AUGUST 1997 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ Voices: An Interview with Peter Stone/ Letter from London The Play's the Thing: Moliere: The French Shakespeare Enter Laughing: Theater for the Directionally Challenged CyberTheatre Monthly: The Best Eucational sites from the Best Outreach Programs: Kennedy Center & Lincoln Center Rubin's Corner: The Changing Face of Broadway? Norman's Theatre, TRE Trivia, News ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voices in Contemporary Theatre Interview with Peter Stone Peter Stone is a practical man in a quixotic profession. He is one of the few who has made a good living writing the "book" for musicals-which means he provides the words between the songs. "You get one hour to tell two hours of story," is the way Stone explains his job. Right now, Broadway theatergoers have the opportunity to see some of the veteran scriptwriter's best work, both old and new. The new, of course, is this year's surprise hit, "Titanic," an ambitious retelling of the famous 1912 sea tragedy. The musical, which seems to be setting new box-office records every week at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, has a score by Maury Yeston. The old is a revival of "1776," Stone's nearly 30-year-old re-creation of the drama behind the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The musical has been revived by the Roundabout Theater Company with Brent Spiner of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame as the cranky, contentious John Adams. Before they opened, both shows were thought to be unlikely subjects for musicals. "'Titanic' was a tempting target -- 'All singing, all dancing, all drowning' was one of the bad jokes-and the critics got sore because we didn't follow through and give them the artistic disaster they really wanted," Stone says. "As for '1776,' people thought the subject matter was dry and the title boring." So much for predictions. Both shows won Tony Awards for best musical. "Titanic" edged out "The Life," the early favorite, last June. And it won Stone a Tony for best book of a musical. In the case of "1776," it beat out such formidable competition as "Hair," "Promises, Promises" and "Zorba" in 1969. Any conversation with Stone about writing musicals centers on craft-and common sense. The 67-year-old author has been doing them since 1961, when he made his Broadway debut with "Kean," starring Alfred Drake. Among his other Broadway shows: "Skyscraper," "Two by Two," "Sugar," "Woman of the Year" and "The Will Rogers Follies." Yet he also has written for the movies-"Charade" and "Father Goose," winning an Academy Award-and for television, picking up an Emmy for his work on the classy lawyer series, "The Defenders." "Musical book writing involves two things: concept and structure," he says. "And you have to know how to get to a song, specifically what to do in order to get to a song. If you can do that quickly and with some sure-footedness, you'll probably come out all right. "Musicals are written and then rewritten. Those things used to happen on the road. Now they are done in New York during preview performances," Stone says, because it is very expensive to take a show outside of New York. "The thing that really hurt 'Titanic' was not going out of town," Stone says. "At early previews, the theater gossips are there, wishing you ill every night. They don't grant you any slack. Agents are in from Hollywood. Your friends are there. People who are going to spread the word-of-mouth. If something doesn't work, everyone will know." And at "Titanic" that meant stopping-and even canceling-performances because the elaborate sets didn't work as quickly as possible. Not so the original production of "1776," which Stone recalls with an almost rosy-hued nostalgia. "It was a calmer time," he says. "There was no pressure to open right before the Tony Award deadline in order to get nominations. We went out of town-a week in New Haven and three in Washington. "A tremendous amount of work was done during that first week. We had a snowstorm in New Haven, and nobody came. The critics didn't come. People from New York didn't come. We had 60 people in the theater opening night. But we saw exactly what we had to do and we started to do our work and we made enormous changes and enormous cuts." By the time the musical reached Washington, there wasn't much work left to be done, although composer Sherman Edwards did provide one new song. It was Edwards who originally had the idea for "1776." Edwards had written his own book for the show, but after shopping it around for years, he had no takers. Producer Stuart Ostrow brought in Stone to sort out all the material Edwards, a former schoolteacher who died in 1981, had gathered. "I laid out little index cards with pieces of information on them. I must have had 400 or 500 of them," Stone says. "Little pieces of historical information. Little quotes. There was one that I never could fit into the show, a statement from Franklin: 'They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'" The writer found a way of fitting the quote into the 1972 film adaptation, and now director Scott Ellis, who is in charge of the Roundabout revival, has put it into the stage