The last time I was here was the first day of RIPFest. Now we are approaching the film being shot. So let's flashback: When I got hom on Saturday night exhausted and full of information about the cast, the location, the director, the producers, the barebones outline, etc. I started to formulate some lyric ideas in my mind and the words "The wheel goes round and round" began to come to me. This, of course refers to the potter's wheel in the primary location, a pottery studio. So that let me to a short chorus that I envisioned as feeling both contemporary and folk like so that it felt like it had been around forever:
THE WHEEL GOES ROUND AND ROUND
THE POTTER'S WHEEL IS GROUNDED IN THE GROUND
AND YOU THROW THE POT
FROM A BALL OF CLAY
AND THE WHEELHEAD TURNS
AND YOU SIT ALL DAY
AND LISTEN TO THE HUMMING SOUND
OF THE WHEEL GOING ROUND AND ROUND
I changed and refined until I came up with this and that night I slept little and started to find some modular lyrics for the leading character who I named Peter, after my parter.
The next day I started putting it all together, taking the modular lyrics sections and moving them around to make an arc and a solid musical story. Off they went to David Krane, composer extraordinaire, and the set everything brilliantly. I got to hear it on Monday morning, do some work with him and we were thrust into a cold reading situation on Monday night, which, for us, was scary and crazy, but ultimately safe. Tuesday the rehearsing and rewriting began. An actor would learn one piece only to have me come back and rewrite 90 percent of the lyric (including new intentions) the next day. We finally settled on the final form of the 4 minute musical sequence on Wed (it cut some small cuts on Thurs) and I worked more on the script elements. The two short scenes at the beginning and the end. All this of course with directorial input. A movie is different than a stage piece and I need to be short and terse and get my points across fast. After all it's all 6 minutes! Last night (thurs) we did our pre-recording with a valiant and brave cast, most of whom hadn't sung much or recorded at all (exception was our brilliant leading man) but they all did their best and really put it out there and we will make a great soundtrack and they will sound the best they ever have. I trust. I do. These kids are willing themselves to be great and I am proud of them. So here it is the day before the first of two days of shooting. Just okayed some little script changes for the last scene and there we are. What a week!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
RIPFEST!!!!
Today began RipFest. I am one of six writers (3 musical writers and 3 non) chosen to be part of the 10th of these. We are put together with Directors, producers, actors, locations etc. and given 2 days to write a 5-7 minute musical film which gets shot next Sat and Sun. and shown on the 26th! Oy! It's like being shot out of a canon but I am writing lyrics as fast as I can and hoping inspiration will come to me in the AM after a good night's sleep. What a first day!
Monday, April 27, 2009
MARLO REVISITED
Got a wonderful email from Marlo Thomas. The song was a big hit. She called me BRILLIANT! What could be better?
OLD EMERGED BUT STILL OUTSTANDING
NEO stands for New Emerging Outstanding...Two years ago David Krane and I were part of that group with the title song from The Road to Qatar sung by Chip Zien and Adam Heller. This year at NEO 5, we were the hosts. I guess that means we have emerged. We still don't get paid but we are now elder statesmen or something. The good news is that we killed. The audience loved us. The songs varied as usual with some good, some mediocre an some downright lousy. The talent was top notch and the show as a whole went very well. We got more compliments as host than when we were song writers, but that's to be expected because we were visable tonight. On stage talent. They reacted and laughed and all that. It was very gratifying and fun. Oh what a couple of hams we are.
Fun.
Fun.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
MARNI IN THE MORNING
This Sunday morning was spent brunching at the Film Forum where special guest Marni Nixon returned to the scene of our triumph of a few weeks ago. Fun was had by all and then the rest of the day was spent biking in the hot sun. Not literary but still.
Marlo Loved It and Movie News
Good news on Friday when I delivered the final version of Together lyric for Marlo Thomas. She loved it. Sang it to her other writer from her car and he loved it. The Piano Play loved it. She sang it at the George Street tonight and I can only hope she was a big hit and the audience loved it and gave lots of money (maybe they can do one of MY shows there one day). Today's good news is that I was selected to be one of six writers to be part of this years RIPFest...here's what it is. I am thrilled and excited and get to write a short musical film (collaborating with David Krane!)Nothing like having something to look forward to!
Since 2002, the event known as RIPFEST has provided an outlet for some of New York
City’s brightest filmmaking and theatrical talents, allowing both established and up-andcoming artists to collaborate on professional-quality short films over a 16-day process.RIPFEST is a unique collaborative filmmaking project that allows filmmakers the freedom to do what they do best – just make films.
Teams of professionals who have never before worked together undergo a sixteen-day,
tightly scheduled process, creating original ten-minute films entirely from scratch.
Each core team consists of a Producer, a Writer, a Director, a Choreographer, a DP, an Editor, a Composer and a handful of Actors – all working professionals. From the very first day, this core creative team is given an assignment – to create an original short film under 10 minutes long, using only the actors on their team as principals, and only the two locations secured in advance by the Producer – one interior and one exterior.
The writer begins writing, and 48 hours after their initial meeting, the teams read their screenplays aloud. After another 48 hours of re-writes, they have a few days of preproduction,each team tapping whatever resources they have in order to make the best possible film. And over the next weekend – just seven days after the core team initially met, they are shooting their films. By the end of the 2-day shoot, their film may involve dozens of extras and crew.
In post-production, the Editor and Composer go to work, stitching together the finished film and scoring it over the following week. The entire process culminates in a gala screening of ALL the films downtown – just 16 days after everyone first met.
RIPFEST has a history of attracting top talent looking for a creative challenge, from
Tony-, Emmy- and even Oscar-winning artists to future award-winning filmmakers. Plus
we encourage across other creative disciplines to explore the world of short filmmaking.
Since 2002, the event known as RIPFEST has provided an outlet for some of New York
City’s brightest filmmaking and theatrical talents, allowing both established and up-andcoming artists to collaborate on professional-quality short films over a 16-day process.RIPFEST is a unique collaborative filmmaking project that allows filmmakers the freedom to do what they do best – just make films.
Teams of professionals who have never before worked together undergo a sixteen-day,
tightly scheduled process, creating original ten-minute films entirely from scratch.
Each core team consists of a Producer, a Writer, a Director, a Choreographer, a DP, an Editor, a Composer and a handful of Actors – all working professionals. From the very first day, this core creative team is given an assignment – to create an original short film under 10 minutes long, using only the actors on their team as principals, and only the two locations secured in advance by the Producer – one interior and one exterior.
The writer begins writing, and 48 hours after their initial meeting, the teams read their screenplays aloud. After another 48 hours of re-writes, they have a few days of preproduction,each team tapping whatever resources they have in order to make the best possible film. And over the next weekend – just seven days after the core team initially met, they are shooting their films. By the end of the 2-day shoot, their film may involve dozens of extras and crew.
In post-production, the Editor and Composer go to work, stitching together the finished film and scoring it over the following week. The entire process culminates in a gala screening of ALL the films downtown – just 16 days after everyone first met.
RIPFEST has a history of attracting top talent looking for a creative challenge, from
Tony-, Emmy- and even Oscar-winning artists to future award-winning filmmakers. Plus
we encourage across other creative disciplines to explore the world of short filmmaking.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
THAT GIRL SINGS
I got an email the other night from Marlo Thomas asking for my help. Over the years I have written several special material songs for her beginning with a tribute to Alan Alda and several ALSAC songs for St. Judes. Now Marlo is starring in the new Arthur Laurents play at the George St. and doing their benefit on Sunday so she wants a funny parody. At first I was under the email impression that it needed to be a tribute to Arthur so I wrote a quick first draft of "Everything's Coming up Arthur"
HE IS FRESH
HE IS NEW
HE'S A YOUNGSTER WHO'LL BE NINETY TWO
YOU MIGHT SAY HE'S NOT SHY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
HE IS KNOWN
FOR HIS GRIT
YOU CAN TRY BUT HE WON'T TAKE YOUR SHIT
HE MAKES GROWN DIVAS CRY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
IF HE SAID IT
YOU CAN BE SURE THAT IT'S TRUE
HE'LL TAKE CREDIT
ASK HIS OPINION?
YOU'LL GET IT!
HE WOULD SAY
"IT'S A FACT
I'M THE GUY WHO TAUGHT STREISAND TO ACT"
AND SHE JUST MIGHT CONCUR
THAT'S THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
DIRECTOR, WRITER, EVERYTHING YOU DO
MEANS
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
FOR ME AND FOR YOU
HERE'S MY SERMON
ARTHURS BEEN THRU 'EM ALL
HAROLD CLURMAN
HELL, HE GOT THRU ETHEL MERMAN!
ETC.
Well, it turned out that the event wasn't about Arthur but to raise money for the George St. Theater. So out goes Arthur and in comes a version of Together begging for money in a funny way...
The end goes something like this
SO DON'T BE A SCHMUCK
JUST GIVE US A BUCK
CAUSE WE'RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TOO
THIS THEATRE'S BRAVE AND FULL OF PLUCK
WHERE ELSE COULD YOU HEAR THAT GIRL SAY FUCK?
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING
MAKE OUR COUGHERS COUGH
KEEP OUR NUMBERS MOUNTING
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU
Still have lots of polishing to do on this and she only needs to sing it on Sunday! Yikes.
The other news of the day is that DK and I were asked to co-host the NEO concert at the York theatre on Monday. We must be the last resort, but hell, we are thrilled to be asked. Two years ago we were the New Emerging whatever and now we are hosting them. That must be a step up.
HE IS FRESH
HE IS NEW
HE'S A YOUNGSTER WHO'LL BE NINETY TWO
YOU MIGHT SAY HE'S NOT SHY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
HE IS KNOWN
FOR HIS GRIT
YOU CAN TRY BUT HE WON'T TAKE YOUR SHIT
HE MAKES GROWN DIVAS CRY
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
IF HE SAID IT
YOU CAN BE SURE THAT IT'S TRUE
HE'LL TAKE CREDIT
ASK HIS OPINION?
