Stepping Out
1991 Film
USA, 106 minutes
USA, 106 minutes
Release Date
|
October 11, 1991
|
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
presents
a LEWIS GILBERT Film
LIZA MINNELLI
SHELLEY WINTERS BILL IRWIN ELLEN GREENE
JULIE WALTERS ROBYN STEVAN JANE KRAKOWSKI
SHEILA McCARTHY ANDREA MARTIN CAROL WOODS
Production Designer
PETER MULLINS |
Costume Designer
CANDICE PATERSON |
Cinematography by
ALAN HUME |
Music Score by
PETER MATZ |
Dance Music Arranger
PETER HOWARD |
"Stepping Out"
Music by JOHN KANDER
Lyrics by FRED EBB
Music by JOHN KANDER
Lyrics by FRED EBB
Casting by
ROSS CLYDESDALE |
Executive Producers
BILL KENWRIGHT |
Co-Producer
JOHN DARK |
Choreographed by
DANNY DANIELS |
Assistant Choereographer
WILLIAM ORLOWSKI |
Screenplay by
RICHARD HARRIS
based on his Stage Play
Produced and Directed by
LEWIS GILBERT
RICHARD HARRIS
based on his Stage Play
Produced and Directed by
LEWIS GILBERT
Synopsis
A "has-been" Broadway performer moves to Buffalo and starts teaching tap dance lessons to a group of misfits who, through their dance classes, bond and realize what they can achieve. Their newfound self-confidence changes their lives forever.
STEPPING OUT might be considered a textbook exercise in screenwriting cliche: take Mavis Turner (Liza Minnelli), a woman who "coulda been a contenda" had she pursued her dreams of appearing on Broadway; give her an evening job at a converted church teaching tap; mix in a motley crew of left-footed cardboard-cutouts too rhythmically challenged for her to train; add a charity performance organized by a snooty old ruler-of-the-world-type (Nora Dunn) who thinks they're too klutzy to participate; watch the motley crew turn into a well-oiled dance machine in time to steal the show, prove the snob wrong and overcome their personal problems along the way (not to mention Mavis')…
And somehow, in spite of it all, it actually manages to be a rather entertaining film. The entire production is so cheesy and exaggeratedly "Broadway" that it provides more than its share of amusement, intentional or otherwise; the fact that Minnelli turns in an infectiously good-humored performance doesn't hurt, either.
STEPPING OUT might be considered a textbook exercise in screenwriting cliche: take Mavis Turner (Liza Minnelli), a woman who "coulda been a contenda" had she pursued her dreams of appearing on Broadway; give her an evening job at a converted church teaching tap; mix in a motley crew of left-footed cardboard-cutouts too rhythmically challenged for her to train; add a charity performance organized by a snooty old ruler-of-the-world-type (Nora Dunn) who thinks they're too klutzy to participate; watch the motley crew turn into a well-oiled dance machine in time to steal the show, prove the snob wrong and overcome their personal problems along the way (not to mention Mavis')…
And somehow, in spite of it all, it actually manages to be a rather entertaining film. The entire production is so cheesy and exaggeratedly "Broadway" that it provides more than its share of amusement, intentional or otherwise; the fact that Minnelli turns in an infectiously good-humored performance doesn't hurt, either.
TRAILER
Theatrical trailer for the movie
Copyright © 1991 Paramount Pictures
Copyright © 1991 Paramount Pictures
Cast
Principal Roles
Mavis Turner
Mrs. Fraser Geoffrey Maxine Vera Sylvia Lynne Andy Dorothy Rose Patrick Pam Frank Jerry Alan Michael |
LIZA MINNELLI
SHELLEY WINTERS BILL IRWIN ELLEN GREENE JULIE WALTERS ROBYN STEVAN JANE KRAKOWSKI SHEILA McCARTHY ANDREA MARTIN CAROL WOODS LUKE REILLY NORA DUNN EUGENE ROBERT GLAZER GÉZA KOVÁCS RAYMOND RICKMAN MICHAEL DE SADELEER |
Musical Numbers
MEAN TO ME
Mavis
STEPPING OUT
Mavis and dancers
Mavis
STEPPING OUT
Mavis and dancers
Recordings
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released by Milan Records in October 1991. The CD includes the entire score by Peter Matz plus two songs from the movie performed by Liza Minnelli.
