THE HAPPY TIME
1968 Original Broadway Production
Broadway Theatre, New York, NY
Broadway Theatre, New York, NY
First Preview
Opening Date Closing Date Previews Performances |
December 29, 1967
January 18, 1968 September 28, 1968 23 286 |
DAVID MERRICK
presents
ROBERT GOULET DAVID WAYNE
Book by
N. RICHARD NASH
Suggested by the characters in the Stories by
ROBERT L. FONTAINE
Music by
JOHN KANDER |
Lyrics by
FRED EBB |
with
JULIE GREGG GEORGE S. IRVING JEANNE ARNOLD
CHARLES DURNING MIKE RUPERT JUNE SQUIBB
Settings by
PETER WEXLER |
Costumes by
FREDDY WITTOP |
Lighting by
JEAN ROSENTHAL |
Film Sequences Created by
CHRISTOPHER CHAPMAN |
Film Technical Direction by
BARRY O. GORDON |
Orchestrations by
DON WALKER |
Musical Direction and
Vocal Arrangements by OSCAR KOSARIN |
Associate Choreographer
KEVIN CARLISLE |
Dance and Incidental Music Arrangements by
MARVIN LAIRD |
Production Manager
MICHAEL THOMA |
Directed, Filmed and Choreographed by
GOWER CHAMPION
GOWER CHAMPION
Synopsis
Jacques Bonnard is a prize-winning photographer who travels the world. He returns to his 1920s French-Canadian village, after five years away, seeking the happy time of his childhood. His cantankerous but lovable father (Grandpère), two brothers and their wives, and their children all welcome him ("He's Back"). His stories of his travels have a profound effect on his nephew Bibi, who is having trouble at school and going through an especially rough puberty, inspiring the boy to want to live life to the fullest. Jacques goes to a nightclub and takes Grandpère and Bibi, where they are entertained by the dancers (Six Angels) ("Catch My Garter"). After their night on the town, Bibi begs Jacques to "Please Stay".
When Bibi takes Grandpère's "naughty" pictures to school and is discovered, his stern father Philippe forces him to apologize to his school-mates. Bibi is embarrassed and upset and tries to cajole Jacques into taking him away when he leaves. Although Jacques at first agrees, thinking that Bibi will be a companion, he quickly realizes that this would not be good for Bibi.
Meanwhile, Jacques finds it difficult to commit to his former sweetheart Laurie ("I Don't Remember You"). The couple finally realize that they have opposite ideas about life and the future ("Seeing Things"), with Laurie understanding that Jacques is emotionally a boy, like her students. Grandpère, Jacques and Bibi playfully sing an ode to "A Certain Girl". Jacques finally realizes that he returned home searching for family and love ("Running"), and understands that he must set out alone again.
When Bibi takes Grandpère's "naughty" pictures to school and is discovered, his stern father Philippe forces him to apologize to his school-mates. Bibi is embarrassed and upset and tries to cajole Jacques into taking him away when he leaves. Although Jacques at first agrees, thinking that Bibi will be a companion, he quickly realizes that this would not be good for Bibi.
Meanwhile, Jacques finds it difficult to commit to his former sweetheart Laurie ("I Don't Remember You"). The couple finally realize that they have opposite ideas about life and the future ("Seeing Things"), with Laurie understanding that Jacques is emotionally a boy, like her students. Grandpère, Jacques and Bibi playfully sing an ode to "A Certain Girl". Jacques finally realizes that he returned home searching for family and love ("Running"), and understands that he must set out alone again.
Cast
in order of appearance
Jacques Bonnard
Suzanne Bonnard Philippe Bonnard Bibi Bonnard Louis Bonnard Annabelle Bonnard Gillie Bonnard Nanette Bonnard Felice Bonnard Grandpère Bonnard The Six Angels: Lizette Dorine Sylvie Monique Bella Grace Laurie Mannon Foufie Granache |
ROBERT GOULET
JEANNE ARNOLD GEORGE S. IRVING MIKE RUPERT CHARLES DURNING KIM FREUND JULIANE STITES CONNIE SIMMONS JUNE SQUIBB DAVID WAYNE JACKI GARLAND MARY GAIL LAVERENZ TAMMIE FILLHART MARY ANN O'REILLY VICKI POWERS SUSAN SIGRIST JULIE GREGG JEFFREY GOLKIN DALLAS COHANN |
Students of St. Pierre Boys' School:
Dancers:
Ron Abshire, Jovanni Anthony, Quinn Baird, Andy Bew, Blake Brown,
Leonard Crofoot, Ron Crofoot, Wayne Dugger, Joe Giamalva, Dalla Johann,
Gene Law, Steve Reinhart, Jon Simonson, Michael Stearns
Swing Dancer: Sammy Williams
Singers:
Marc Anthony, Alan Blight, Geroge Connolly, Tom DeMastri, Paul Dwyer,
Scott Gandert, Eric Hamilton, Gary Hamilton, Jeffrey Hamilton, Kevin Hamilton,
Mark Lonergan, Brian Shyer, Brandy Wayne, Teddy Williams, Marc Winters
Standbys and Understudies
Dancers:
Ron Abshire, Jovanni Anthony, Quinn Baird, Andy Bew, Blake Brown,
Leonard Crofoot, Ron Crofoot, Wayne Dugger, Joe Giamalva, Dalla Johann,
Gene Law, Steve Reinhart, Jon Simonson, Michael Stearns
Swing Dancer: Sammy Williams
Singers:
Marc Anthony, Alan Blight, Geroge Connolly, Tom DeMastri, Paul Dwyer,
