Thirty years ago, give or take a month, I saw “A Chorus Line” on Broadway. Thirty-one years ago, I was introduced to the work of Stephen Sondheim by Todd London and Steve Gore, counselors at Harand Camp.
Tuesday night, I saw “Company” in New York, followed by a Wednesday matinee of “A Chorus Line.” The former was enthralling, the latter enjoyable, but I felt very old and very cynical, sitting in the midst of some snuffling NYU theater majors. What changed?
Well, the musical hasn’t changed at all. It’s still set in 1975. The costumes are the same. I don’t even notice a single lyric massaged for, I guess, political correctness’s sake. (In “Company,” the trio of girlfriends no longer rhyme drag/fag in “You Could Drive a Person Crazy.” It’s now way/gay, IIRC.) (And I don’t have a problem with that, by the way. Changing the lyric, I mean. Lord, I wonder if “Finian’s Rainbow” can even be restaged at this point. Just thinking about “The Begat” makes me a little nervous.)
I’ve changed, of course. It would be pretty sad if I hadn’t. Older, I’m aware of several realities:
1) Few people get to do the thing that they love AND make a decent salary at it. Take most of the novelists in this country. I get up every day wondering if I can sustain myself until that magic day when I can go into my IRAs without penalty.
2) In 1975, if you were a high school graduate who bombed out as a dancer, you might, at least, be able to find a union job with benefits. Today . . . everyone’s life is uncertain. There are a lot of newspaper reporters who could be warbling “What I Did For Love” right now, and not because their knees gave out.
3) Come to think of it, isn’t that finale awfully spooky? I kept thinking there should have been people tap-dancing in the basement. By the way, if you get that reference — you’re a bigger theater geek than I am.
On the other hand, I was shocked/saddened to hear two young men — could have been late teens or early twenties — say to their grandfather (or much older father) of “Company”: “And how, exactly, did this musical change your life when you were 39?” Loneliness seemed a foreign concept to them. How can Bobby be so lonely? Doesn’t he have a MySpace account?
“Company” is mildly dated — a reference to “grass,” a male-on-male proposition that was probably much more shocking once upon a time. But its themes seem timeless to me, whereas the “everyone is special” message of “A Chorus Line,” is a run-up to the self-esteem movement. Don’t get the wrong idea; I still love it. But I love it in a different way.
One cavil: The part of Sheila is played by an African-American woman. Of course, it doesn’t make much difference, and why should it? But I thought producers should be aware that a line about Sheila’s hair, in which the director criticizes the style and asks her to release it from its upsweep — plays differently because of that change. That’s an extremely loaded thing for a white man to say to a black woman.
What do I remember about my first trip to see “A Chorus Line”? I went with my friend Dana Van Horne. Our parents put us on the train and picked us up that evening in downtown Baltimore. I bought the cast album of “Anyone Can Whistle” that day in New York. That was a big deal You see, before the Internet, it wasn’t always so easy to find such things, not at Harmony Hut in Baltimore.
I’m pretty sure I bought that album at Tower Records.
Anyone else have bookended experiences, similar events separated by decades?
Here are the lyrics of “The Begat.” You need to understand that one of the characters singing is a racist who has been changed into a black man — and thus finds he is suddenly a very good singer.
13.The Begat
The Lord made Adam.
The Lord made Eve.
He made them both,
A little bit naive.
They lived as free
As the summer breeze,
Without pajamas and without chemise.
Until they stumbled
on the apple tree.
Then she looked at him,
(hum, hum)
And he looked at her,
(hum, hum)
And they knew immediately
What the world was fer…
- He said give me my cane
- He sais give me my hat.
- The time has come,
to begin the begat.
- The begat!
- The begat!
- That’s it!
So they begat Caine.
And they begat Abel,
Who begat the rabble
At the Tow’r of Babel.
They begat the Cohens,
And they begat O’Rourkes.