YOU'LL GET IT!
HE WOULD SAY
"IT'S A FACT
I'M THE GUY WHO TAUGHT STREISAND TO ACT"
AND SHE JUST MIGHT CONCUR
THAT'S THE WAY THAT THEY WERE
DIRECTOR, WRITER, EVERYTHING YOU DO
MEANS
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ARTHUR
FOR ME AND FOR YOU
HERE'S MY SERMON
ARTHURS BEEN THRU 'EM ALL
HAROLD CLURMAN
HELL, HE GOT THRU ETHEL MERMAN!
ETC.
Well, it turned out that the event wasn't about Arthur but to raise money for the George St. Theater. So out goes Arthur and in comes a version of Together begging for money in a funny way...
The end goes something like this
SO DON'T BE A SCHMUCK
JUST GIVE US A BUCK
CAUSE WE'RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE TOO
THIS THEATRE'S BRAVE AND FULL OF PLUCK
WHERE ELSE COULD YOU HEAR THAT GIRL SAY FUCK?
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING
MAKE OUR COUGHERS COUGH
KEEP OUR NUMBERS MOUNTING
TOGETHER WE'RE COUNTING ON YOU
Still have lots of polishing to do on this and she only needs to sing it on Sunday! Yikes.
The other news of the day is that DK and I were asked to co-host the NEO concert at the York theatre on Monday. We must be the last resort, but hell, we are thrilled to be asked. Two years ago we were the New Emerging whatever and now we are hosting them. That must be a step up.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
April Fool
Wow...it's deep into April and I haven't had that much to report. Been on Grand Jury duty and doing the Road to Qatar rewrites. This culminated yesterday in a very private two person performance (no audience) of the fresh new intermission-less version of the show complete with a great new musical number (Good Things Come in Threes) and many pertinent cuts. The good news is that it timed out great...95 minutes of fun. That's not too long for anyone to sit and enjoy without having to get up and pee. It also seemed to flow really well. It still needs some smoothing and polishing and a few better jokes, but all in all DK and i feel really good about it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Another Marni Triumph
Marni Nixon and I did our Merv Griffin thing at the Harvard Club tonight and we were a smash despite the video system being too low in volume and the lack of showmanship from the people there. We killed, she sold books, and we got free dinners. Sing for your supper and you'll get scallops! Marni and I discussed plans to do the show (what show?) in London and I posed a tribute to her TV career (she has Emmys!) at the Paley Center. Wow, our book has certainly been a boon in a way. Will I ever have another ghosting experience this good? Maybe. Maybe Not. I think we should call our two person show Audrey Hepburn Dubbed My Face...The Ghost Strikes Back... Marni Nixon Unmasked...
Good Things Come in Threes
After Grand Jury duty today I biked over to David Krane's and heard the new song for The Road to Qatar! "Good Thing's Come In Threes" Nine times out of ten David hits the nail on the head when I hand him a lyric...well this was no exception. It was perfect. Better than I could have imagined from my dummy tune. A really fun and funny number that serves its purpose. How lucky am I to have had the Arabs put us together. Our senses of humor click and he has the skills and talent to back it all up musically. Thank you Arabs!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Qatar Revisted
The rewrites on Qatar are going well. I presented the new lyric Good Things Come in Threes to DK and he liked it! Horray. I can't wait to hear what he comes up with. It's funny and does what it needs to do for the plot. Now I just hope that with all the cutting and shuffling and rewriting (and eliminating the intermission) it's shot enough to warrent elimating the intermission. Can't tell yet.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Dubai Bye Birdie
Spent last night and today working on rewrites and cuts for The Road to Qatar! Funny how when you cut some stuff you wind up writing a whole new number that helps everything go faster (or seem to) It's been that way writing this new song "Good Things Come in Threes" I hope to have it semi-polished for tomorrow so I can present it to DK, the composer after our lecture/interview early in the AM. We will be talking about his career as a dance music arranger and showing some great vids from the TV Annie and the movie of Chicago. Then back to Dubai and Qatar.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Not so Elder-and not Hostel at all
Did one of my lectures about writing for the musical theatre for the wonderful Elderhostel group brought to nyc by ExploreNY. It was a smash today. I told about my beginnings, writing special material, Dodsworth, showed video of Hal Linden and Dee Hoty and then segued into the real life Road to Qatar story that had them roaring with laughter. It's more of a standup or one man show than a serious lecture, but ultimately wildly entertaining. I am so proud after each of these. I get to use my writing and performing skills and hone my comic timing. It's a treat!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Time after What?
Time for me to bitch a bit. Time after Time is having a reading late August and a full fledged production (albeit at a univerity but still...) in the Winter of 2010 and with my collaborator in a different state (literally and figuratively) it makes collaboration sooooo hard. We are in rewrite time and having just done work with my other collaborator on Qatar in the same room, it makes me long for the same opportunity. When this Time after Time work began lo these many years ago we were both in the same state and city but events have separated us and now I find it next to impossible to get the work done. I would NEVER want to start a show this way. But here I am stuck with working across state lines. Phone and emails are not the same as pacing a room and looking at each other's blank faces. But the work has to get done somehow...and so it will. Enough bitching.
Qatar Revisited
Had a great work session today with DK just back from a holiday. We talked over many great ideas and outlined how to no only make Road to Qatar shorter, but BETTER, which is really the idea. To make it go fast and funny and still not lose any of the elements that make it the show we love. Cutting is one thing but reconceiving and not throwing the baby out with the bathwater...well that's another story altogether. We are cutting a half of one song, 8 bars from another, one whole song, two whole reprises and drastically changing and tightening what was the finale Act I in an attempt to not have an intermission, but more importantly to have a great ride that never stops and is wildly entertaining and fun and enlightening at the same time. Not easy. But the outline is there in our heads and now it just takes the doing. Tomorrow I give one of my famous lectures about...ME...and that included (nay stars) the real life story of The Road to Qatar! so once again by telling the real story I will probably clarify our fictionalized version of it. That is my hope.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
SUNDAY AFTERNOON ON THE PHONE
Just spent almost two hours doing a phone interview for a podcast for Musicalworld. I have already done one long show for them and they played some great stuff from Time after Time, After the Fair and Night of the Hunter. This time I talked about The Road to Qatar (the musical ABOUT writing Aspire in the Middle East), Aspire (the musical we wrote FOR the middle east), Casper starring Chita Rivera (that should be the title no matter who is in it!), and Time after Time also touching on Dodsworth. This will be divided into two shows. To find this on Itunes (and you can listen to my first show or any of the others free of charge go to Itunes and seach for Musicalworld podcast. When the next shows are on I will give more direct links. Meanwhile I am exhausted talking about the past (although I did get to plug my newest show in the making Merman's Apprentice and the upcoming productions of Qatar (fall at Lyric Stage in Irving Texas) and Time after Time (winter at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA)both world premieres. Wow!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Muriel Plakenstein
By the way, Merman's Apprentice is named Muriel Plakenstein (and yes, she knows she is going to have to change that name!) You can read Part One of the story somewhere earlier in the blog. If anyone wants to see more, I will post it. I am up to page 71! When will it end?
Muriel and Sitcoms and stuff
Been working a little more on the sitcom premise...waiting to hear from my new collaborator about my new ideas. Also did some work on Merman's Apprentice, the story and Merman's Apprentice, the musical...I sent off the lyric for Muriel's opening number to the composer. I have toyed with it on and off for a while and I hope he likes enough of it to set some so that I can rewrite if necessary. It all takes place on the old Canarsie line coming in under the river to the magical Oz like place: Broadway in 1970. We already have the second song which is Merman's entrance: A Broadway Star with such non-reverential lyrics as
SHE MAY BE OLD AND HER CHINS MAY ALL SAG
MAYBE SHE LOOKS LIKE
A TRUCKER IN DRAG
BUT SHE’S_____
A BROADWAY STAR
MAYBE HER PERFUME REMINDS YOU OF BOOZE
AND SHE MAY USE LANGUAGE
A SAILOR WON’T USE
BUT SHE’S_____
A BROADWAY STAR
this goes on to include Merman making fun of herself as her autograph hounds pick up the pace...
SHE MAY WAKE UP WITH A GRUNT AND A GROW’L
MAYBE HER MAKEUP’S PUT ON WITH A TROW’LL
BUT SHE’S
A BROADWAY STAR
FORGET ALL THE STAGEHANDS SHE HAD TO DISMISS
SO WHAT IF HER CO-STARS RESIGN WHEN THEY KISS
STILL SHE’S
A BROADWAY STAR
the other two songs are Merman's semi-serious number "Taking the Veil"
IT’S LIKE
TAKING THE VEIL
EIGHT SHOWS--YOU SHOW WITHOUT FAIL
NOW MATTER HOW YOU MAY FEEL
YOU SHOW OR THE SHOW
IS A FAILURE
and Muriel's title song "Merman's Apprentice"
WHO'S GONNA BE LEARNING THE ROPES
LIKE HOW TO TAKE STAGE AND THEN MURDER THE DOPES?
AND WHO WILL GET THE SUCKERS TO STAND
WHEN SHE'S THRU?
MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
YES, MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
THAT'S WHO!
I still have to finish the story so I know how the darn thing ends. Off to the gym soon to pump and think
SHE MAY BE OLD AND HER CHINS MAY ALL SAG
MAYBE SHE LOOKS LIKE
A TRUCKER IN DRAG
BUT SHE’S_____
A BROADWAY STAR
MAYBE HER PERFUME REMINDS YOU OF BOOZE
AND SHE MAY USE LANGUAGE
A SAILOR WON’T USE
BUT SHE’S_____
A BROADWAY STAR
this goes on to include Merman making fun of herself as her autograph hounds pick up the pace...