STEPPING OUT
Music From The Original Soundtrack (1991) 01. Stepping Out (with taps) * 02. The Curtain Rises (Stepping Out) 03. Mean To Me * 04. Andy And Geoff 05. Show Overture (Medley) a. Paramount Fanfare b. Beyond The Blue Horizon c. Isn't It Romantic? d. The Man On The Flying Trapeze 06. Tango Toronto 07. Broadway Memories (Stepping Out) 08. Avant Garde 09. Hot Rocks 10. Dance Montage (Happy Feet) 11. Trouble Here (Stepping Out) 12. P.M. Country Blues 13. Liza's Dance (Stepping Out) 14. First Lesson (Stepping Out) 15. Mean To Me (Instrumental) 16. Buffalo Juke Rock 17. Concert: Happy Feet (with taps) 18. Concert: Happy Feet (without taps) 19. Bows / End Credits (Medley) a. Stepping Out b. Mean To Me c. Happy Feet d. Stepping Out * performed by Liza Minnelli |
The score includes a number of variations of "Stepping Out" used throughout the movie. These were arranged by Peter Matz based on John Kander's original composition.
Peter Howard provided additional Dance Music Arrangements for "Stepping Out", "Liza's Dance" and "Concert: Happy Feet".
Drum solos on "Stepping Out", "Liza's Dance" and "Concert: Happy Feet" were played by Bill LaVorgnia.
Choreographer Danny Daniels is also featured on the recording, providing the taps.
Peter Howard provided additional Dance Music Arrangements for "Stepping Out", "Liza's Dance" and "Concert: Happy Feet".
Drum solos on "Stepping Out", "Liza's Dance" and "Concert: Happy Feet" were played by Bill LaVorgnia.
Choreographer Danny Daniels is also featured on the recording, providing the taps.
About the Movie
Excerpt from "Kander & Ebb", written by James Leve
© 2009 Yale University Press
© 2009 Yale University Press
Liza Minnelli’s last major film appearance was in the 1991 movie STEPPING OUT, which is based on a stage comedy by the British playwright Richard Harris. Minnelli’s role, Mavis, is an ex-performer, a dedicated dance instructor, and a survivor—in short, a quintessential Kander and Ebb character.
Harris, who adapted his own play for the screen, transferred the action from London to Buffalo, which suited Minnelli’s hard-boiled Mavis. Kander and Ebb wrote the song “Stepping Out,” which Minnelli-Mavis and her amateur dance students perform at the end of the film (for the 1987 Broadway production, the director Tommy Tune used “Shaking the Blues Away”). Minnelli had featured “Stepping Out” a year earlier in one of her concerts.
Harris, who adapted his own play for the screen, transferred the action from London to Buffalo, which suited Minnelli’s hard-boiled Mavis. Kander and Ebb wrote the song “Stepping Out,” which Minnelli-Mavis and her amateur dance students perform at the end of the film (for the 1987 Broadway production, the director Tommy Tune used “Shaking the Blues Away”). Minnelli had featured “Stepping Out” a year earlier in one of her concerts.
"Your dreams are just a step away"
Frank Miller, tcm.com
Frank Miller, tcm.com
Liza Minnelli returned to the screen after a three-year absence to play Mavis Turner, a gifted singer and dancer teaching tap dancing while stranded in Buffalo, New York in STEPPING OUT (1991). Like her character in this musical drama, Minnelli was somewhat stranded, trying to rebuild her film career in a Hollywood that rarely bothered making the kinds of musical showcases her prodigious talents deserved. She had not had a big-screen hit since ARTHUR (1981), but though this feature did little to revive her box office allure, it provides a tantalizing reminder of what Hollywood -- and audiences -- are missing out on.