version. Stone has also found employment as a play doctor, meaning he gets called in to help when a show is foundering-and needs a quick fix. Two of his most famous salvage efforts were Tommy Tune musicals-"My One and Only" and "Grand Hotel." Yeston and Stone were both summoned by Tune to Boston where he was directing a troubled "Grand Hotel." "My usual way of dealing with repairs is to go somewhere into the middle of a show and write toward the beginning and toward the end," Stone says. "That way you find the heart of the show." For Stone, the heart of "Grand Hotel" was what was in the movie the John Barrymore-Greta Garbo relationship. In the musical, the two Mr. Fixits faced a different situation. "We had an actress playing the Garbo part who clearly was more mature than the actor playing the young baron. Rather than try to avoid that, we got the idea of really concentrating on that. Maury wrote a new song and I wrote a scene, and it worked." Not a low-stress situation, but Stone says you have to like getting in trouble to do the work he does-"because you are always going to be in trouble. A musical opens and everything is a surprise when the audience comes in. What you have to do is get used to knowing what to do-and do it quickly." Stone's advice to nervous creators of musicals as they face their fiercest foes-paying customers: "You listen to the audience. The audience is wrong individually and always right collectively. If they don't laugh, it isn't funny. If they cough, it isn't interesting. If they walk out, you are in trouble." By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CyberTheatre Monthly The Best Educational sites from the Best Outreach Programs Kennedy Center Kennedy Center's Education wing has long been committed to increasing opportunities for all people to participate in and understand the performing arts as one of humanity's most eloquent means of understanding itself and its world. When they took their act on the Internet they packed their site with the requisite information about their own programs, like the Creative Ticket for Student Success Campaign, but also included the Alliance for Arts Education Network, which at this writing incorporates arts organizations from 44 states, the scoop on all that goes on at the Kennedy Center with a special focus on Performances for Families - and of course, all the other Kennedy Center activities which incorporate not only theatre but Ballet and Dance, the National Symphony Orchestra, Jazz, Popular Music and the Washington Opera. Lincoln Center Lincoln Center can also boast one of the country's finest Education departments in the Lincoln Center Institute. Their website outlines an aesthetic education program that teaches perception through greater understanding of art forms, explores the ways artists make choices and probes how the arts relate to other aspects of life, LCI offers a process for both elementary and secondary school teachers and their students in which the focal point is the work of art itself - the play, the piece of music, the dance, the painting or sculpture. Have an idea for CyberTheatre Monthly? Send your suggestions to Theatre_msn@msn.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Letter from London... Here's what Matt Wolf recommends on the current London stage: Five to flock to: * Amy's View at the Royal National Theatre, Lyttelton: Dame Judi Dench, a supreme actress, plays an actress regaining her supremacy. Which is to say stage acting simply doesn't get much better. * Art at Wyndham's: A friendship deteriorates when Serge buys a painting that Marc detests. Yasmina Reza's hit play that has as much to say about life as it does about art. * Closer, Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe: Two couples, one superb play (by Patrick Marber), though its depiction of the bruises of love and lust is not for the squeamish. * Guys and Dolls, Royal National Theatre, Olivier: Imelda Staunton's near-definitive Miss Adelaide is the first reason to revisit Frank Loesser's Broadway classic in London. And if you disagree? Sue me. * The Life of Henry Fift, Shakespeare's Globe: Yes, that's how they spell it. Shakespeare's "wooden O," the Globe Theatre, comes to life with the play that immortalized it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Play's the Thing: Moliere: The French Shakespeare As theatres in England were being closed by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, a young actor-playwright was on the horizon in France. Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, or Moliere as he would be called throughout his career, would become one of the greatest comedic playwrights in history and change the face of theatre for years to come. His plays have stood the test of time and has led to Moliere being called The French Shakespeare. Moliere was born in France in January of 1622 to a middle-class Parisian family. His father was a master upholsterer to the court of Louis XIII and secured an appointment for his son to the same position. Moliere was educated at the College of Claremont, a Jesuit school for children or wealth or nobility. At Claremont Moliere saw his first theatrical presentation and was allowed by the Jesuits to read and study drama. At the age of twenty-one Moliere's father was shocked when his son announced that he was not going to continue in the family business. Moliere gave up his right of succession to the royal title his father held. Six months later, with his mistress Madeline Bejart, Moliere formed "The Illustrious Theatre" with the intent of entering the theatre profession. Theatre was still considered a suspect profession at the time and was condemned by the Church. Although his father was not happy with this decision, he did come to his son's aid from time to time financially. Moliere's company toured in the provinces of France for a time and arrived in Paris in 1644. In direct competition with larger, established theatre groups, the fledgling group faced financial disaster. Moliere was arrested for unpaid debts and was imprisoned. It was his father that paid the money due to the creditors. Moliere was humiliated by this failure and fled to the provinces of France. During the time from 1646 - 1658, Moliere and what was left of his company traveled France. Though financial hardship continued to plague the company, Moliere did not give up. He honed his talents as an actor, director and writer. He observed people from all walks of life who were to become the models for characters in his later plays. In 1654 Louis XIV ascended the throne of France and the fortunes of Moliere were on the verge of change. In 1658 Moliere returned to Paris and presented one of his comedies to the new, young king. Though not completely successful, the disasters of the past did not come to pass. In 1659 The Precious Damsels, a satire on the snobbish manners of the uppercrust women in society, became the first hit for the playwright. Within two years Moliere's company would be housed in the best theatre in France. The partnership between Moliere and Louis XIV would shape the theatre world of the time. While there were times the king could not openly support the playwright and his satirical attacks on the Church and society, he would secretly hold readings of plays like Tartuffe after public performances were banned by Louis XIV under Church pressure . The play would not be seen publicly until 1669 and was very successful. Eventually this unhappiness of his own life found its way into Moliere's plays. His marriage to Armande Bejart, the sister of his former mistress Madeline Bejart, was never a happy one. Critics continued to attack Moliere and his works. His health began to fail and the doctors meant to treat him became the source for much critical satire in his later plays. Plays like The Physician in Spite of Himself and The Imaginary Invalid openly satirized the medical profession and physicians in general. Moliere looked on doctors as quacks who victimized an unknowing public. In 1673 Moliere, very ill and near death, played the part of Argan in The Imaginary Invalid, a character who was a dupe of physicians. The night of the fourth performance, February 17 of 1643, suffered a lung hemorrhage and died. Church officials seized this opportunity to get back at Moliere for his stinging attacks against them in Tartuffe. Since the Church did not allow actors the rites of the Church and excommunicated them, the church official refused to let Moliere be buried on consecrate ground. Once again it was Moliere's friend, the king, who prevailed and allowed Moliere's widow to bury him in a local parish cemetery. The funeral had to be held at night to avoid conflict. No one is really sure where the French playwright's remains ended up. In 1680, Louis XIV honored his friend when he merged Moliere's theatrical group with another to form the Comedie Francaise, which is also known as the "House of Moliere" even today. The theatre still performs the plays of Moliere and other classical French writers. The struggle that Moliere and others endured to bring their plays to light in France stemmed from the fact that literary fame only came to the writers of tragedy at the time. Tragedy continued to be the dominate force during Moliere's life and was considered the highest art form possible. All the rules of Aristotelian structure dictated every art form. Many theoreticians felt that comedy needed only three rules: an easy style; a complicated plot; and a happy ending. Shakespeare's plays were known but yet no technical art form grew from the world of the comic play. Moliere attempted to mold a shape for the comedy. He was highly influenced by Italian commedia dell'arte with its improvised dialogue and stock characterizations by the actors and air of farce. The farce was a short skit or play that satirized a section of society. Farce was to bring the audience to laughter at the situation portrayed, which meant they were laughing at themselves. Actors were constrained to behave, move and talk like the station in life they portrayed. Moliere adapted and reshaped the actor to perform a new level of farcical acting. Moliere, like Shakespeare, wrote in verse and prose as necessary. Also similar to Shakespeare, Moliere made characters speak as their social rank deemed. Servants spoke in the common street language while noble spoke in long and refined verse passages. Moliere did not write overly-flowery language, in fact he despised