SHE MAY WAKE UP WITH A GRUNT AND A GROW’L
MAYBE HER MAKEUP’S PUT ON WITH A TROW’LL
BUT SHE’S
A BROADWAY STAR
FORGET ALL THE STAGEHANDS SHE HAD TO DISMISS
SO WHAT IF HER CO-STARS RESIGN WHEN THEY KISS
STILL SHE’S
A BROADWAY STAR
the other two songs are Merman's semi-serious number "Taking the Veil"
IT’S LIKE
TAKING THE VEIL
EIGHT SHOWS--YOU SHOW WITHOUT FAIL
NOW MATTER HOW YOU MAY FEEL
YOU SHOW OR THE SHOW
IS A FAILURE
and Muriel's title song "Merman's Apprentice"
WHO'S GONNA BE LEARNING THE ROPES
LIKE HOW TO TAKE STAGE AND THEN MURDER THE DOPES?
AND WHO WILL GET THE SUCKERS TO STAND
WHEN SHE'S THRU?
MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
YES, MERMAN'S APPRENTICE
THAT'S WHO!
I still have to finish the story so I know how the darn thing ends. Off to the gym soon to pump and think
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
TV or Not TV
There is no question at all...TV!!! Today I met with a new collaborator and we are going to write a pilot for a sitcom targeted to LOGO. It will be Gay and Broadway (or is that redundant?) so stay tuned!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Funny Girls Minus Two
Well, Marilyn Michaels is not interested and Mimi Hines needs a lot of money to come and rehearse so Funny Girls bites the dust. NEXT!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Rewrites
I had trouble falling asleep last night thinking about how to cut The Road to Qatar. I came up with some drastic cuts, changes, etc. but they only make more problems...why is rewriting so hard...actually why is cutting so hard...actually why do I have to cut!!! This morning I had breakfast with Barbara Minkus (Jennie Grossinger herself) and we talked about a nightclub act I conjured up for her and two other semi-stars. Here's the idea
FUNNY GIRLS!
An dynamic evening starring three of the original "funny girls" who played the starring role in the smash hit Jule Styne-Bob Merrill show. Mimi Hines, Marilyn Michaels and Barbara Minkus have each had brilliant and varied careers which converged in the role of Fanny Brice. The show will start with one of the most dynamic overtures ever composed and before the applause can die down our three ladies will each be discovered in a spot singing "I'm the Greatest Star," in a mock competitive way that will kick off the evening of memories and songs not only from the score of Funny Girl (some sung solo, some duet, some trio) but also authentic Fanny Brice songs such as "Second Hand Rose" and "My Man." Each of the funny girls will get to shine in her own inimitable way, but it will be the coming together and banter that will make this a genuinely memorable event. The evening will also be tied together with brand new special material written by awarding winning songwriter Stephen Cole, who also conceived and will direct the evening. From "Don't Rain on My Parade" to "People" this dynamite evening promises to be a tour de force that will make you forget that anyone named Barbra ever played the role.
FUNNY GIRLS!
An dynamic evening starring three of the original "funny girls" who played the starring role in the smash hit Jule Styne-Bob Merrill show. Mimi Hines, Marilyn Michaels and Barbara Minkus have each had brilliant and varied careers which converged in the role of Fanny Brice. The show will start with one of the most dynamic overtures ever composed and before the applause can die down our three ladies will each be discovered in a spot singing "I'm the Greatest Star," in a mock competitive way that will kick off the evening of memories and songs not only from the score of Funny Girl (some sung solo, some duet, some trio) but also authentic Fanny Brice songs such as "Second Hand Rose" and "My Man." Each of the funny girls will get to shine in her own inimitable way, but it will be the coming together and banter that will make this a genuinely memorable event. The evening will also be tied together with brand new special material written by awarding winning songwriter Stephen Cole, who also conceived and will direct the evening. From "Don't Rain on My Parade" to "People" this dynamite evening promises to be a tour de force that will make you forget that anyone named Barbra ever played the role.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
MARCH MARCHES IN ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE STORY
Last Monday night I hosted an pre-theatre event for the Paley Media Center (formerly the Museum of Radio and TV) on West Side Story. This is the second time I have done something like this. The first was an evening devoted to Ethel Merman where I interviewed and bantered with Brian Kellow, the author of the latest Ethel Merman bio. I, of course was great friends with Ethel the last two years of her life so I contributed some of my best stories and anecdotes, not to mention some of my rare video and kinescopes to the proceedings. But that's last year. Now, I was asked to interview (very briefly) Alexander Bernstein (Leonard's son), Harvey Evans (a Broadway replacement Jet and one of the film Jets) and Eliot Feld (also a replacement for Baby John and the film Baby John). I started off with a little West Side history and then introduced Bernstein after which we showed the Ed Sullivan 1958 clip of the Cool number. After that I introduced Harvey and Eliot and asked them a few questions. They were marvelous. Lastly, we showed some of Harvey's home movies from the shooting of the movie and summed it all up. Dinner was delicous (we were at Blue Fin across from the Palace Theatre where the show is playing) and then we went off to see the show. This revival is much improved from the tryout in DC but still not the bees knees in my opinion. Still too much Spanish and not enough poetry in the staging or performances. Enough said. It opens next week and I am anxious to read the notices.
MORE FROM PLAYBILL ON LINE
Brakefield Company Will Produce New Film "Uncredited—The Marni Nixon Story"
By Andrew Gans
02 Mar 2009
 |  |
| Marni Nixon |
The Brakefield Company, a new independent film and marketing company, will produce a screen version of Marni Nixon's autobiography, according to Variety.
"Uncredited — The Marni Nixon Story" is the title of the film, which is based on Nixon's book, "I Could Have Sung All Night."
The Nixon film will mark the first project for Brakefield, the company launched by marketing executive Shawna L. Brakefield.
No casting or timetable has been announced for the Nixon film.
Nixon is perhaps best known for dubbing the vocal performances of such film stars as Audrey Hepburn (in "My Fair Lady"), Deborah Kerr (in "The King and I") and Natalie Wood (in "West Side Story"). In "I Could Have Sung All Night" — penned by Nixon with Stephen Cole — she recalls her numerous Hollywood and Broadway experiences, including working with Julie Andrews, Leonard Bernstein, Liberace, Cary Grant, Otto Preminger and Victor Borge.
Marni Nixon was most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of Nine, and her other Main Stem credits include Follies, James Joyce's The Dead and The Girl in the Pink Tights. She played Aunt Alice in the film "I Think I Do" and Sister Sophia in the motion picture of "The Sound of Music." Nixon was recently seen as Mother Abbess in the Hollywood Bowl's presentation of The Sound of Music.
Nixon was seen earlier this season in the City Center Encores! staging of Music in the Air.FROM PLAYBILL ON LINE
Film Forum Presents An Evening with Marni Nixon Feb. 23
By Andrew Gans
23 Feb 2009
| |
| Marni Nixon |
The Film Forum presents a chat with Marni Nixon — who is perhaps best known for dubbing the vocal performances of such film stars as Audrey Hepburn (in "My Fair Lady"), Deborah Kerr (in "The King and I") and Natalie Wood (in "West Side Story") — Feb. 23 at the downtown Manhattan venue.
Film Forum's Bruce Goldstein and musical theatre writer Stephen Cole, co-author of Nixon's autobiography, will interview the famed singing actress. An Evening with Marni Nixon is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM.
Marni Nixon was most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of Nine, and her other Main Stem credits include Follies, James Joyce's The Dead and The Girl in the Pink Tights. She played Aunt Alice in the film "I Think I Do" and Sister Sophia in the motion picture of "The Sound of Music." Nixon was also seen as Mother Abbess in the Hollywood Bowl's presentation of The Sound of Music. Nixon was also recently part of the cast of the City Center Encores! production of Music in the Air.
Admission is $20, $10 for Film Forum members.
Film Forum is located in Manhattan at 209 West Houston Street. For more information call (212) 727-8110 or visit www.filmforum.org.Where Did February Go?
February was a whirlwind of activity leaving me with a cold and cough. It all began on February 2 with the Drama League Gala (see the pics) at the fabled Rainbow Room. I enjoyed the evening as all I had to do was get dressed up, drink, eat, schmooze and watch the show I helped to create. The highlights were the opening, a La Cage Aux Folles Medley featuring some of the original Cagelles, Lee Roy Reems, John Weiner and others. The second highlight was the campaign number from The Will Rogers Follies featuring Keith Carradine and many of the original girls. They stagings of both of these were recreated by Cady Huffman (she appeared in both shows) and they were so much fun to watch. Chita was great as usual doing a Can Can medley that my collaborator David Krane arranged at my suggestion. All in all a very successful evening. The next day I had my first of three lectures for a wonderful Elderhostel group visiting New York and learning about theatre. The first was a lecture on post Rodgers and Hammerstein musical theatre, which I decided meant concept musicals. They enjoyed the lecture, but I am sure I could have done better if I had more time and had done the lecture before. The next one was my usual "my life in musical theatre" lecture featuring the "road to qatar" story. I killed. It was almost as if I were doing a one man show or a standup comedy act. They laughed every time I said anything. The jokes and characterization all landed the way one only dreams they will. I followed this immediately with an interview with David Krane concentrating on his dance music career and showing videos from Chicago, Annie etc. This went very well and we are going to repeat it (along with my usual Qatar thing) at the end of March. But it was exhausting. Then came the next big event of the month, An Evening with Marni Nixon at the Film Forum. This turned out to be very successful as well. I interviewed Marni, they showed great clips and even though the evening went longer than I would have expected (and I was starting to get sick...two days before I had totally lost my voice) the audience was enraptured and the head of the Film Forum was ecstatic, saying I did the best job ever hosting an event there! Marni and I signed many books (see pic) and a great time was had by all. The next day I took to my bed and the cold and cough came with a vengeance! Ah well. That same night I also had a song premiere during the David Evans concert at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium. The wonderful Klea Blackhurst sang "Taking the Veil" the first song from Merman's Apprentice to be heard in public. I am told (I couldn't be there because I was at the Film Forum) it went brilliantly and that it was the hit of the evening. I will see it on DVD and I am sure I will agree. Klea of course will make a wonderful Ethel Merman...how could she not?