The film was adapted from a play by Richard Harris, a British writer best known for his hit series A TOUCH OF FROST and THE LAST DETECTIVE. The idea came from his late wife, Hillary Crane, who had started her career as a dancer. Crane regularly took classes to brush up her dancing skills and after one suggested her husband should visit to pick up material for his work. Instead of looking in on her class, he had a tap class conducted in a local church, which gave him the idea for STEPPING OUT. After a three year run on London's West End, where it won the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award in 1984, the play ran for 73 performances on Broadway in 1987 and brought Carole Shelley a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for playing the role that would go to Ellen Greene on screen. Tommy Tune directed the show and future Tony- and Emmy-winner Cherry Jones played Jane Krakowski's role.
For the film version of STEPPING OUT, Harris transplanted the action to Buffalo, NY, where location footage was shot (the film was made mostly in Toronto). He also made the project more dramatic than musical, focusing on the emotional problems of Mavis and her adult students rather than on their dance routines. Where the original was set entirely in the tap class, he opened up the action to show the characters' personal lives. With Minnelli signed to play Mavis, the piece was transformed from ensemble drama to star vehicle. In addition to singing "Mean to Me" with her boyfriend's rock band, Minnelli performs two solo routines choreographed by Danny Daniels, with whom she had worked on BEST FOOT FORWARD, her New York stage debut. John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the title tune to give the film a big finale, with the tap class pulling together to perform at a charity show.
At the time, Minnelli's musical career was her main focus. After the failures of her previous two films, RENT-A-COP (1987) and ARTHUR 2: ON THE ROCKS (1988), she had largely abandoned film acting. But her concert career was still in high gear, with a profitable tour as part of "Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event" with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. (she had replaced an ailing Dean Martin). She had released "Results", an album of electronic dance music, in 1989, which had led to hit singles in the U.S. that included "Losing My Mind" and "Love Pains." A year later, she was one of the first recipients of the Grammy Legend Awards.
Lewis Gilbert, who had scored hits with earlier stage adaptations such as EDUCATING RITA (1983) and SHIRLEY VALENTINE (1989), took on directing chores and cast his EDUCATING RITA leading lady Julie Walters in a prominent role as a socially pretentious class member. Carol Woods was the only actor from the Broadway cast to repeat her role in the film. The rest of the cast of STEPPING OUT featured such noted stage performers as Ellen Greene, who had triumphed off-Broadway as Audrey in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS before starring in the 1986 film version, acclaimed mime Bill Irwin and Jane Krakowski, in her first major film role after scoring on stage in GRAND HOTEL: THE MUSICAL. Alongside Minnelli, the most prominent film name in the cast was Shelley Winters as the class's cantankerous accompanist. Rounding out the class were SCTV alum Andrea Martin and acclaimed Canadian actress Sheila McCarthy, star of the indie hit I'VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING (1987).
STEPPING OUT was only given a limited release in the U.S., and received mixed reviews. Roger Ebert called it "an amateur night version of A CHORUS LINE" and expressed his frustration that the movie didn't have more Minnelli and less of her angst-ridden class. He also felt that by showing what was only talked about in the stage version, the piece lost much of its narrative thrust. The play continues to remain a popular revival, though it has been received more enthusiastically around the world than on Broadway.
The film was adapted from a play by Richard Harris, a British writer best known for his hit series A TOUCH OF FROST and THE LAST DETECTIVE. The idea came from his late wife, Hillary Crane, who had started her career as a dancer. Crane regularly took classes to brush up her dancing skills and after one suggested her husband should visit to pick up material for his work. Instead of looking in on her class, he had a tap class conducted in a local church, which gave him the idea for STEPPING OUT. After a three year run on London's West End, where it won the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award in 1984, the play ran for 73 performances on Broadway in 1987 and brought Carole Shelley a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for playing the role that would go to Ellen Greene on screen. Tommy Tune directed the show and future Tony- and Emmy-winner Cherry Jones played Jane Krakowski's role.
For the film version of STEPPING OUT, Harris transplanted the action to Buffalo, NY, where location footage was shot (the film was made mostly in Toronto). He also made the project more dramatic than musical, focusing on the emotional problems of Mavis and her adult students rather than on their dance routines. Where the original was set entirely in the tap class, he opened up the action to show the characters' personal lives. With Minnelli signed to play Mavis, the piece was transformed from ensemble drama to star vehicle. In addition to singing "Mean to Me" with her boyfriend's rock band, Minnelli performs two solo routines choreographed by Danny Daniels, with whom she had worked on BEST FOOT FORWARD, her New York stage debut. John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the title tune to give the film a big finale, with the tap class pulling together to perform at a charity show.