it and would often make fun of those who wrote that way. For Moliere simple was better. The audience could easily understand the conversational way his characters spoke. He felt this kept the audience's attention. His rule was to keep language realistic or disorder would abound. Just as Shakespeare changed Elizabethan theatre, Moliere changed the face of theatre in his country. He is revered in France as Shakespeare is in England. Both men used their plays to point out the inadequacies of their respective societies. Both poked fun at the elite and elevated the common man to a place of dignity. And both playwrights continue to be as popular today as they were centuries ago. The test is the endurance of their plays and the truth of their words and themes. Internet Sites on Moliere and Restoration Theatre Moliere plays RESTORATION & GEORGIAN THEATRE DESIGN Restoration Drama Homepage Internet Links to Major Dramatic Arts Subject Tree Coll History of Theatre Theatre Reviews: Moliere Gopher Menu, plays by various writers including Moliere, Aphra Behn Aphra Behn - learn more about a woman playwright Aphra Behn's The Rover English 5306B - The Restoration Theatre Architecture of the Theatre WHAT DO YOU THINK? Your opinions are invited on these and other burning theatre issues. Start a thread in the Theatre Forum Bulletin Boards Caprice Woosley is currently pursuing her BFA in theater (directing and playwriting), after 25 years working in and around the theater. She is a produced playwright, actress, and amateur dramaturg who enjoys researching plays. She is a host in the Writing Forum where she co-hosts a Writing Discussion Group. She also hosted "Shakespeare Unplugged" and "Murder and Mayhem" in the Theatre Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enter Laughing: Theatre for the Directionally Challenged In last month's column you might remember, I bemoaned the poor quality of theatre seating (and after sitting in many theaters last mo nth, I "be moaning" a lot!) Well at the risk of being called obsessive about this, I focus once again on theater seating. Picture if you will, your most recent trip to the theater. Will those of you who saw some sort of seating confusing please raise your hands? Wow! It's unanimous. Everyone may now put their hands down. Aren't some people dumber than a bag of hammers? How hard can it be to find a section, row, and seat number? Apparently pretty darn hard if we observe those hundred of poor theater patrons wandering aimlessly around the mezzanine looking for their seats. As I watched a lady in the row ahead of me walk down this row and that looking at her ticket, then at the eat, then at the next seat, then at her ticket again, then at the seat she had just looked at, I had the uncontrollable urge to scream: My GOD Lady, this isn't rocket science! For Pete's sake, who let you out of kindergarten? But I had to laugh when someone coming down the other end of the row doing the same thing bashed right into her. I went into hysterics when they had the brilliance to ask each other: Do you know what row this is? Obviously these folks were a few clowns short of a circus. I tell you though, the 'youknowwhat' hit the fan when someone recently interrupted my enjoyment of the opening number of Applause to say I was occupying their seat. Ha! I exclaimed I had had enough. I have a degree, sir! I have two in fact," I said loud enough to be shushed. "I have found my way around Mexican cities using a map written in Spanish, don't tell me I don't know how to find my seat in a shoebox theater...you idiot!" Minutes later, as an usher came tottering down to quell the commotion, I waited to be exonerated. It literally took a team of consultants and a theater blueprint for them to conclude that I had, indeed, mistakenly sat in the wrong seat. I had intuitively assumed the odds and evens were right next to each other when, in reality, they were worlds apart. "Oh my God," I thought. "I am one of them. I too am a 'seat-searcher'." How could this have happened? Something was apparently rotten in the state of Denmark. I left the theater promising to tell the world about this terrible injustice. (Listening, world?) Why have theater designers made seating so difficult? Is there a conspiracy afoot to confuse the theatre-going public? Is there a group of people secretly observing lost audience members, finding enjoyment as we bumble, piddle and twiddle? "Eh, Charlie, get a load a' that one there! He's passed by his seat 6 times now!!!! What a goober. Ha, ha, ha!" There are a lot of good reasons for theater owners to improve the ease at which we find outr seats: shows could start when they are actually scheduled to start; whole rows won't have to empty out as new people come in to take their rightful place among the usurping seat grabbers; interruptions and disturbances during performances would be significantly reduced. The list could go on. But just how could you teach those of us who are apparently dumber than a box of hair to find our seats? Well why not just number seats consecutively, from left to right? What's all this Section 41, Door 3, Row AA, up the staircase to your right, around the column next to the concession stand, seat 23? Start with seat number 