Oh yes, inbetween all this was the York Theatre reading of The Road to Qatar! which, to my mind, was variable. Not perfectly cast and very under rehearsed, still it went well. As the author I cringed when lines that always get laughs got none...this is not fun. And now, we are faced with the idea of cutting the show down so that we can eliminate an intermission and play it all as a romp in one fell swoop. This is frightening and exciting at the same time. Losing about 20 minutes of material you love is not easy. Well...onward and up I guess.
Now it's March and things have slowed down again. I found out that Time after Time will get first a reading in August (end) and then a full fledged production at Point Park University in Pittsburgh in the winter of 2010. Rewrites!!!!!
Oh yes, inbetween all this was the York Theatre reading of The Road to Qatar! which, to my mind, was variable. Not perfectly cast and very under rehearsed, still it went well. As the author I cringed when lines that always get laughs got none...this is not fun. And now, we are faced with the idea of cutting the show down so that we can eliminate an intermission and play it all as a romp in one fell swoop. This is frightening and exciting at the same time. Losing about 20 minutes of material you love is not easy. Well...onward and up I guess.
Now it's March and things have slowed down again. I found out that Time after Time will get first a reading in August (end) and then a full fledged production at Point Park University in Pittsburgh in the winter of 2010. Rewrites!!!!!
Friday, January 30, 2009
An Article appearing on the Web about Monday Night
Broadway Playwright Stephen Cole Talks About 'A Musical Celebration of Broadway'
January 29, 2009 by
Will Stape
New York City's Drama League Show Features Stars Chita Rivera, Donna Murphy, Keith Carradine & Many More
Live theater lovers in the New York City area must mark their calendar. Save the date for
February 2, 2009, and grab these hot tickets while they last to a very special evening of Broadway theater entertainment. "A Musical Celebration of Broadway" features an unforgettable night of Broadway stage magic.New York City's fabled Rainbow Room will be the place to catch the Drama League's annual A Musical Celebration of Broadway. This yearly star studded gala from the Drama League is a lively festival showcase featuring some of Broadways' biggest and brightest stars, including, Chita Rivera, Donna Murphy, Christine Ebersole, Keith Carradine, Cady Huffman, Cheynne Jackson and Nancy Opel. In honor of the 25th anniversary of The Drama League Directors Project, the event will pay tribute to producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley.I caught up with Stephen Cole, the writer of the show, to learn more about the special event. For him, this year's show above all else most symbolizes, "Broadway's fighting spirit. In these tough financial times, the community is coming out to not only honor a great producer, but to raise money for a great theatrical cause, the Drama League's Director's Project. It also symbolizes a busy period for me!"It's not the first time Mr. Cole has written a Drama League benefit, but it's a special first in this regard, "It's the first time I've written a producer tribute. We've done tributes to stars like Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Rosie O'Donnell and composers like Cy Coleman. Having a producer (Stewart Lane & Bonnie Comely) to honor is an interesting forum. It's also the 25th Anniversary of the Director's Project (where the money goes) and we're honoring several of the most successful directors to come out of that program. I'm most excited about a reunion of original cast members from La Cage Aux Folles (starring Lee Roy Reems & original Cagelles) and The Will Rogers Follies (Keith Carradine and girls) to recreate numbers from those great show, which incidentally played at the Palace Theatre which our honoree owns! Personally, I'm excited to be working again with Chita Rivera, who starred in my musical Casper.The evening will be chock full of memorable moments, but Mr. Cole is definitely thrilled about a few specific ones, "I can't wait to be in the room again with Christine Ebersole who is a doll and with whom I have worked several times. I'm also looking forward to Donna Murphy being paired up with Jackie Hoffman to sing the show stopping The Grass is Always Greener from Woman of the Year.Stephen Cole is a veteran of the Drama League benefits, and the importance of the organization still rings strong and true with him, "It's been around forever. I have written about 18 of these benefits. They award the oldest theatrical prize, the distinguished actor award. But most of all, this Director's Project has given the theatre (and continues to) many great directors who should be indebted to them for their careers."Despite the bad economy, Cole makes an honest and reasonable case for buying tickets. "Well, this show is going to be great. For people who can afford to buy seats for the dinner and show (we are talking rich people here), its a great tax write off! They really are contributing to the future of the American Theater."Cole has many fond memories of writing the Drama League shows over the years. His particpation and friendship with the stars has led to some fantastic opportunities.
I have had the pleasure of writing special material songs for many great artists, consequently getting to know and work with them further. People like Marlo Thomas (I write special songs for her to this day and I wrote That Book about That Girl because of our friendship), Tyne Daly, Christine Baranski, Liz Smith, Chita Rivera (it was because of my tribute to her that I cast her in Casper), Rosie O'Donnell and others. It's been a joy to watch the parade of stars do incredible work first at the Pierre Hotel and now at the Rainbow Room. Being the writer of the event, I actually get to sit down and watch the show and like everyone else, I am looking forward to be dazzled on Feb. 2nd by an array of talent who donate their time...talent that you seldom see in one room. Stars that money can't buy! But they will all be there to honor Stewart and Bonnie and to help the Drama League. I will be very proud to be part of it."When looking over Broadway's current crop of shows, Stephen Cole can pick modern highlights, "It's a hard thing to choose my favorites...since so many shows just closed. I really enjoyed In the Heights for it's vitality and heart. I loved August Osage County (saw it 3 times), but the best show would have to be Billy Elliot (I saw it twice in London and twice here). It's got it all. A very powerful book combined with unique staging. It's inspiring, serious, funny, exhilarating. What musical theater should be. Totally theatrical experience."Tickets, priced $900-$2,500 - For more information visit www.dramaleague.org.Proceeds benefit The Drama League - founded in 1916 as "an association of theater professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theater and has since then developed into the theater's premiere service organization."
January 29, 2009 by
Will Stape
New York City's Drama League Show Features Stars Chita Rivera, Donna Murphy, Keith Carradine & Many More
Live theater lovers in the New York City area must mark their calendar. Save the date for
February 2, 2009, and grab these hot tickets while they last to a very special evening of Broadway theater entertainment. "A Musical Celebration of Broadway" features an unforgettable night of Broadway stage magic.New York City's fabled Rainbow Room will be the place to catch the Drama League's annual A Musical Celebration of Broadway. This yearly star studded gala from the Drama League is a lively festival showcase featuring some of Broadways' biggest and brightest stars, including, Chita Rivera, Donna Murphy, Christine Ebersole, Keith Carradine, Cady Huffman, Cheynne Jackson and Nancy Opel. In honor of the 25th anniversary of The Drama League Directors Project, the event will pay tribute to producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley.I caught up with Stephen Cole, the writer of the show, to learn more about the special event. For him, this year's show above all else most symbolizes, "Broadway's fighting spirit. In these tough financial times, the community is coming out to not only honor a great producer, but to raise money for a great theatrical cause, the Drama League's Director's Project. It also symbolizes a busy period for me!"It's not the first time Mr. Cole has written a Drama League benefit, but it's a special first in this regard, "It's the first time I've written a producer tribute. We've done tributes to stars like Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Rosie O'Donnell and composers like Cy Coleman. Having a producer (Stewart Lane & Bonnie Comely) to honor is an interesting forum. It's also the 25th Anniversary of the Director's Project (where the money goes) and we're honoring several of the most successful directors to come out of that program. I'm most excited about a reunion of original cast members from La Cage Aux Folles (starring Lee Roy Reems & original Cagelles) and The Will Rogers Follies (Keith Carradine and girls) to recreate numbers from those great show, which incidentally played at the Palace Theatre which our honoree owns! Personally, I'm excited to be working again with Chita Rivera, who starred in my musical Casper.The evening will be chock full of memorable moments, but Mr. Cole is definitely thrilled about a few specific ones, "I can't wait to be in the room again with Christine Ebersole who is a doll and with whom I have worked several times. I'm also looking forward to Donna Murphy being paired up with Jackie Hoffman to sing the show stopping The Grass is Always Greener from Woman of the Year.Stephen Cole is a veteran of the Drama League benefits, and the importance of the organization still rings strong and true with him, "It's been around forever. I have written about 18 of these benefits. They award the oldest theatrical prize, the distinguished actor award. But most of all, this Director's Project has given the theatre (and continues to) many great directors who should be indebted to them for their careers."Despite the bad economy, Cole makes an honest and reasonable case for buying tickets. "Well, this show is going to be great. For people who can afford to buy seats for the dinner and show (we are talking rich people here), its a great tax write off! They really are contributing to the future of the American Theater."Cole has many fond memories of writing the Drama League shows over the years. His particpation and friendship with the stars has led to some fantastic opportunities.