At the time, Minnelli's musical career was her main focus. After the failures of her previous two films, RENT-A-COP (1987) and ARTHUR 2: ON THE ROCKS (1988), she had largely abandoned film acting. But her concert career was still in high gear, with a profitable tour as part of "Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event" with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. (she had replaced an ailing Dean Martin). She had released "Results", an album of electronic dance music, in 1989, which had led to hit singles in the U.S. that included "Losing My Mind" and "Love Pains." A year later, she was one of the first recipients of the Grammy Legend Awards.
Lewis Gilbert, who had scored hits with earlier stage adaptations such as EDUCATING RITA (1983) and SHIRLEY VALENTINE (1989), took on directing chores and cast his EDUCATING RITA leading lady Julie Walters in a prominent role as a socially pretentious class member. Carol Woods was the only actor from the Broadway cast to repeat her role in the film. The rest of the cast of STEPPING OUT featured such noted stage performers as Ellen Greene, who had triumphed off-Broadway as Audrey in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS before starring in the 1986 film version, acclaimed mime Bill Irwin and Jane Krakowski, in her first major film role after scoring on stage in GRAND HOTEL: THE MUSICAL. Alongside Minnelli, the most prominent film name in the cast was Shelley Winters as the class's cantankerous accompanist. Rounding out the class were SCTV alum Andrea Martin and acclaimed Canadian actress Sheila McCarthy, star of the indie hit I'VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING (1987).
STEPPING OUT was only given a limited release in the U.S., and received mixed reviews. Roger Ebert called it "an amateur night version of A CHORUS LINE" and expressed his frustration that the movie didn't have more Minnelli and less of her angst-ridden class. He also felt that by showing what was only talked about in the stage version, the piece lost much of its narrative thrust. The play continues to remain a popular revival, though it has been received more enthusiastically around the world than on Broadway.
Press & Reviews
"Turning Klutzes Into Tap Dancers"
Stephen Holden, New York Times, October 4, 1991
Stephen Holden, New York Times, October 4, 1991
"Liza Minnelli's radiant kewpie doll grin and hyperventilated acting style have certainly not suited every role she has portrayed in the movies, but they inject a shot of adrenaline into STEPPING OUT, the film adaptation of the English playwright Richard Harris's popular boulevard comedy.
A long-running stage hit in London, STEPPING OUT portrayed the melding of a group of disparate Londoners, mostly women from the same tap-dancing class, into an accomplished amateur chorus line. The play reached Broadway four years ago in a coolly received production directed by Tommy Tune. For the movie version, adapted by the playwright and directed by Lewis Gilbert, the setting has been shifted to Buffalo, with the role of the dance instructor Mavis, which was played on Broadway by Pamela Sousa, heavily beefed-up for Ms. Minnelli. […]
Mr. Gilbert has demonstrated a knack for slick, old-fashioned comedy-drama in such previous films as SHIRLEY VALENTINE, EDUCATING RITA and ALFIE. And in STEPPING OUT, he manipulates the machinery with a knowing efficiency. […]
Because the movie adaptation was conceived as a star vehicle for Ms. Minnelli, the actress is given two solo dance turns, choreographed by Danny Daniels, in addition to her acting chores. Both numbers jerk the movie, which is never particularly believable, into the realm of pure show-business fantasy, while allowing the star to demonstrate real pizazz as a modern-day vaudevillian trouper.
The final number, which Ms. Minnelli introduced in her stage show last spring, is an appealingly brassy, new made-to-order song by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It puts the icing on a movie that is the contemporary equivalent of a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "let's put on a show" romp, seasoned with a dash of A CHORUS LINE."