And they begat the people
Who believed in storks.
- Holly Lordy, how they did begat!
And Lordy, Lordy, what they did begat!
When the begat got
to gettin’ under par
They begat the daughters
of the D.A.R.
They begat the babbits
of the bourgeoisie,
They begat the misbegotten G.O.P.
It was a-pleasin’t to Jezebel,
a-pleasin’ to Ruth,
It pleased the League of Women Shoppers
in Duluth
Tho’ the movie censors
tried the facts a hide
the movie goers open up and multiplied.
- Holly Lordy, how they multiplied!
- How they multiplied!
- How they multiplied!
Soon it swept the world
Ev’ry land and lingo.
It becanme the rage.
It was bigger than bingo.
The Whites begat, the Reds begat,
The folks who should have stood in bed begat.
The Greeks begat, the Swedes begat
Why, even Britishers in tweeds begat.
And, Lordy Lordy, what the seeds begat!
The Lats and Lithuanians, begat.
Scranton Pennsylvanians, begat .
Strictly vegetarians, begat.
And honorary Aryans, begat.
Startin from Genesis, they begat.
Heroes and menaces, begat
Fat filibusterers, begat.
Income tax adjusterers begat
To vetuler unnatelor to begat.
And sometimes a bachelor, he begat!
And didn’t matter which-a-way they begat,
Son of a bitch away, begat.
Oh! Bless them Lord!
Who know do that,
And heed the call
of the begat!
(Alternative: last verse according to the movie)
Oh! Bless Them all!
Who go to bed.
And its the cause
Of the begat!
I saw Hair in NYC when I was in high school in the 60s. The brief nude scene was a shock(although we knew about it). About two years ago, I saw a production of The Blue Room in Arlington,VA. Seeing a nude man(live) on stage shocked me again(not in the same way but still…). I told my husband that the actor was the first man(beside my husband) who I had seen totally nude(in person) in 25 years. My husband said that was good(as we had been together about 25 years)
I so hoped Chorus Line would hold up. I saw it twice in the 70s and loved it so much. It was one of the first musicals to seem relevant for me.
On Youtube you can see Elaine Stritch trying (and finally)nailing Ladies Who Lunch in Company. Is her replacement so compelling?
Three friends and I used to hang out a lot and when talk turned to wonderfully funny movies, the three of us who had seen it would go on and on about “Blazing Saddles.” Finally one day, we agreed we’d all watch it together so that we could relive the fun and share it with JB, who would now understand why we had been going ‘on and on.’ Well, the intervening twenty plus years had either not been kind to the movie’s humor or to our senses of humor. It fell flatter than a pancake and we didn’t even finish watching it.
What a difference a couple of decades make, in both humor and maturity.
Laura thanks for posting the lyrics to that song, I’d never really got that from the movie which I barely remember. What a hoot!
I’ve always been a great fan of Dumas so the first time I saw a version of The Man In The Iron Mask with Richard Chamberlain was a gas but the 1998 version with that boy Leonardo DiCaprio was really rather good and showed he could act. I think they were both good movies and the difference for me was simply how much better the cinematography was in the later version.
And then along another Dumas there’s The Count of Monte Cristo the 2002 version that is just breath taking in it’s scope of telling the story of a man wronged and his quest and success for revenge and then bringing him totally around again. Wow I love that story. The acting and cinematography were so wonderful I bought the DVD. The late Richard Harris is also in that version.
I’m an action junky and always have been so these are the sorts of things that I remember and/or cite when talking about a comparison of old and new versions of stories.
I’m a Californian and have no real experience with the stage as a form of entertainment but I did see Lily Tomlin live doing her one woman show written for her by her partner Jane Wagner, A Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe at the Curren Theater in San Francisco oh so many years ago when she was on the road with it.