I have had the pleasure of writing special material songs for many great artists, consequently getting to know and work with them further. People like Marlo Thomas (I write special songs for her to this day and I wrote That Book about That Girl because of our friendship), Tyne Daly, Christine Baranski, Liz Smith, Chita Rivera (it was because of my tribute to her that I cast her in Casper), Rosie O'Donnell and others. It's been a joy to watch the parade of stars do incredible work first at the Pierre Hotel and now at the Rainbow Room. Being the writer of the event, I actually get to sit down and watch the show and like everyone else, I am looking forward to be dazzled on Feb. 2nd by an array of talent who donate their time...talent that you seldom see in one room. Stars that money can't buy! But they will all be there to honor Stewart and Bonnie and to help the Drama League. I will be very proud to be part of it."When looking over Broadway's current crop of shows, Stephen Cole can pick modern highlights, "It's a hard thing to choose my favorites...since so many shows just closed. I really enjoyed In the Heights for it's vitality and heart. I loved August Osage County (saw it 3 times), but the best show would have to be Billy Elliot (I saw it twice in London and twice here). It's got it all. A very powerful book combined with unique staging. It's inspiring, serious, funny, exhilarating. What musical theater should be. Totally theatrical experience."Tickets, priced $900-$2,500 - For more information visit www.dramaleague.org.Proceeds benefit The Drama League - founded in 1916 as "an association of theater professionals and patrons dedicated to encouraging the finest in professional theater and has since then developed into the theater's premiere service organization."
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Donna and Jackie Together Again for the First Time
Met today with Donna Murphy and Jackie Hoffman to read through the lines I wrote leading into The Grass is Always Greener and they couldn't have been lovelier. They made the lines their own and changed words to suit them and made it seem totally natural. This is what I love about great pros. Now to finish the rest of the script and be done with it! Chita tomorrow.
Monday, January 26, 2009
One Week to the Drama League!
Well, it's one week away and I am still writing the script for the Drama League Gala...of course, things change by the hour. No Tony from West Side Story (good thing I didn't write his introduction!)...the hardest part of today's work was trying to smoothly introduce The Grass is Always Greener from Woman of the Year. Donna Murphy and Jackie Hoffman will sing it but the trick is to set the song up so that we get the references. It's about a celebrity and a housewife and how each thinks the other's life is wonderful. But Donna and Jackie are both actresses, so I am making things up...who knows if it will work. Maybe it's just better to say this song was about this and here we are playing these roles for you and doing the number. Stop being so clever? No! I will never stop trying. Still I haven't sent the script to anyone yet. Not sure, not sure...ah, the trouble with indecision.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Drama League Follies
Oh yes, you finally write the sketch for the opening of the show and the actors you need aren't available so the brilliant work you finally did is in the trash! Nice!
The Casting Game and other Follies
You think you might have a cast for your reading and suddenly your email comes in and the guy you really wanted to play Jeffrey in The Road to Qatar! can't make his schedule work out. So you go to the next choice and pray you haven't waited too long and that he doesn't have another committment...you get a Mansour and he has a one day conflict, so you say, "don't worry about that day, sure we can work around you and who needs a whole 29 hours to put on a show anyway?" Ugh!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
And Marni Makes...Great!
Tonight I went to see Marni Nixon in her nightclub act at the Metropolitan Room...well it really was a trio act called Menage featuring Sarah Rice (30 years after creating Johanna in Sweeney Todd on Broadway). Although I tend to stay away from cabaret these days (most cause of the prices!) I really had a great time. Marni is singing beautifully and even though she seems to be reaching for lyrics it actually comes across as sponteneity, as if she is making them up as she goes along...most of the time this works well. Brava Marni. Tomorrow I go to the Film Forum offices and have a meeting about her tribute. No one deserves it more.
Voices from the Past
Today the phone rang and it was Julia Hansen calling from Aspen. I have known Julia for many years, as she was the president of the Drama League and 25 years ago created the Director's Project and for many of those years helped to produce the Gala that I wrote scripts and special material for. This year I am doing what I think is my 18th or so Gala and we are doing a tribute to the 25th Anniversary...it seems Julia is flying in for the event and has been asked to speak. I think that's dandy. The Gala is not selling tickets this year (900 bucks!) like it used to and the Rainbow Room might go out of business before we even get our performers in there...still we march on. Further good news today (was that good?) comes from the casting front...we heard back from Val Fagan, with whom I worked (I have a vague memory) 15 or so years ago on Dodsworth...she might be the answer to our Nazirah prayers for The Road to Qatar...maybe, just maybe we can get this reading cast and go on to the important stuff. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Still Casting!
Okay, today was better. We met a wonderful actor who gave us what we needed for the role of Jeffrey in his audition. He is younger than the actual character but I was so convinced by his humor, acting and singing that I knew I wanted him to be in our reading. We called and wrote but haven't heard back yet, but fingers are firmly crossed. I also did some of the writing I have been neglecting, including stuff for the Drama League Gala and most of the very short screenplay I am doing as a favor for a favorite producer. I hope I am not too late. I want to finish it in the morning and email it off and get it off my desk. This is the best part of writing...having written.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
CASTING A LINE?
When did it happen? When did writing a musical mean you needed to do everything else? Like casting for a reading? I have been doing this a long long time and I can remember when casting for a reading was simpler (wasn't everything?). Maybe that's because there weren't so many readings instead of productions. Maybe now every actor is sick to death of making 100 dollars for 29 hours of learning a new show (oh to write a play where music doesn't have to be learned) and putting it on its feet in front of an audience who expects it to be as good as if rehearsed for weeks. And readings frequently are as good. But oh the agony.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
MONDAY EVENING WITH MARNI AND STEPHEN
FEBRUARY 23 MON
An Evening with Marni Nixon
Question: what do these three great movie musical roles have in common? Deborah Kerr’s Anna in The King and I, Natalie Wood’s Maria in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn’s Eliza in My Fair Lady. Answer: the glorious singing voice of Marni Nixon, who dubbed the vocals for each of these musically-demanding parts and, despite the absence of screen credit, soon became famous as “the ghostess with the mostest,”as Time dubbed her. But, on top of those three legendary roles, she also dubbed the singing voices of Margaret O’Brien (twice — once in Hindi!) and Jeanne Crain, hummed for Janet Leigh, and even touched up the high notes for Marilyn Monroe. (She also sang on screen as Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music). But Marni’s life as a “ghost” is only a small part of an extraordinary career that stretches back to her L.A. childhood. A favorite on the concert and opera stages, she has worked side by side with such legendsas Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Pierre Boulez, Charles Ives, and Arnold Schoenberg (not to mention Victor Borge, Liberace, and Lawrence Welk!), while maintaining a parallel career on the musical stage. In recent years, Marni has appeared on Broadway in James Joyce’s The Dead, Follies, and Nine and has long been a much sought-after vocal teacher. Tonight, Marni Nixon will appear in person for an onstage interview with Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein and award-winning musical theater writer Stephen Cole, co-author (or “ghost writer”) of Marni’s frank autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, which will be available for sale at Film Forum.
Admission: $20, $10 for Film Forum members. 7:30
An Evening with Marni Nixon
Question: what do these three great movie musical roles have in common? Deborah Kerr’s Anna in The King and I, Natalie Wood’s Maria in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn’s Eliza in My Fair Lady. Answer: the glorious singing voice of Marni Nixon, who dubbed the vocals for each of these musically-demanding parts and, despite the absence of screen credit, soon became famous as “the ghostess with the mostest,”as Time dubbed her. But, on top of those three legendary roles, she also dubbed the singing voices of Margaret O’Brien (twice — once in Hindi!) and Jeanne Crain, hummed for Janet Leigh, and even touched up the high notes for Marilyn Monroe. (She also sang on screen as Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music). But Marni’s life as a “ghost” is only a small part of an extraordinary career that stretches back to her L.A. childhood. A favorite on the concert and opera stages, she has worked side by side with such legendsas Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Pierre Boulez, Charles Ives, and Arnold Schoenberg (not to mention Victor Borge, Liberace, and Lawrence Welk!), while maintaining a parallel career on the musical stage. In recent years, Marni has appeared on Broadway in James Joyce’s The Dead, Follies, and Nine and has long been a much sought-after vocal teacher. Tonight, Marni Nixon will appear in person for an onstage interview with Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein and award-winning musical theater writer Stephen Cole, co-author (or “ghost writer”) of Marni’s frank autobiography, I Could Have Sung All Night, which will be available for sale at Film Forum.
Admission: $20, $10 for Film Forum members. 7:30
Saturday, January 17, 2009
MERMAN'S APPRENTICE PART I
Below is part one of Merman's Apprentice. I started writing it as a joke because I had written a show called Merlin's Apprentice and thought Merman was more of a magician...then I got hooked on the characters and story. Now she will be a musical...enjoy!
MERMAN’S APPRENTICE
By Stephen Cole
Part 1
Muriel Plakenstein had run away from home at last.
The Double L train had been her escape for a long time now, but this time the trip from Canarsie to Manhattan would be permanent. While most twelve year olds were safe in school, Muriel was deciding whether to change trains at Union Square or at Eighth Avenue. Muriel was not like most twelve year olds. It’s like everyone said about her, “she’s older than her years.” And Muriel wanted to be a Broadway Star. She could sing. Boy, could she sing! And she was loud too! She could imitate anyone on any of her cast albums. One day she was Carol Channing hitting the lowest of bass notes in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and the next she was John Raitt hitting the highest of highs in at the end of “Soliloquy” in “Carousel” (the Lincoln Center version from the RCA record club her mother belonged to). Muriel didn’t care if she sang the men’s songs or the women’s, as long as it was a musical.
Her little friends hadn’t always understood Muriel. This was 1970 and not one of her little chums even knew what a “My Fair Lady” was. Muriel was different. From the time she saw her first “Wizard of Oz” on TV she knew. And when her dad brought home the cast album of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (one of his co-workers bought it by mistake, thinking Marilyn Monroe was in it…now what was THAT about?) she was totally hooked and cried, wheedled and begged for the money each week to buy a new record. When she was eight or nine, she even cut school and took three busses to find a rare copy of “What Makes Sammy Run?” with Steve Lawrence. Muriel was determined one day to BE Steve Lawrence. Or Carol Channing. Or even Bernice Massey.
