ex-lover, Lola, before seeing his current lover, Santuzza. Lola is married to Alfio. Santuzza decides to tell Alfio about the infidelity and the two men decide to duel. At the end of the opera, multiple hearts are left broken.

Pagliacci had its world premiere in Milan in 1892. Leoncavallo also wrote the libretto.

The opera tells the story of a married couple, Canio and Nedda, who are performers in a small theatre company on the road. Canio is insanely jealous and that jealousy drives Nedda to seek affection from another man, Silvio. Nedda and Silvio make plans to elope, but their plans are overheard by Tonio, another member of the company. He tells Canio about Nedda’s plans. Looking for revenge, Canio, during a performance of their touring play, makes his personal life mirror the drama in the play.

In 2015 Damiano Michieletto staged the two works for the Royal Opera in London. One of the conceits of his production is that both operas take place in the same village. So you might find characters from one opera appear in the other.

The end result was an Olivier Award for Best New Opera in 2016. Michieletto shared the award with the production’s conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano.

This production will remain available for one month. The cost is £3 which equates to just under $4.

Orfeh and Andy Karl with Seth Rudetsky – October 4th – 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

I’ve previously written about Broadway performers Orfeh and Andy Karl. They are married and met during the Broadway production of Saturday Night Fever. By the time they appeared together again in Legally Blonde sparks were flying. More recently they appeared together in Pretty Woman.

The two join Seth Rudetsky for conversation and performance this weekend. (Rudetsky took last week off.)

To get a sense of their chemistry (and their history), take a look at this clip from an appearance at Feinstein’s/54 Below:

The live performance takes place on Sunday, October 4th. There is an Encore showing on October 5th at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT for those unable to watch the live stream on Sunday.

Tickets for either date are $25

While that might seem like a lot, there’s more to your Best Bets at Home: October 1st – October 4th by way of a few reminders:

This week’s Table Top Shakespeare: At Home features Hamlet on October 1st; Love’s Labour’s Lost on October 2nd; The Winter’s Tale on October 3rd and All’s Well That Ends Well on October 4th.

Most of our choices in this week’s Jazz Stream take place in the next four days. Artists like Catherine Russell, James Carter, Joey Alexander are performing. I won’t recap them all in this space. Go here to see our listings.

Metropolitan Opera’s Mozart Week continues with Julie Taymor’s production of The Magic Flute on October 1st; Don Giovanni on October 2nd; The Marriage of Figaro on October 3rd and Idomeneo on October 4th.

I hope you have a lot of devices in your home to watch all this great programming. If not, you’ll have to choose. And who wants to do that?

Enjoy the Best Bets at Home: October 1st – October 4th and Happy October!

Photo: The company of The Tribute Artist (Photo by James Leynse)

The post Best Bets at Home: October 1st – October 4th appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Hair – 1969 Tony Awards

Nominated for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, Hair opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre and ran for 1,750 performances. The show, directed by Tom O’Horgan, did not win any Tonys. Amongst the original cast members were two of its creators Gerome Ragni and James Rado, Diane Keaton and Paul Jabara. The 2009 revival of the musical won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

Purlie – 1970 Tony Awards

Purlie was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical. Cleavon Little and Melba Moore won Tony Awards for their performances. The show, directed by Philip Rose who co-wrote the book, first opened at the Broadway Theater and later moved to the Winter Garden and the ANTA Playhouse.

Chicago – 1976 Tony Awards

The original production of Kander and Ebb’s musical Chicago was nominated for 11 Tony Awards. It won none of them. Directed by Bob Fosse and starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach, the show ran for 936 performances at the 42nd Street Theatre.

A Chorus Line – 1976 Tony Awards

This is the reason Chicago didn’t win any Tony Awards. Michael Bennett’s show, with music and lyrics by Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban, was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won nine of them. Its run of 6,137 performances made it the longest running Broadway musical. It is now number six on that list. Ironically, the revival of Chicago, still running in New York, is currently number two on that list with 9,692 performances so far.

The Act – 1978 Tony Awards

This is also a Kander and Ebb musical with the unique distinction of being the only Broadway show directed by Martin Scorsese. The show received six Tony nominations with the only win being for Liza Minnelli. The Act played at the Majestic Theatre and played for 233 performances.

Sweeney Todd – 1979 Tony Awards (though I have no idea who is sitting in as Sweeney)

Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s musical was nominated for nine Tony Awards. The show won eight of them including Best Musical, Best Actress for Angela Lansbury and Best Actor for Len Cariou. Directed by Harold Prince, Sweeney Todd played at the Uris Theatre (later renamed The Gershwin Theatre) for 557 performances.