1 and end with seat #2000 (or whatever). Put the seat numbers in bright neon, right on the back of the seat. Those itty-bitty worn off metal numbers on the armrests are pathetic. The ones on the bottom of the seat cushion are worse. I've seen too many people go down on the floor to get a closer look at those numbers and never get b ack up again. Better yet, why have reserved seating at all? Isn't this a holdout from a by-gone era anyway? Theaters should have a general admissionprice, and let each man and woman find their own seat. Survival of the fittest rules would apply! Those who come late can sit in the back where they belong. Hey, it works for movie theaters. Well, enough about seats. I'm off to the theater...and I promised myself that I'd get there an hour early to study the seating chart in the lobby. Wayne Disher: Born and raised on the beaches of California in Santa Cruz, lived a 'white trash' childhood. Miraculously, developed a passion for culture and attended UCLA in hopes of becoming the next Barrymore. I settled on a degree in English. Later I obtained a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University, and now serve the public as 'Super-Librarian' for the City of San Jose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rubin's Corner THE CHANGING FACE OF BROADWAY? While I was in Flagstaff, Arizona this summer I came upon a large bookstore that specialized in used books. While looking around the store I happen upon a box of old Playbill magazines. For twenty-five cents I purchased a copy of the program from Mack & Mabel which was printed for October, 1974. Of course its wonderful to have the program which gives me information on Robert Preston, Bernadette Peters, Lisa Kirk, James Mitchell, and Gower Champion. The most interesting reading is the Theatre Guide that was contained in this issue of Playbill. It goes to show you how things change, but often stay the same. The guide suggests that I see two new shows, Candide and Grease. Candide is at the Broadway Theatre and Grease is at the Royale Theatre. Both shows have a top price of $15.00 for Saturday evening performances. Of course, both shows were playing only blocks apart just like a few week ago, but at a top price of $75. The guide suggest that if I want to see a comedy that "I would be crazy to miss", Scapino, which just finished an Off-Broadway run a few weeks ago. If I wanted to spend my $15 on the big stars, then I can chose Angela Lansbury in Gypsy or Lorelei with Carol Channing. Today I cannot get a ticket to Rent or Chicago, but 1974 had two sellouts, The Magic Show with the amazing Doug Henning and Thieves with Marlo Thomas and Richard Mulligan. The Broadway of 74' even had it small off beat productions as we have today. Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, El Grande de Coca-Cola, Good Evening with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Hosanna, a new play by Michael Tremblay, and the Hot L Baltimore were examples of threatre that was "pure". There were also the long running productions such as Raisin, Pipin, Over Here with the Andrews Sisters, My Fat Friend with Lynn Redgrave and George Rose, and Goodspell. Most of the shows had been left over from the previous season. There was a note in the program that explained that this was the latest that a Broadway season had ever begin. I seem to have heard that last season in New York. It seems to more that the more things change the more they stay the same expect for the prices of theater tickets. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TRE Trivia: The following are quotes are taken from the opening night reviews of well-known Broadway musicals, we're betting you can't figure out which ones. * "Altogether too heavy to let the foolish story breathe" -- Walter Kerr, Times * "--------- isn't Shangri-la or even Brigadoon; it's better than both. Real people live there. --Douglas Watt, Daily News * "Logic and art and Broadway do not sit on the same plane" * "Older readers may remember a time when Broadway was supposed to set standards for American theatre. In the last few years Broadway has become a dumping ground for uninspired touring shows" * "Its pleasures are surprisingly innocent, and despite a certain amount of raunchy language and semi-graphic situations that might bring a blush to sheltered cheeks - should there nowadays be any sheltered cheeks still around - the humor and good nature of the piece makes it inoffensive. * "What makes ------- so devastatingly effective is the honesty of its subject matter - so that even its faults can work for it." Answers to last month's TRE Trivia Last month's Forbidden Broadway lyrics parody the following shows: I dreamed a show in times gone by...when Act I wasn't so damn long Les Miserables People come; People go; People move chairs Grand Hotel Come on do something trite with your life Big Hey, Bob Fosse, spend a little time on the book Sweet Charity Maudlin melodrama has a special place, albeit; this show's such a downer you would rather die than see it Blood Brothers There is no shop in London town, just two small flats that are painted brown. Sweeney Todd ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 1997, Mersinger Theatrical Services