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Good books, old friends

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By Kara G. Kvasnicka

Tuesday, November 29, -0001

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I became interested in musicals when I was a child, having warm memories of holidays when my family gathered around the television to watch classic movies including "The Sound of Music" and "The Music Man."

I loved the innocent world evoked by these films in which song, dance and ordinary dialogue was seamlessly blended even if it was somewhat corny.

I fell in love with contemporary musical theater during my senior year of high school when my mom and I attended an excellent University of Michigan-Flint performance of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd."

I was transfixed from the first sung syllable to the last of this story in which a 19th century barber seeks vengeance for the death of his wife in truly macabre ways.

I confess the unexpected amount of bloodshed was part of what held my attention.

("Sweeney Todd" is hardly a light-hearted operetta of the Gilbert and Sullivan ilk.)

But I also realized from Sondheim's clever and beautiful score that a musical could be much more than a silly romance set to music.

It could explore a whole host of thought-provoking issues and complex characters as all Sondheim musicals do. It could contain songs in which no matter how many times you listen to them you will still find a new nuance or meaning.

I have since indulged my love of musical theater by collecting cast recordings and seeing as many major touring productions as I can.

I spent my most memorable Labor Day weekend in New York City where a friend and I saw breathtaking performances on Broadway of Sondheim's Tony Award-winning "Passion" and the George and Ira Gershwin-inspired "Crazy for You."

I also recommend a trip to Toronto to see "Ragtime," a great new musical based on the E.L. Doctorow novel which will have its Broadway premiere early next year. It is one of the best shows I have seen in recent years and has a superb cast.

I can now also recommend two new books on the subject: Amy Henderson and Dwight Bowers' Red, Hot and Blue: A Smithsonian Salute to the American Musical (Smithsonian, 1996, 268 pages, $39.95) and Barbara Isenberg's Making it Big: The Diary of a Broadway Musical (Limelight Editions, 1996, 214 pages, $25).

Red, Hot and Blue is a history of American musical theater based on an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. through July 6, 1997. The illustrations in this coffee table book, are as interesting as its words. It gives a general overview of American contributions to stage and screen musicals from late 19th century New York City vaudeville shows to the present.

Major stars, producers, composers, choreographers and even set designers are covered.

The authors emphasize the pioneers in the medium and the cultural diversity on which American musical theater is based.

According to them, the ethnic character of New York City's neighborhoods was a major theme in the first music hall productions. Black entertainment traditions as well as white were forerunners of the modern musical.

You will want to read this book word-by-word and then look at the photographs and illustrations. You are sure to find images from one of your favorite movie or stage musicals included in this retrospective.

Since it is a history of American musical theater, do not be surprised that there is no mention of British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster musicals which have all but taken over Broadway in recent years.

Unhappily, it also reveals that the American musical is past its prime. Very few new musicals for the stage or screen are produced because they are too expensive and mainstream audience interest is gone.

Isenberg's "Making it Big" will intrigue musical fans who went to Detroit's Fisher Theater last winter to see the world premiere of Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire's musical "Big" based on the popular movie starring Tom Hanks.

This book explains why producing a new musical is so expensive and so discouraging, given how many things can go wrong.

The reputable creative team behind this musical guaranteed that it would be a huge hit on Broadway and run for years like "Phantom of the Opera."

After a problem-plagued run in Detroit, "Big" closed on Broadway in autumn 1996 after only 193 regular performances. According to Isenberg, "‘Big,' the musical upon which so many dreams had rested, could become one of the most expensive failures in Broadway history."

I could not resist buying this book because I once had high hopes for this musical and had excitedly traveled to Detroit to see its out-of-town tryout.

The performance was filled with technical and creative glitches, but I was optimistic that many of them would be fixed when the show reached Broadway.

(I bought my "If you have one wish make it ‘Big'" T-shirt knowing some day others would envy my souvenir from this fantastic Broadway show.)

From the cast recording which I later bought, made after the show's Broadway premiere, I do not think I was wrong. Some great new songs had been added to replace the ones that just did not fit.

But, as Isenberg recounts, the initial impression this show made on critics and audiences during its rocky run in Detroit had stuck. Nobody really gave it a chance once it got to Broadway.

Ironically, in an era in which highly commercial musicals like Walt Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" have thrived, this musical with its F.A.O. Schwartz merchandising tie-ins was considered too commercial.

Isenberg's diary is a riveting day-by-day account of what happened in the course of making this particular musical from its conception to its bitter end and the complexity and risk involved in mounting any new musical.

The cast, creative team and crew's impressions of premiering a musical and temporarily living in downtown Detroit are interesting from a local viewpoint and not likely to guarantee more world premieres of musicals there.

Each of these books gives an intriguing perspective on the personalities and enormous effort required to produce the most carefree musical entertainments.

Musical theater fans will appreciate each book as a well-written, informative look at a medium of entertainment that will hopefully keep actors singing and dancing and audiences humming along for years to come.

Kvasnicka, a former East Village Magazine news editor, has been the magazine's contributing editor and research consultant since 1989. She has a master's degree in information and library studies from the University of Michigan and works for the Genesee District Library.

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