Evita – 1980 Tony Awards

Evita, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, was nominated for 11 Tony Awards. The show won seven including Best Musical, Best Actress for Patti LuPone and Best Featured Actor for Mandy Patinkin. Directed by Harold Prince, Evita played at the Broadway Theatre and ran for 1,567 performances.

Dreamgirls – 1982 Tony Awards

Dreamgirls was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won six of them. The show, directed by Michael Bennett, played the Imperial Theatre and ran for 1,521 performances. The Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen musical featured the staggering Tony-winning performance by Jennifer Holliday as “Effie White.”

Cats – 1983 Tony Awards

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical inspired by T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven including Best Musical. Trevor Nunn directed Cats which played the Winter Garden Theatre. The musical broke A Chorus Line‘s record for longest-running Broadway show with 7,485 performances. Betty Buckley won a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella who sings the show’s best-known song.

Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur – 1988 Tony Awards

Jerry Herman’s musical Mame opened in 1966 and was nominated for eight Tony Awards. Amongst the three winners were co-stars Angela Lansbury (as Mame Dennis) and Bea Arthur (as Vera Charles). 22 years later they reunited on the 1988 Tony Awards and performed their classic duet from the show. (This was the year The Phantom of the Opera won Best Musical.)

Grand Hotel – 1990 Tony Awards

Grand Hotel was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and won five including two for director and choreographer Tommy Tune and one for Michael Jeter as Otto Kringelein. The show opened at the Martin Beck Theatre and later transferred to the Gershwin Theatre. Grand Hotel ran for a total of 1,017 performances

Kiss of the Spider Woman – 1993 Tony Awards

Kander and Ebb won yet another Tony Award for this musical based on Manuel Puig’s novel (which also inspired the Academy Award-winning film.) Kiss of the Spider Woman received 11 Tony nominations winning seven of them including Terrence McNally for Best Book of a Musical and for the performances by Chita Rivera as “Spider Woman/Aurora,” Brent Carver as “Molina” and Anthony Crivello as “Valentin.” The musical, directed by Harold Prince, opened at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for a total of 904 performances.

Passion – 1994 Tony Awards

The film Passione d’Amore by Ettore Scola was the inspiration for this Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical. The musical opened at the Plymouth Theatre near the end of Tony season and ran for only 280 performances. Donna Murphy, Jere Shea and Marin Mazzie starred in Passion. All three were amongst the 10 Tony nominations the show received with Murphy taking the Tony for Best Performance by an Actress. The musical won Best Score, Best Book and also Best Musical.

The Wild Party – 2000 Tony Awards

Composers Michael John LaChiusa and Andrew Lippa wrote musicals called The Wild Party. Both were based on Joseph Moncure March’s poem of the same name and both were produced the same year. LaChiusa’s show, directed by George C. Wolfe, made it to Broadway’s Virginia Theatre where it was nominated for seven Tony Awards. It did not win any and closed after a run of only 68 performances. The cast featured Toni Collette, Mandy Patinkin and Eartha Kitt.

Caroline, Or Change – 2004 Tony Awards

Playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America) and composer Jeanine Tesori teamed up for this 2004 musical (also directed by George C. Wolfe) that received six Tony Award nominations. Anika Noni Rose was the sole winner for her performance as “Emmie Thibodeaux.” Caroline, or Change was scheduled to have a revival this season, but those plans have been postponed until next season. For anyone who saw the show at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre during its brief 136 performance run, Tonya Pinkins‘ performance of “Lot’s Wife” will stand as one of the greatest performances in modern Broadway history.

Fela! – 2010 Tony Awards

Fela! electrified audiences when it opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 2009. The musical was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won three (including Best Choreography by Bill T. Jones). Jim Lewis collaborated with Jones (who also directed) on the book of this musical about legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti. The show ran for 463 performances.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch – 2014 Tony Awards

It took 16 years for this Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell musical to finally make it to Broadway. The show began its life off-Broadway at the Jane Street Theatre in 1998. Directed by Michael Mayer and starring Neil Patrick Harris and Lena Hall, the show was nominated for eight Tony Awards. Harris and Hall both won and Hedwig and the Angry Inch was awarded the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. The show ran for 507 performances at the Belasco Theatre.