The first musical I saw on Broadway was Tommy. It was 1995 at the St. James Theater and I was there with my high school choir class and I was Blown. Away. All of the chaperones were told to keep a special eye on me because I kept telling everyone that once I was in New York City I wasn’t going back home ever. It all seemed so huge and massive and gritty, it was great.
Six years later it was 2001 and I was living in NYC finally. I cut out of work early so I could go wait all day in line for standing room only tickets to The Producers. As I was paying for my tickets and looking around the lobby it started seeming very familiar. I had go back home and check my Playbill but I found out it was the same theater I’d seen my first show in. I had one of those bookend type thoughts right then.
You.met.Sondheim.
[thunk]
Okay, I have risen from the floor again. I am actually in possession of a nice note from Sondheim, but I have never met him. In fact, two years ago I was at a restaurant with friends who know the chef quite well. The chef came out to check on us, then mentioned in passing, “Sondheim just came in.” I could not bring myself to approach him, in part because I thought it might reflect badly on the chef.
Bear in mind, I had no problem sashaying up to Clint Eastwood and chatting him up. I found Sondheim far more intimidating.
Laura what a great story but really you should have gone over to meet him. I love meeting the people who turn my life on, my favorite musician and piano player, songwriter, Patricia Barber is a big admirer of Joni Michell and has yet to meet her. As I write that I wonder how nervous I might be to meet Patricia Barber. It would be so out there to be breathing the same air for even a moment.
It’s funny isn’t it that you think you would have no such problems with Clint Eastwoo. I think that must be part of your respect meter at work. That’s not to say there is anything at all wrong with Eastwood but that you have a higher regard for Sondheim, I think, shrug.
I don’t see this as intimidation but rather a huge respect for their talent that you want to sommehow make it clear that you love their work without really sacrificing your own dignity.
Years ago in Concord, California at the Concord Pavilion I met Dave Brubeck after a concert. It was really a great thing because as we talked we discovered we knew people in common. In fact he had been friends with Bob Soder my music teacher. And then I was the bearer of sad news that Bob had passed away. But the connection was just amazing for me to be in the presence of one of my all time favorite musicians and then to find out we were further connected was something I would never have known if I hadn’t perservered to meet Brubeck on that night, the only night it would happen.
By the way are you coming to B’Con here this year?
Sly in Anchorage
Yes, I am planning to go to Alaska this fall!
And a note to Patti, up-thread. I wouldn’t dream of comparing anyone to Elaine Stritch, and I recommend that you track down the D.A. Pennebaker documentary that is the source for that YouTube clip. It’s terrific.
I thought the trickiest part in “Company” was Amy — the actress had to contend, in my memory, not only with the actress on the cast recording, but also Madeline Kahn’s amazing performance in the Carnegie Hall concert. She did very, very well. But Kahn is still my favorite.
Now, to bookend Chorus Line and Follies, that would be interesting.
Back in the early 80′s, I was in a production of Pinter’s Betrayal, a play that runs backwards in time. By coincidence, I interviewed Sondheim to promote a new cast recording of Merrily We Roll Along about the same time. Merrily also plays out backwards.
No. I didn’t mention that to Mr. Sondheim.
Laura,
I wouldn’t dream of approaching either Sondheim or Eastwood as a fan because both men seem to have an aura of privacy about them.
But I did have the chance to direct Ms. Kahn in a VO for a TV spot I’d written. We were in New York and I took my daughter, then 11, with me. Madeline Kahn was so nice to Molly, taking the time to talk to her and ask questions, I’ll always be grateful for how warm and generous she was. What a class act.
When we got home I rented Young Frankenstein so Molly could get a good look at the woman who had been so sweet to her in New York.
Thanks for the recommendation of the DVD. I loved it. I made my husband watch (reluctantly and with lots of remarks such as “why did you think I’d like this?) But by the end, he admitted the narrative won him over even if the Broadway musical aspect didn’t. I think I have a new Elaine Stritch fan in the making because of her pure grit and artistry.