Musical still shines on Broadway

Press, 21 February 1986, Page 17

Musical still shines on Broadway

ELRIC HOOPER, director of the Court Theatre, concludes his series of articles on the theatre overseas ... . 1 ..... . •'

. In an attempt to lure patrons back into New York’s theatre district around Times Square, Mayor Koch is carrying out a clean-up campaign. Perhaps a cover-up campaign might be a better description. The more outrageous hoardings for strip joints and porno cinemas have gone; but, more often than not, the. shows still go on. Nevertheless, with the new buildings and new policy, Times Square are a sign that there is a less threatening on bright winter days than it did. But good old 42nd Street is still the armpit of the world. Broadway, however, is having a hard time. Many theatres are dark and, like London’s West End, the big houses are clogged with sthe long-running hits — “Cage::?.- Aux Folles,” “42nd Street,” and the übiquitous “Cats.” The long queues which form each afternoon, about 3 p.m., outside the famous halfprice ticket booth in Times Square is a sign that there is a resistance to the huge ticket prices to Broadway shows, often $5O ($NZ100) to a hit musical. So it was a sign of the times that, as I stood in the line, I was protected from the New York wind whistling across town along 47th Street by a beautiful, white fox-fur coat on one side and a black chinchilla on the other. Even the wealthy and well-coif-fured are queueing for the cheap seats that are sold off at this time each day. The only shows that are not offered for half-price sale, because they are always sold out at full price, are “Cats,” “Cage aux Folles,” "Little Shop of Horrors,” and “Big River” — of which more later. Because of the commercial pressures of New York, high salaries to stars, huge ground rents, union restrictions, advertising expense, and vast material costs, entrepreneurs are forced to go for those works that will make the biggest returns; and those are undoubtedly musicals. As a result, serious plays, both comedies and dramas, are hard to find in New York. However, two plays about A.1.D.5., “As Is” and “The Normal Heart,” have had great success. The former is a very moving and educative work which could easily be transported. “The Normal Heart,” although a more angry and forceful piece, is much more concerned with local New York politics and probably would not have the same impact outside the city. Sam Shepherd dominates with two serious plays, “The Curse of the Starving Classes,” and “A Lie in the Mind.” No doubt we will see both on New Zealand stages, if they are not pre-empted by film versions as his brilliant “Fool for Love” has just been. For my money, the two best plays on Broadway at the moment are both by Neil Simon. For years Simon, a little like England’s Alan Aykbourne, has been put down as a mere box-office-orientated lightweight. Of course, he has been immensely popular with the general public, but not until now has he received such high praise from the more academic critics. He has produced two autobiographical plays. The first,

“Brighton Beach Memoirs,” describes his growing up in a warm but stressful Jewish home in the years just before the Second World War. He makes all the cliches about adolescent arrogance and the discovery of the opposite sex fresh again. The portraits of his mother, father, and aunt, must be among the most touching and penetrating to appear in the American theatre in recent times. The sequel to this play, and as successful, is called “Biloxi Blues.” It is an account of his induction into the army at 17 to train for the Second World War. Once again, the master craftsman makes familiar ground very fresh, very idiosyncratic. Both plays are full of laughter, but he seems to have somewhat abandoned the famous one-liners for laughter that arises from character and situation. Fortunately, he has not entirely repressed his instinct for the wisecrack; so some of the biggest bursts still come from these. It is in the realm of the musical that Broadway shines brightest, even though the last year saw all new musicals bar one fail miserably. That one is “Big River” — a musical version of Huckleberry Finn. The songs have been written by Roger Miller, of “King of the Road” fame. Although the flavour is very country-and-western and often downright corny, the music is very suitable to the subject. This technique sets the musical back 30 years, and Stephen Sondheim and the through-composed musical might never have existed. But it comes off — com and all. Much of the success is attributable to a superb cast Daniel Jenkins as Huck Finn is heartbreaking and very funny indeed. Ron Richardson as the negro slave, Jim, with his towering black and blue voice is astonishing. Once again the scenic effects are overwhelming. When Jim and Huck push the raft out from the shore to escape their pursuers, and the music swells, and they sing “Muddy Waters,” the hit song from the show, the stage expands to show the Mississippi stretching in wide curves to the golden horizon, the great plains extending to infinity either side. It is a heart-stopping moment. “Jerry’s’ Girls” is for all those lovers of Broadway pizazz and chutzpah like myself. Here is a high-tech show which is the compilation of the most famous songs of Jerry Herman, the author of “Marne,” “Hello Dolly,” and “Cage aux Folles.” It is a showcase for Leslie Uggams, hilarious Dorothy Loudon, and the incomparable Chita Rivera, the original Anita of “West Side Story” and still one of the world’s greatest dancers. If glitz, glamour, laughter, and high fashion are what you are after, "Jerry’s Girls” is a good bet.

At the other end of the scale of the superb musical theatre on offer in New York is the opera. At the Met, Peter Hoffman, the Wagnerian tenor who looks like a pop star, was singing in an outstanding production of “Lohengrin.” New York is still the home of the crassest vulgarity and the highest art, performed with impartial and superb expertise.