The Color Purple – 2016 Tony Awards

Alice Walker’s novel inspired this musical by playwright Marsha Norman and composers/lyricists Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. This revival, directed by John Doyle, opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and was nominated for four Tony Awards. It won for Best Revival of a Musical and for Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Celie. The Color Purple ran for 450 performances.

Hamilton – 2016 Tony Awards

Much like A Chorus Line (which also began its life at The Public Theater), Hamilton was the juggernaut at the Tony Awards that couldn’t be beaten. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical was nominated for 16 Tony Awards and won 11 of them. The show, directed by Thomas Kail, is still running at the Richard Rodgers Theatre with 1,919 performances so far.

What makes this performance particular emotional is that the Tony Awards took place just after the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Given the recent events the cast opted not to use the prop guns that are usually seen in the show.

Those are 18 of my favorite Tony Awards performances. Let me know what your favorites are by posting your thoughts in our comments.

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“I love it! Someone in the cast started it and it just went like a snowball,” he said by phone last week. “They were doing it for their own amusement and it just caught on. I was so proud of them.”

The popularity of the video only mirrors the passion people have for A Chorus Line. The timing for Avian couldn’t be better as his memoir, Dancing Man: A Broadway Choreographer’s Journey, was recently published.

It was while dancing in a production of West Side Story that Avian met the man who would become his best friend and collaborator, Michael Bennett. Together they would work on such landmark shows as Company, Follies, Promises, Promises, A Chorus Line, Ballroom and Dreamgirls. After Bennett passed away in 1987, Avian would continue working on musicals including Miss Saigon, Putting It Together, Sunset Boulevard and ultimately directing that revival of A Chorus Line.

We began our conversation by talking about that iconic choreography that opens A Chorus Line. Here are edited excerpts from the interview. Comments have been edited for clarity and length.

“I Hope I Get It” has such a distinctive style. What inspired that choreography and why do you think that opening remains as vital today as it was in 1975?

What makes it special is Marvin’s [Hamlisch] music because it’s in 6 not 8. Most dance combos you count in 8. Being in six gives it a curve that’s subliminal. The attack is different and you feel it in your gut. I think that’s the root of what makes it so special. Michael did that.

You say in the book that at the age of 10 or 11, even without training, you knew you could dance. Was there one moment that made you come to that realization? Your own “I Can Do That?”

Being home alone and putting on a record player of the things I liked best and I would start dancing around and see where it took me. Being alone you have that freedom. You didn’t know what you were going to do and you let it pour out of your soul. Luckily we had a big living room. My life was concealed because I was gay and my parents were ethnic and it was a big no no. When I put on the music and closed the door and was my myself, I could be who I was and not have any censors around me.

Follies at one point had two men in drag during “Buddy’s Blues.” In 1971 that must have been played as a stereotype. What is the process where ideas like that find their way into a show and as a gay man how did you feel about it?

When we went into the show a lot of the score hadn’t been written yet. Stephen Sondheim needs to see things first. He writes his best showstoppers when he’s out of town. Whether “I’m Still Here” or “Send in the Clowns” or “Being Alive,” it’s because he sees the show. That’s part of his process. I don’t know. It just comes and you roll with it and you do the best you can.

When you and Michael accepted the Tony Award for Best Choreography for A Chorus Line, you said, “This is the professional high point of my life.” Michael said, “Michael Bennett is Bob Avian.” What meant more to you in that moment, winning the award or Michael’s acknowledgement of the importance of your contributions?

Michael and I were so close. We were brothers, never lovers. Everything we did we did together almost 24 hours a day. We were on the phone when we weren’t in the rehearsal studio. It was his ultimate compliment to say, “I love you Bobby.” It’s so much easier and nicer to share success and failure with someone.

Both Sammy Williams (who originated the role of Paul in A Chorus Line) and Baayork Lee (who originated the role of Connie in the same show) told me stories about how cruel Michael could be.

If you are successful and you are working on a multimillion dollar musical the pressure is enormous. You have to have strong shoulders to handle this. The one fear you have is are they going to fire me.

In many cases it’s about their anger in themselves. I find myself getting so angry at a dancer or a group of dancers when I’m unhappy with myself. It’s aimed at me, but it comes out of my mouth and at them. It’s like using the wrong color on a canvas.

Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, the London revival of Follies and many more are part of your post-Michael Bennett career. Some artists say they don’t choose the work, the work chooses them. Is that your point of view?

Well it happens to me. I had no idea what was going to happen when Michael died. He talked me into doing Follies in London on his deathbed. I didn’t want to do it again. I kept saying it’ll never be the original production. What it gave me was Cameron Mackintosh. He just took to me and globbed onto me and dictated the rest of my career.