A long-running stage hit in London, STEPPING OUT portrayed the melding of a group of disparate Londoners, mostly women from the same tap-dancing class, into an accomplished amateur chorus line. The play reached Broadway four years ago in a coolly received production directed by Tommy Tune. For the movie version, adapted by the playwright and directed by Lewis Gilbert, the setting has been shifted to Buffalo, with the role of the dance instructor Mavis, which was played on Broadway by Pamela Sousa, heavily beefed-up for Ms. Minnelli. […]
Mr. Gilbert has demonstrated a knack for slick, old-fashioned comedy-drama in such previous films as SHIRLEY VALENTINE, EDUCATING RITA and ALFIE. And in STEPPING OUT, he manipulates the machinery with a knowing efficiency. […]
Because the movie adaptation was conceived as a star vehicle for Ms. Minnelli, the actress is given two solo dance turns, choreographed by Danny Daniels, in addition to her acting chores. Both numbers jerk the movie, which is never particularly believable, into the realm of pure show-business fantasy, while allowing the star to demonstrate real pizazz as a modern-day vaudevillian trouper.
The final number, which Ms. Minnelli introduced in her stage show last spring, is an appealingly brassy, new made-to-order song by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It puts the icing on a movie that is the contemporary equivalent of a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "let's put on a show" romp, seasoned with a dash of A CHORUS LINE."
"It’s Liza-as-you-love-her in STEPPING OUT"
Variety, December 31, 1990
Variety, December 31, 1990
"… a modest heartwarmer about a bunch of suburban left-feeters getting it together for a charity dance spot. Fragile ensemble item often creaks under the Minnelli glitz, but results are likeable enough.
Adapted by Richard Harris from his 1984 award-winning play, action is switched from a London church hall to a Buffalo, NY, equivalent. Minnelli is a former pro hoofer who’s now teaching amateur dance classes on the side.
Her current group includes a snooty Brit with a cleanliness fixation (Julie Walters), a shy plain Jane with a bossy husband (Sheila McCarthy), a pretty, disillusioned young nurse (Jane Krakowski) and a working-class pants-chaser (Robyn Stevan).
Minnelli’s problems start when her grumpy accompanist (Shelley Winters) threatens to walk out. She’s then invited to put together an amateur tap routine for a charity show.
Minnelli’s lost none of her pizzazz. Looking as fresh-faced and gamine as ever, and in good voice and shape, she provides the pic’s emotional highs in a solo dance spot and the finale’s John Kander-Fred Ebb title song…"
Adapted by Richard Harris from his 1984 award-winning play, action is switched from a London church hall to a Buffalo, NY, equivalent. Minnelli is a former pro hoofer who’s now teaching amateur dance classes on the side.
Her current group includes a snooty Brit with a cleanliness fixation (Julie Walters), a shy plain Jane with a bossy husband (Sheila McCarthy), a pretty, disillusioned young nurse (Jane Krakowski) and a working-class pants-chaser (Robyn Stevan).
Minnelli’s problems start when her grumpy accompanist (Shelley Winters) threatens to walk out. She’s then invited to put together an amateur tap routine for a charity show.
Minnelli’s lost none of her pizzazz. Looking as fresh-faced and gamine as ever, and in good voice and shape, she provides the pic’s emotional highs in a solo dance spot and the finale’s John Kander-Fred Ebb title song…"
"Lewis Gilbert Taps Minnelli's Talents for STEPPING OUT"
David Gritten, Los Angeles Times, October 03, 1991
David Gritten, Los Angeles Times, October 03, 1991
"… Now Gilbert is aiming for the hat trick with another film aimed squarely at women: STEPPING OUT, which Paramount is releasing Friday. Liza Minnelli stars as a tap-dance instructor in Buffalo, N.Y., who helps a class of eight women and a man to escape their daily drudgery. Somewhat in the manner of A CHORUS LINE, their individual stories are explored in the movie.
Although Minnelli has had an erratic movie career since her Oscar-winning success in CABARET, Gilbert has gone to bat strongly for his lead actress. 'She was really the first and the only person who was considered (for the role)," he says. The film, he says, gives Minnelli "a chance to do what she does best. She really hasn't done it for a long time. What was she doing in all those films where any ingenue could have played her parts? In this film, maybe I shouldn't say it, but I think she gives a superb performance. I could not think of anyone else who could have done it.' […]
Gilbert […] assembled a cast that included his EDUCATING RITA star Julie Walters; Ellen Greene, who starred in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS; two-time Oscar-winner Shelley Winters; and the critically acclaimed performance artist and actor Bill Irwin (MY BLUE HEAVEN).'None of these people could dance tap at all - including Liza,' Gilbert said. 'She's a wonderful dancer, but she had never done much tap. So the aim was to follow the story of these characters, and having them start by dancing badly, then improve, and end up by being terrific.'