Oddly enough, among all the cast albums was a soundtrack. For those of you who don’t distinguish between the two (and most record stores are guilty of this horror) Soundtracks are only the tracks from the MOVIE versions of the great shows. These were distained by Muriel, as she knew that most of the voices in the movie versions of shows were dubbed anyway. She could see their lips moving one way and hear the voices singing another. Muriel was shrewd. But there it was, buried in a closet, the soundtrack of “Gypsy.” Muriel liked it a lot although she didn’t know who was singing for whom. To her ear sometimes the women singing most of the songs sounded good and sometimes she didn’t. She tried to compare her voice on that record with her voice on another recently acquired recording of her Broadway Musical, “Wonderful Town”, but didn’t have two record players to play them side by side, so the experiment went untested.
One day she turned on the radio and heard one of those songs from her record of “Gypsy.” But it wasn’t the voice she was used to. It was something unbelievable. Like a trumpet call with the clearest words shooting out at her and an emotional charge the likes of which Muriel never had heard before. The announcer announced that this was the Original Broadway Cast of “Gypsy” starring the great Ethel Merman. Ethel Merman!
Muriel had seen her on TV a couple of times. On reruns of “The Lucy Show” or “That Girl.” (She would watch these in the mornings on the occasions she played sick and got out of school.) But Muriel had never heard her sing like this. The next time Muriel’s father took her on one of their Thursday jaunts to the Green Acres shopping center on Long Island, Muriel begged, pleaded and wheedled five dollars out of him and bought the record. When she got home she played it through the huge stereo headphones that covered half of her head. Muriel was hooked. Forget about Channing, Lawrence (Steve not Gertrude) or Raitt. She just HAD to be Ethel Merman.
And on that sunny June day in 1970, Muriel Plakenstein (she would have to change that!) watched as the stops in Brooklyn gave way to the darkness of the tunnel that connected the old world with the new one. And as the old train clanked and sputtered along underground, she dreamed.
In her knapsack were two-dozen reel-to-reel tapes that she had made of her favorite albums. She couldn’t very well take the records themselves nor, unfortunately could she bring the enormous reel-to-reel tape deck that her father had bought her for her twelfth birthday. She would send for them later. When she was settled in her new and glamorous apartment. Just having the tapes with her made her feel better.
The fact that Muriel had only 8 dollars and 49 cents on her didn’t deter her at all. Soon she would be the world’s first twelve-year-old Broadway Star and the money would come rolling in. But she would have to be frugal for the few days it might take to make it big.
Now, don’t imagine that Muriel didn’t know what she was doing. Muriel had her copies of Show Business and Backstage. These newspapers had all the listings of what was auditioning, who was interviewing…the works. Muriel was not some little amateur. Hadn’t she wowed them last summer at the bungalow colony in the Catskills when she sang the entire Bench Scene from “Carousel” by herself? Without any accompaniment, thank you very much! And when she did her encore of the reprise of “Show Business” from her newly bought LP of “Annie Get Your Gun” (the Lincoln Center version) didn’t everyone cheer? Of course they did! A little Merman they called her. Muriel was so happy then. And now she was about to embark on the rest of her life.
After changing trains at 8th Avenue, she got off at 42nd Street. Muriel finally emerged into the light of 44th and 8th (her father had shown her how to sit in the front of the train so that you came out two blocks higher than the stop). As she came out of the subway the marquees of 44th Street hit her right where she lived. But the one right in front of her eyes was one that had been there for what seemed like her whole life: “Hello, Dolly!”
“Hello, Dolly!” was like an old friend to Muriel. It was the first show her father took her to see. She had been seven years old. 1965. It was the year her mother died and Muriel’s dad was really trying to be both a mom and a dad. And he wasn’t even really that good at either. But every Saturday he dutifully took Muriel into the city and they went to Radio City and saw the movie and the show. The Rockettes bored Muriel and she thought the shows were so stupid. The movies were usually fun and Doris Day seemed to star in all of them.
One December Saturday afternoon, though, the movie at Radio City looked boring and the on stage attraction was the Nativity! Or the Navity as Muriel called it. Well Moe Plakenstein wasn’t about to expose his little girl to that! “Jesus Christ! No way!” So they wandered the streets for a while and before long found themselves on 44th Street in front of the St. James Theatre where the marquee announced Ginger Rogers in “Hello, Dolly!”
Muriel: “Why don’t we see that movie?”
Dad: “That’s not a movie. It’s a show.”
Muriel: (Begging, pleading and wheedling) “Well, why can’t we see it? I want to see it! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!”
Dad: “Let’s see what the prices are.”
Well, it seemed that for three dollars (which was Muriel’s father paid for movies most of the time) you could sit way upstairs and so Muriel’s dad grudgingly bought them two tickets and began the climb up the flights and flights of stairs to the last balcony (there were two or three) of the theatre. They were given little magazines that were called Playbills and Muriel held on to hers like it was gold. She held it so tightly that to this day there is a tear where her thumb and forefinger grabbed it. And when the lights went down and the orchestra played, she knew she was home.
And now all these many years later, here she was outside that very same theatre that started it all for her. Except that this time Ginger Rogers’ name was gone. Emblazoned over the Hello and the Dolly this time was Ethel and Merman. Oh my God! There it was!
Muriel had never even dared to hope to see Ethel Merman in a Broadway Show. Hadn’t she heard with her own ears and seen with her own eyes when Ethel Merman was on Johnny Carson? Didn’t she hear her proclaim, “No… No more Broadway. Now it’s time for just me. Now it’s time for Ethel?” Or some such thing. But here was her name in red and white. Muriel’s heart beat faster and faster as she pulled out her money from her pocket to count it for the twentieth time today.
Maybe Muriel could buy a ticket and see Ethel. This very day. But no. Today was Thursday and there were only matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday.
And Muriel supposed that ticket prices must have gone up since those early days. They might even cost four or five dollars now.
And Muriel needed to conserve her resources. A girl had to eat didn’t she? And just then Muriel’s stomach started to rumble. Muriel was hungry. It was almost noon. But before Muriel could even begin to think about where she might get some lunch, she heard the voice.
“Don’t be an asshole, Russell. We’re going to Sardi’s and that’s the end of that!
Muriel had been looking down on the ground when she heard the voice. When she looked up there in the living and fire-breathing flesh was Ethel Merman. Most of Muriel’s friend’s wouldn’t know this woman with the big red hair from their mother’s hairdresser, but Muriel was not like the others. Muriel knew that Ethel Merman was the First Lady of the American Musical Theatre. Muriel had looked her up at the Canarsie branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. She had been in so many Broadway Musicals that Muriel had to memorize them.
GIRL CRAZY GEORGE WHITE SCANDALS TAKE A CHANCE ANYTHING GOES RED HOT AND BLUE STARS IN YOUR EYES DUBARRY WAS A LADY PANAMA HATTIE SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS ANNIE GET YOUR GUN CALL ME MADAM GYPSY …the names ran through her mind every night as she drifted off to sleep. She had memorized them like other kids memorized their multiplication tables. Muriel knew what was important. There was one that Muriel kept forgetting though. But the library never said anything about “Hello, Dolly!” And yet there was her name and here she was!
And out of the mouth of Muriel’s dream come true came, “Move your ass, Russell. I’m not eating alone!” Muriel didn’t know who Russell was, but she saw him cower, nod and move his ass as Merman stormed down the street toward Sardi’s. Muriel followed behind them at a respectful distance. As they approached the restaurant a slightly crazy and disheveled looking man jumped out from a doorway and pushed an autograph book in front of the great star’s face. She automatically whacked it with her right arm and sent the autograph book flying into a puddle in the gutter. Those clarion tones proclaimed:
“No autographs! Get the fuck out of my way!”
Muriel’s mouth fell open. Not since her father broke his arm falling down the stairs after slipping on the foldout slipcover of “I Had A Ball” (which Muriel found in a flea market in Paramus, New Jersey for one dollar, thank you very much!) did Muriel hear such language.
Muriel was astounded! Muriel was astonished!
Muriel was thrilled!
“Wow!” said the little girl.
“What did you say?” said the big loud voice. Muriel turned around thinking that it must be someone else she was shouting at. But no, Merman was talking to Muriel.
“I said ‘wow!’” “That’s what I thought you said.” “Are you really her?” Muriel asked with the kind of innocence that only she possessed (at least on 44th St. in front of Sardi’s!)
“This kid’s cute, Russell. She kind of reminds me of…never mind.”
To Muriel “Russell” seemed very tall. Muriel found out later that Russell was one of Ethel’s friends and, although he was too old for the part, was appearing with her in her new production of “Hello, Dolly!” For now, he was just this amazingly tall and handsome man who wearing horn rimmed glasses like her Dad wore before he got the contact lenses. Russell also seemed kind.
“Let’s take her to lunch,” bellowed Russell in a voice that sounded a bit like Merman’s. Muriel wondered if they were related, but before she could even form that question in her mind, the great Merman had said, “Sure why not come on kid you look hungry Vincent you look wonderful great haircut how’s the wife table for three!”
And in a flash Muriel was sitting at a red banquet at the best table with a view in the best room of the best restaurant Broadway had ever known.
Ethel: “So what’s your name?”
Muriel: “Muriel Plakenstein.”
Ethel: “You’re gonna have to change that!”
Muriel: “That’s what I told my Dad.”
The waiter brought three large menus to the table but Ethel shooed them away. “Bring us the Actor’s Menu,” she bellowed at the waiter. After the waiter was out of earshot (was that possible?) Ethel continued. “Just because you star in a show doesn’t mean that you’re made of money or that you should waste it. Vincent has a perfectly good menu with lower prices that’s made for starving actors.” Muriel never knew that. Muriel was learning.
The actual eating of the lunch was a blur to Muriel as she was too busy listening to Ethel and Russell talking. Muriel would be able to remember nothing of the cuisine, but every word that was uttered was emblazoned in her memory forever. Once in a while Ethel would ask Muriel her opinion on something and Muriel would answer to the best of her ability. Ethel always smiled and nodded as if Muriel really knew. Muriel wasn’t nervous at all and seemed to be in her element.