Michael was clearly so important to you. What do you think he’d say if he could see what you’ve done with your life and career since his passing?

Our respect for each other was so honest and so real. We exposed all our inner souls to each other. I was lucky to have that relationship. I think he would say, “Well done, Bobby.”

Photo of Bob Avian and Julie Andrews courtesy of Bob Avian

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Yazbeck began his Broadway career as a replacement newsboy in Arthur Laurents’ revival of Gypsy with Tyne Daly. He has played Billy Flynn several time in Chicago. He was Al in the revival of A Chorus Line; Tulsa in the revival of Gypsy with Patti LuPone and Gabey in the revival of On the Town. He received his first Tony Award nomination for that performance.

There may be a reason he’s in so many revivals. It isn’t just that Broadway likes to produce them. It’s where Yazbeck feels most at home – as I discovered when we spoke by phone about Gershwin, Broadway and loving simpler stories.

Not only for this concert, but you’ve done other shows celebrating Gershwin’s music. Why does his music speak to you?

I was raised as a kid with this music. It was maybe my father’s favorite music. I started dancing at four-years-old watching Fred Astaire on television. I think the first movie I saw was Shall We Dance which is where a lot of these songs we love got introduced. These were songs that were ingrained in me and made me happy in a simple way. 

Whether or not they are part of this concert, but are there specific songs that resonate most with you?

Michael approached me with the songs. He has such a library of songs that are arranged for symphony orchestras. You don’t want to mess with them because most are derived from the original arrangements. I looked at them and said, “What can I do with these and put my stamp on it and still respect it?” There’s one number I’ll throw my tap shoes on for it. A ballad I’m singing is probably my favorite Gershwin song of all time: “How Long Has This Been Going On?” I think it is underrated. It resonates with those who find a connection and felt it was there forever. I’ll do like three numbers. If he asked me to do more, I know half the repertoire in my head already.

Most of your Broadway credits are revivals of classic musicals. As a song-and-dance man, do you think you were born too late? Or do you have the opportunity, perhaps the responsibility, to keep this great work alive by doing it now?

That’s a good question. I feel like I’m devoted and the reason I’m still in this business is that very question. We want to affect an audience. I was greatly affected by this music and this style when I was younger. It had nothing to do with the 1980s.

It’s a deep question: do we embrace technology now or do we say this has a place and “children…look here!” But I think it’s embrace it. We’re all on our phones all the time. People can’t look at a video for two minutes before their mind wanders. It will be fascinating to see what happens in the future. There is room for this thing, but we need to find writers and creators who can write new material based on the simple styles we heard like Gershwin back in the day. As amazingly beautiful as their melodies and arrangements are, they were simple. Somehow we decided simple wasn’t enough.

Even your 2016 album, The Floor Above Me, is more of a celebration of older material. Do you worry about an industry, meaning Broadway, that feels like Donna Summer, Cher and now Neil Diamond are the best sources for new musical material?

Everybody wants to feel immortal. That’s my first instinct as a dancer. It’s probably wrong. I don’t know why everyone needs to feel even more acclaimed and famous later in life after they’ve had their multiple decade careers. My thing is, is there a great story? Are they going to tell it in a way that’s brand new? 

When I was in Gypsy with Tyne Daly in 1990-1991 coming to the city every day there was a magic and spark to it that isn’t around anymore. It’s about popularity and fame and “I want something in a certain way and I expect it and I’m going to get exactly what I want,” rather than buy a ticket a be completely surprised and overwhelmed by what I saw. That was the beauty of Bob Fosse or Michael Bennett – they gave the audience something to think about. We’re just spoon-feeding them what they know. 

George Gershwin said, “True music must repeat the thought and aspirations of the people and the time.” Why does his music continue to do this almost 100 years later?

I think because honestly, a lot of things don’t change or really haven’t. It’s a little scary to think about. It’s crazy how we can’t learn after 100 years. We have music like Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band.” You have this music that has fiery, angry heartbreak under this simple joyful melody.  I think that’s why this music stands the test of time. In joy there’s darkness and vice-versa.

I learned a lot from Arthur Laurents. He said the emotional tone of Gypsy is melancholy. It was about an angry frustration under the dream that Tulsa had. But he has a fire underneath it. Nothing will stop him. On the top is bubbly joy, but underneath…If this isn’t like so much music out there that needs to be communicated. If this isn’t the heartbeat of us all. Like Gershwin. It will stand the test of time.

Photos courtesy of the Pasadena Pops

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