He enlisted the help of Tony-winning choreographer Danny Daniels to kick his tyro tappers into shape. 'He was an incredible disciplinarian,' Gilbert said. 'For three or four weeks before we started shooting, he had them practicing eight hours a day. And throughout filming, if one particular character's story wasn't being shot, the others had to carry on learning--Saturdays, Sundays and nights included.' […]
Minnelli for one is thrilled with Gilbert's work. 'It was one of the best experiences I ever had,' she said, speaking by phone from New York. 'And that starts with the director, who dictates everyone else's attitude. Lewis knows exactly what's needed. There are no storyboards - it's all in his head. He doesn't do 9,000 takes, and sometimes he's happy with just one. There's not a jaded bone in his body. He was a luxury and a joy … he makes you feel very well taken care of.'
Parts of STEPPING OUT were shot in Buffalo, others in Toronto. 'The time's ripe for this kind of film,' Gilbert said. 'Quite apart from all the misery and war in the world, the era of large-scale gunfights and bloodshed seems to be waning'..."
Although Minnelli has had an erratic movie career since her Oscar-winning success in CABARET, Gilbert has gone to bat strongly for his lead actress. 'She was really the first and the only person who was considered (for the role)," he says. The film, he says, gives Minnelli "a chance to do what she does best. She really hasn't done it for a long time. What was she doing in all those films where any ingenue could have played her parts? In this film, maybe I shouldn't say it, but I think she gives a superb performance. I could not think of anyone else who could have done it.' […]
Gilbert […] assembled a cast that included his EDUCATING RITA star Julie Walters; Ellen Greene, who starred in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS; two-time Oscar-winner Shelley Winters; and the critically acclaimed performance artist and actor Bill Irwin (MY BLUE HEAVEN).'None of these people could dance tap at all - including Liza,' Gilbert said. 'She's a wonderful dancer, but she had never done much tap. So the aim was to follow the story of these characters, and having them start by dancing badly, then improve, and end up by being terrific.'
He enlisted the help of Tony-winning choreographer Danny Daniels to kick his tyro tappers into shape. 'He was an incredible disciplinarian,' Gilbert said. 'For three or four weeks before we started shooting, he had them practicing eight hours a day. And throughout filming, if one particular character's story wasn't being shot, the others had to carry on learning--Saturdays, Sundays and nights included.' […]
Minnelli for one is thrilled with Gilbert's work. 'It was one of the best experiences I ever had,' she said, speaking by phone from New York. 'And that starts with the director, who dictates everyone else's attitude. Lewis knows exactly what's needed. There are no storyboards - it's all in his head. He doesn't do 9,000 takes, and sometimes he's happy with just one. There's not a jaded bone in his body. He was a luxury and a joy … he makes you feel very well taken care of.'
Parts of STEPPING OUT were shot in Buffalo, others in Toronto. 'The time's ripe for this kind of film,' Gilbert said. 'Quite apart from all the misery and war in the world, the era of large-scale gunfights and bloodshed seems to be waning'..."
"Liza Minnelli’s work in the movie is an appetizer for more singing and dancing.
It’s a shame that a talent like hers has to survive in an era when the traditional film musical is all but dead."
Roger Ebert, October 18, 1991
It’s a shame that a talent like hers has to survive in an era when the traditional film musical is all but dead."
Roger Ebert, October 18, 1991
"STEPPING OUT is an amateur night version of A CHORUS LINE, in which the members of a tap dance class face their individual problems and tell their own stories, while rehearsing for the big production number that will inevitably end the movie. Room is made for a couple of production numbers featuring the star, Liza Minnelli, and they're so good they left me wishing for more Liza and fewer problems in the chorus.