Finally, desert was discussed. Ethel was astounded that Muriel just wasn’t keen on anything desert-wise.
“You don’t want ice cream,” Ethel blared. “You don’t want chocolate cake! What the fuck DO you want?”
“I want to be a Broadway Star,” replied Muriel, with a smile that could melt the already melted butter that the waiter took away.
And before Ethel and Russ could register a reaction, Muriel launched into a clear, clean and shockingly accurate imitation of Ethel Merman in “Call Me Madam”:
“You don’t need analyzing, it is not so surprising that you feel very strange but nice!”
“Wow, Ethel,” exclaimed Russell, “she sounds just like you. But young!”
As Ethel and Russ (for this is what Muriel was asked to call them from now on) exited the restaurant into the blinding sunlight of 44th Street, Muriel was sad. It’s not that she wasn’t happy and grateful for the delicious lunch or excited about meeting her idol and Russ. It was that she now realized that it was over. Why do wonderful things go so fast and end so soon and school seems to take forever? Muriel had pondered this question before. But never outside of Sardis on the way to dropping Ethel and Russ off at the stage door of “Hello, Dolly!”
Muriel was silent as they walked up the street. Ethel and Russell were muttering under their breath, but because of Ethel’s loud voice, Muriel heard a few scattered phrases:
“Who the hell cares what they think? Merrick won’t be there!”
“Who cares about the stage manager?”
“Taking an earring at Lamstons is NOT stealing, for God’s sake!”
“Then it’s settled!”
Muriel’s ears perked up most at the line about taking something not really meaning you were a thief. Muriel had kind of taken things too. Well, not exactly taken…all right she had switched a couple of price tags on records so that she could get two (or three) instead of one. When her father asked she would tell him there was a big sale at Sam Goody’s. The truth of it was that Muriel had found a roll of 69 cent stickers on the floor of the store one day and has been using them ever since to keep her record collection up to date. So Ethel and Muriel had stuff in common. Neat and a half! While Muriel pondered this, she didn’t realize that the other parts of the whispered (and shouted) conversation would change her life forever.
There they were: the two tall ones and Muriel in the alley and right in front of the stage door of the St. James Theatre. Muriel put her hand out to shake theirs and say goodbye, but no one took it. Ethel just said, “come on kid, you’re coming to rehearsal with me!”
Muriel couldn’t believe her ears, but she knew that if she obeyed the clarion tones she was going to be in for the time of her life.
By Stephen Cole
Part 1
Muriel Plakenstein had run away from home at last.
The Double L train had been her escape for a long time now, but this time the trip from Canarsie to Manhattan would be permanent. While most twelve year olds were safe in school, Muriel was deciding whether to change trains at Union Square or at Eighth Avenue. Muriel was not like most twelve year olds. It’s like everyone said about her, “she’s older than her years.” And Muriel wanted to be a Broadway Star. She could sing. Boy, could she sing! And she was loud too! She could imitate anyone on any of her cast albums. One day she was Carol Channing hitting the lowest of bass notes in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and the next she was John Raitt hitting the highest of highs in at the end of “Soliloquy” in “Carousel” (the Lincoln Center version from the RCA record club her mother belonged to). Muriel didn’t care if she sang the men’s songs or the women’s, as long as it was a musical.
Her little friends hadn’t always understood Muriel. This was 1970 and not one of her little chums even knew what a “My Fair Lady” was. Muriel was different. From the time she saw her first “Wizard of Oz” on TV she knew. And when her dad brought home the cast album of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (one of his co-workers bought it by mistake, thinking Marilyn Monroe was in it…now what was THAT about?) she was totally hooked and cried, wheedled and begged for the money each week to buy a new record. When she was eight or nine, she even cut school and took three busses to find a rare copy of “What Makes Sammy Run?” with Steve Lawrence. Muriel was determined one day to BE Steve Lawrence. Or Carol Channing. Or even Bernice Massey.
Oddly enough, among all the cast albums was a soundtrack. For those of you who don’t distinguish between the two (and most record stores are guilty of this horror) Soundtracks are only the tracks from the MOVIE versions of the great shows. These were distained by Muriel, as she knew that most of the voices in the movie versions of shows were dubbed anyway. She could see their lips moving one way and hear the voices singing another. Muriel was shrewd. But there it was, buried in a closet, the soundtrack of “Gypsy.” Muriel liked it a lot although she didn’t know who was singing for whom. To her ear sometimes the women singing most of the songs sounded good and sometimes she didn’t. She tried to compare her voice on that record with her voice on another recently acquired recording of her Broadway Musical, “Wonderful Town”, but didn’t have two record players to play them side by side, so the experiment went untested.
One day she turned on the radio and heard one of those songs from her record of “Gypsy.” But it wasn’t the voice she was used to. It was something unbelievable. Like a trumpet call with the clearest words shooting out at her and an emotional charge the likes of which Muriel never had heard before. The announcer announced that this was the Original Broadway Cast of “Gypsy” starring the great Ethel Merman. Ethel Merman!
Muriel had seen her on TV a couple of times. On reruns of “The Lucy Show” or “That Girl.” (She would watch these in the mornings on the occasions she played sick and got out of school.) But Muriel had never heard her sing like this. The next time Muriel’s father took her on one of their Thursday jaunts to the Green Acres shopping center on Long Island, Muriel begged, pleaded and wheedled five dollars out of him and bought the record. When she got home she played it through the huge stereo headphones that covered half of her head. Muriel was hooked. Forget about Channing, Lawrence (Steve not Gertrude) or Raitt. She just HAD to be Ethel Merman.
And on that sunny June day in 1970, Muriel Plakenstein (she would have to change that!) watched as the stops in Brooklyn gave way to the darkness of the tunnel that connected the old world with the new one. And as the old train clanked and sputtered along underground, she dreamed.
In her knapsack were two-dozen reel-to-reel tapes that she had made of her favorite albums. She couldn’t very well take the records themselves nor, unfortunately could she bring the enormous reel-to-reel tape deck that her father had bought her for her twelfth birthday. She would send for them later. When she was settled in her new and glamorous apartment. Just having the tapes with her made her feel better.
The fact that Muriel had only 8 dollars and 49 cents on her didn’t deter her at all. Soon she would be the world’s first twelve-year-old Broadway Star and the money would come rolling in. But she would have to be frugal for the few days it might take to make it big.
Now, don’t imagine that Muriel didn’t know what she was doing. Muriel had her copies of Show Business and Backstage. These newspapers had all the listings of what was auditioning, who was interviewing…the works. Muriel was not some little amateur. Hadn’t she wowed them last summer at the bungalow colony in the Catskills when she sang the entire Bench Scene from “Carousel” by herself? Without any accompaniment, thank you very much! And when she did her encore of the reprise of “Show Business” from her newly bought LP of “Annie Get Your Gun” (the Lincoln Center version) didn’t everyone cheer? Of course they did! A little Merman they called her. Muriel was so happy then. And now she was about to embark on the rest of her life.
After changing trains at 8th Avenue, she got off at 42nd Street. Muriel finally emerged into the light of 44th and 8th (her father had shown her how to sit in the front of the train so that you came out two blocks higher than the stop). As she came out of the subway the marquees of 44th Street hit her right where she lived. But the one right in front of her eyes was one that had been there for what seemed like her whole life: “Hello, Dolly!”
“Hello, Dolly!” was like an old friend to Muriel. It was the first show her father took her to see. She had been seven years old. 1965. It was the year her mother died and Muriel’s dad was really trying to be both a mom and a dad. And he wasn’t even really that good at either. But every Saturday he dutifully took Muriel into the city and they went to Radio City and saw the movie and the show. The Rockettes bored Muriel and she thought the shows were so stupid. The movies were usually fun and Doris Day seemed to star in all of them.
One December Saturday afternoon, though, the movie at Radio City looked boring and the on stage attraction was the Nativity! Or the Navity as Muriel called it. Well Moe Plakenstein wasn’t about to expose his little girl to that! “Jesus Christ! No way!” So they wandered the streets for a while and before long found themselves on 44th Street in front of the St. James Theatre where the marquee announced Ginger Rogers in “Hello, Dolly!”
Muriel: “Why don’t we see that movie?”
Dad: “That’s not a movie. It’s a show.”
Muriel: (Begging, pleading and wheedling) “Well, why can’t we see it? I want to see it! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!”
Dad: “Let’s see what the prices are.”
Well, it seemed that for three dollars (which was Muriel’s father paid for movies most of the time) you could sit way upstairs and so Muriel’s dad grudgingly bought them two tickets and began the climb up the flights and flights of stairs to the last balcony (there were two or three) of the theatre. They were given little magazines that were called Playbills and Muriel held on to hers like it was gold. She held it so tightly that to this day there is a tear where her thumb and forefinger grabbed it. And when the lights went down and the orchestra played, she knew she was home.
And now all these many years later, here she was outside that very same theatre that started it all for her. Except that this time Ginger Rogers’ name was gone. Emblazoned over the Hello and the Dolly this time was Ethel and Merman. Oh my God! There it was!
Muriel had never even dared to hope to see Ethel Merman in a Broadway Show. Hadn’t she heard with her own ears and seen with her own eyes when Ethel Merman was on Johnny Carson? Didn’t she hear her proclaim, “No… No more Broadway. Now it’s time for just me. Now it’s time for Ethel?” Or some such thing. But here was her name in red and white. Muriel’s heart beat faster and faster as she pulled out her money from her pocket to count it for the twentieth time today.
Maybe Muriel could buy a ticket and see Ethel. This very day. But no. Today was Thursday and there were only matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and sometimes Sunday.
And Muriel supposed that ticket prices must have gone up since those early days. They might even cost four or five dollars now.
And Muriel needed to conserve her resources. A girl had to eat didn’t she? And just then Muriel’s stomach started to rumble. Muriel was hungry. It was almost noon. But before Muriel could even begin to think about where she might get some lunch, she heard the voice.
“Don’t be an asshole, Russell. We’re going to Sardi’s and that’s the end of that!
Muriel had been looking down on the ground when she heard the voice. When she looked up there in the living and fire-breathing flesh was Ethel Merman. Most of Muriel’s friend’s wouldn’t know this woman with the big red hair from their mother’s hairdresser, but Muriel was not like the others. Muriel knew that Ethel Merman was the First Lady of the American Musical Theatre. Muriel had looked her up at the Canarsie branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. She had been in so many Broadway Musicals that Muriel had to memorize them.
GIRL CRAZY GEORGE WHITE SCANDALS TAKE A CHANCE ANYTHING GOES RED HOT AND BLUE STARS IN YOUR EYES DUBARRY WAS A LADY PANAMA HATTIE SOMETHING FOR THE BOYS ANNIE GET YOUR GUN CALL ME MADAM GYPSY …the names ran through her mind every night as she drifted off to sleep. She had memorized them like other kids memorized their multiplication tables. Muriel knew what was important. There was one that Muriel kept forgetting though. But the library never said anything about “Hello, Dolly!” And yet there was her name and here she was!
And out of the mouth of Muriel’s dream come true came, “Move your ass, Russell. I’m not eating alone!” Muriel didn’t know who Russell was, but she saw him cower, nod and move his ass as Merman stormed down the street toward Sardi’s. Muriel followed behind them at a respectful distance. As they approached the restaurant a slightly crazy and disheveled looking man jumped out from a doorway and pushed an autograph book in front of the great star’s face. She automatically whacked it with her right arm and sent the autograph book flying into a puddle in the gutter. Those clarion tones proclaimed:
“No autographs! Get the fuck out of my way!”
Muriel’s mouth fell open. Not since her father broke his arm falling down the stairs after slipping on the foldout slipcover of “I Had A Ball” (which Muriel found in a flea market in Paramus, New Jersey for one dollar, thank you very much!) did Muriel hear such language.
Muriel was astounded! Muriel was astonished!
Muriel was thrilled!
“Wow!” said the little girl.
“What did you say?” said the big loud voice. Muriel turned around thinking that it must be someone else she was shouting at. But no, Merman was talking to Muriel.
“I said ‘wow!’” “That’s what I thought you said.” “Are you really her?” Muriel asked with the kind of innocence that only she possessed (at least on 44th St. in front of Sardi’s!)
“This kid’s cute, Russell. She kind of reminds me of…never mind.”
To Muriel “Russell” seemed very tall. Muriel found out later that Russell was one of Ethel’s friends and, although he was too old for the part, was appearing with her in her new production of “Hello, Dolly!” For now, he was just this amazingly tall and handsome man who wearing horn rimmed glasses like her Dad wore before he got the contact lenses. Russell also seemed kind.
“Let’s take her to lunch,” bellowed Russell in a voice that sounded a bit like Merman’s. Muriel wondered if they were related, but before she could even form that question in her mind, the great Merman had said, “Sure why not come on kid you look hungry Vincent you look wonderful great haircut how’s the wife table for three!”
And in a flash Muriel was sitting at a red banquet at the best table with a view in the best room of the best restaurant Broadway had ever known.
Ethel: “So what’s your name?”
Muriel: “Muriel Plakenstein.”
Ethel: “You’re gonna have to change that!”
Muriel: “That’s what I told my Dad.”
The waiter brought three large menus to the table but Ethel shooed them away. “Bring us the Actor’s Menu,” she bellowed at the waiter. After the waiter was out of earshot (was that possible?) Ethel continued. “Just because you star in a show doesn’t mean that you’re made of money or that you should waste it. Vincent has a perfectly good menu with lower prices that’s made for starving actors.” Muriel never knew that. Muriel was learning.
The actual eating of the lunch was a blur to Muriel as she was too busy listening to Ethel and Russell talking. Muriel would be able to remember nothing of the cuisine, but every word that was uttered was emblazoned in her memory forever. Once in a while Ethel would ask Muriel her opinion on something and Muriel would answer to the best of her ability. Ethel always smiled and nodded as if Muriel really knew. Muriel wasn’t nervous at all and seemed to be in her element.
Finally, desert was discussed. Ethel was astounded that Muriel just wasn’t keen on anything desert-wise.
“You don’t want ice cream,” Ethel blared. “You don’t want chocolate cake! What the fuck DO you want?”
“I want to be a Broadway Star,” replied Muriel, with a smile that could melt the already melted butter that the waiter took away.
And before Ethel and Russ could register a reaction, Muriel launched into a clear, clean and shockingly accurate imitation of Ethel Merman in “Call Me Madam”:
“You don’t need analyzing, it is not so surprising that you feel very strange but nice!”
“Wow, Ethel,” exclaimed Russell, “she sounds just like you. But young!”
As Ethel and Russ (for this is what Muriel was asked to call them from now on) exited the restaurant into the blinding sunlight of 44th Street, Muriel was sad. It’s not that she wasn’t happy and grateful for the delicious lunch or excited about meeting her idol and Russ. It was that she now realized that it was over. Why do wonderful things go so fast and end so soon and school seems to take forever? Muriel had pondered this question before. But never outside of Sardis on the way to dropping Ethel and Russ off at the stage door of “Hello, Dolly!”
Muriel was silent as they walked up the street. Ethel and Russell were muttering under their breath, but because of Ethel’s loud voice, Muriel heard a few scattered phrases:
“Who the hell cares what they think? Merrick won’t be there!”
“Who cares about the stage manager?”
“Taking an earring at Lamstons is NOT stealing, for God’s sake!”
“Then it’s settled!”
Muriel’s ears perked up most at the line about taking something not really meaning you were a thief. Muriel had kind of taken things too. Well, not exactly taken…all right she had switched a couple of price tags on records so that she could get two (or three) instead of one. When her father asked she would tell him there was a big sale at Sam Goody’s. The truth of it was that Muriel had found a roll of 69 cent stickers on the floor of the store one day and has been using them ever since to keep her record collection up to date. So Ethel and Muriel had stuff in common. Neat and a half! While Muriel pondered this, she didn’t realize that the other parts of the whispered (and shouted) conversation would change her life forever.
There they were: the two tall ones and Muriel in the alley and right in front of the stage door of the St. James Theatre. Muriel put her hand out to shake theirs and say goodbye, but no one took it. Ethel just said, “come on kid, you’re coming to rehearsal with me!”
Muriel couldn’t believe her ears, but she knew that if she obeyed the clarion tones she was going to be in for the time of her life.
More Saturday Stuff
So I did a great hour and half phone interview about my career...well only part of it. Talked about Night of the Hunter and After the Fair...for a podcast to come from Ohio. Was fun talking about me...no shit! Got emails from Jason Graae about his possible participation in the upcoming reading of Qatar...he is in LA of course, so I am not counting my chickens, but he would be great as me (aka Michael) so more fingers are crossed...how many fingers can I cross here? Casting a reading is hell and I hope next time to get a casting director. I hate hate hate it. I realize after looking through this whole blog that it's literally almost two years since I began it. Of course I took off half of that not writing it, but still...lots of changes and lots of stuff the same. New shows? Show Choir (not the title but there is none yet...I'm not the book writer) with Todd Ellison...slow in coming but we have three songs. Merman's Apprentice with David Evans (two songs almost written...story still be written by me...as a matter of fact, I think I shall publish the story in segments here so stay tuned...maybe it will help me finish it...it's been years in the making but fun), new ideas are coming but slowly...wrote a 20 minute dance oriented musical utilizing two songs David Krane and I wrote...called Everybody Dreams...well that's sorta the update...see you soon.
REALLY back from the dead!
So, it's been literally forever since I updated this thing. What have I been doing for the last year or so? Hmmm...the projects continue. The Road to Qatar! had another reading last spring...very successful...and now we are preparing for reading number 3 on Nov. 19, 2009 (did one in 2007, 2008) at the York Theatre...this time though we are armed with the knowledge that there will be a full production in October 2009 at the Lyric Stage in Dallas. This is where my musical After the Fair premiered and won 5 Dallas Theatre Awards including Best New Play or Musical...it sits on my mantal all dusty and shiny (I must dust!). I am thrilled that Qatar will see a real stage and after that will come to NYC for another run in November. What else? February will be a busy month...besides Qatar reading, on Feb. 2 I am the writer for what seems like my millionth (18th I think) Drama League Benefit...this year a tribute to producer and Palace Theatre owner Stewart Lane (and his lovely wife Bonnie). Some of the stars lined up are Keith Carradine, Donna Murphy, Chita Rivera, Christine Ebersole...the usual suspects...not sure if Liza will make it, but I sure hope so. Then on Feb. 23rd, I get to co-host and interview Marni Nixon at the Film Forum's tribute evening to her. That's really exciting. Of course, who better than I? The Ghost's Ghost! But I am thrilled to be asked and I love working with Marni. Speaking of ghosting...I ghosted (without credit) Mr. Charles Strouse's memoir Put on a Happy Face...got great reviews, too bad my name is not on the cover...oh well...it's money, right? Right! Time after Time is back on track...working on doing another reading and maybe getting a production at Point Park University where Jeff Saver the composer is teaching now. Fingers crossed for us! Who knows, next fall might be jam packed. Last fall (have I really not updated this in so long?) we did a great reading at Northwestern University as part of the American Musical Theatre Project (that was fall of 07) and learned a lot...mostly how good the show was...Recently had a great meeting with a potential director so we might be making some significant changes and working toward a reading of the show...Meanwhile, my website has a new address...http://www.stephencolewriter.com/ and as I am doing this blog again, I intend to update the site as well...I have done a few new things in the past few years! Thanks for reading this whoever you are.
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