The movie’s based on a stage play by Richard Harris, which I saw in London, where it contained more dancing and was generally more engaging, maybe simply because it was on the stage. The arc of the story is completely predictable (strangers meet for tap class, each eventually reveals problems, teacher has most problems of all, class almost breaks up, everybody pulls together, gets big ovation on the night of the big show). But on the stage the physical presence of the actors makes it all more convincing, and the dance numbers are real numbers, in real time, by real people.
The movie translates the material to North America (the movie was shot mostly in Buffalo and Toronto), and "opens up" the story by showing us the private lives of many of the characters (Liza is married to a chauvinist pig, Sheila McCarthy is married to a wife-beater, etc.). This is a mistake. In the play, the tap class contained the entire world of the story, and members talked of offstage situations. To see the husbands and others takes away from the episodic rhythm of the classes, in which heartfelt discussions alternated with dance routines.
Liza Minnelli’s work in the movie is an appetizer for more singing and dancing. It’s a shame that a talent like hers has to survive in an era when the traditional film musical is all but dead.
She has a big solo production number and leads her class onstage for the big all-city dance extravaganza, but mostly she’s stuck in scenes of potted dialogue and emotion, chain-smoking and sympathizing.
Of the others in the class, Bill Irwin and Shelley Winters have particularly thankless roles, he as the pathologically shy male member of the group, she as a piano player with a perpetual grudge that the screenplay never pauses to explain. Sheila McCarthy (from "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing") is engaging as the defiant wife who wants out from under her husband’s control, and Nora Dunn has fun with the limited role of the local society shrew.
But the movie is neither fish nor fowl. As a song-and-dance picture, it talks too much. As a drama, it’s superficial and locked into a formula. Maybe it will remind somebody what a wonderful talent Liza Minnelli has, and they will do something with it, like putting her in a real musical."
The movie’s based on a stage play by Richard Harris, which I saw in London, where it contained more dancing and was generally more engaging, maybe simply because it was on the stage. The arc of the story is completely predictable (strangers meet for tap class, each eventually reveals problems, teacher has most problems of all, class almost breaks up, everybody pulls together, gets big ovation on the night of the big show). But on the stage the physical presence of the actors makes it all more convincing, and the dance numbers are real numbers, in real time, by real people.
The movie translates the material to North America (the movie was shot mostly in Buffalo and Toronto), and "opens up" the story by showing us the private lives of many of the characters (Liza is married to a chauvinist pig, Sheila McCarthy is married to a wife-beater, etc.). This is a mistake. In the play, the tap class contained the entire world of the story, and members talked of offstage situations. To see the husbands and others takes away from the episodic rhythm of the classes, in which heartfelt discussions alternated with dance routines.
Liza Minnelli’s work in the movie is an appetizer for more singing and dancing. It’s a shame that a talent like hers has to survive in an era when the traditional film musical is all but dead.
She has a big solo production number and leads her class onstage for the big all-city dance extravaganza, but mostly she’s stuck in scenes of potted dialogue and emotion, chain-smoking and sympathizing.
Of the others in the class, Bill Irwin and Shelley Winters have particularly thankless roles, he as the pathologically shy male member of the group, she as a piano player with a perpetual grudge that the screenplay never pauses to explain. Sheila McCarthy (from "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing") is engaging as the defiant wife who wants out from under her husband’s control, and Nora Dunn has fun with the limited role of the local society shrew.
But the movie is neither fish nor fowl. As a song-and-dance picture, it talks too much. As a drama, it’s superficial and locked into a formula. Maybe it will remind somebody what a wonderful talent Liza Minnelli has, and they will do something with it, like putting her in a real musical."
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
THE HAPPY TIME was nominated for ten Tony® Awards in 1968, including Best Musical, Best Composer & Lyricist for Kander & Ebb, several nominations for the actors and Best Choreography as well as Best Direction for Gower Champion who won the award in both categories. Robert Goulet won the Tony® as Best Actor in a Musical.
The show was also nominated for two Theatre World Awards, presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, winning in both cases.
The complete list of nominations:
The show was also nominated for two Theatre World Awards, presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, winning in both cases.
The complete list of nominations:
1992 BAFTA Awards
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
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JULIE WALTERS (Nominee)
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