Scott Gandert, Eric Hamilton, Gary Hamilton, Jeffrey Hamilton, Kevin Hamilton,
Mark Lonergan, Brian Shyer, Brandy Wayne, Teddy Williams, Marc Winters
Standbys and Understudies
Standby for Jacques and Philippe
Standby for Grandpère and Louis Standby for Suzanna and Felice Understudy for Laurie Understudy for Bibi |
JOHN GABRIEL
BEN KAPEN IVA WINTERS VICKI POWERS LEONARD CROFOOT |
For full artist biographies and photos and a list of additional or replacement cast members click here
Musical Numbers
ACT I
THE HAPPY TIME Jacques and Family HE'S BACK The Family CATCH MY GARTER The Six Angels TOMORROW MORNING Jacques, Grandpère, Bibi and The Six Angels PLEASE STAY Bibi and Jacques I DON'T REMEMBER YOU Jacques ST. PIERRE The Glee Club I DON'T REMEMBER YOU (Reprise) Laurie and Jacques WITHOUT ME Bibi and Schoolmates THE HAPPY TIME (Reprise) Jacques |
ACT II
AMONG MY YESTERDAYS Jacques THE LIFE OF THE PARTY Grandpère, The Six Angels and Schoolboys SEEING THINGS Jacques and Laurie BALLET (Instrumental) Bibi, Gillie, Annabelle, Nanette and Schoolboys A CERTAIN GIRL Grandpère, Jacques and Bibi BEING ALIVE Jacques THE HAPPY TIME (Reprise) Jacques and Entire Company |
The Music
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Cut songs
and additional musical numbers
Kander & Ebb wrote a number of songs for THE ACT that were either cut from the show or not used at all. Most of these songs can be found on the Composers' Demo Recording of the show performed by Kander & Ebb themselves (see Recordings).
Two songs that were originally used in other projects - namely "Isn't This Better?" (from the movie FUNNY LADY) and "There Goes The Ball Game" (from the movie NEW YORK, NEW YORK) - were at one point considered to be part of the score for THE ACT but then cut again prior to opening.
Another song, "Hollywood, California", was still part of the score when the show opened on Broadway but then got cut after opening night and is thus also omitted from the Original Broadway Cast Recording.
Two songs that were originally used in other projects - namely "Isn't This Better?" (from the movie FUNNY LADY) and "There Goes The Ball Game" (from the movie NEW YORK, NEW YORK) - were at one point considered to be part of the score for THE ACT but then cut again prior to opening.
Another song, "Hollywood, California", was still part of the score when the show opened on Broadway but then got cut after opening night and is thus also omitted from the Original Broadway Cast Recording.
ALLEZ-OOP
(cut)
BEING ALIVE
(dropped after opening)
GETTING YOUNGER EVERY DAY / YEAR
(cut)
2. Studio Demo, Ampco Music AM-101 (unidentified singer)
THE HAPPY TIME (Reprise)
1. Composer Demo, Dick Charles 8267 (John Kander and Fred Ebb)
2. Studio Demo, Ampco Music AM-101 (unidentified singer)
3. John Gary On Broadway, RCA Victor (S) LSP-3928 (John Gary with orchestra conducted by Dick Grove)
IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
(unused)
1. Composer Demo, Dick Charles 8267 (John Kander and Fred Ebb)
2. Something Special, RCA (S) LSP-3870 (Kate Smith)
3. Lost In Boston, CD/Varese Sarabande VSD-5475 (Michael Rupert with musical direction by James Stenborg)
IN HIS OWN GOOD TIME
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
BALLET *
I WON'T GO *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
I'M SORRY *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
JEANNE-MARIE *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
RUNNING *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
* unrecorded songs
(cut)
BEING ALIVE
(dropped after opening)
GETTING YOUNGER EVERY DAY / YEAR
(cut)
2. Studio Demo, Ampco Music AM-101 (unidentified singer)
THE HAPPY TIME (Reprise)
1. Composer Demo, Dick Charles 8267 (John Kander and Fred Ebb)
2. Studio Demo, Ampco Music AM-101 (unidentified singer)
3. John Gary On Broadway, RCA Victor (S) LSP-3928 (John Gary with orchestra conducted by Dick Grove)
IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
(unused)
1. Composer Demo, Dick Charles 8267 (John Kander and Fred Ebb)
2. Something Special, RCA (S) LSP-3870 (Kate Smith)
3. Lost In Boston, CD/Varese Sarabande VSD-5475 (Michael Rupert with musical direction by James Stenborg)
IN HIS OWN GOOD TIME
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
BALLET *
I WON'T GO *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
I'M SORRY *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
JEANNE-MARIE *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
RUNNING *
(cut; reinstated in 1975 Burt Wheeler Theatre and 1980 Goodspeed Opera House revivals)
* unrecorded songs
Recordings
An original cast album was released by RCA Victor Broadway in 1968. The LP includes most of the songs from the score (with the exception of "The Happy Time (Reprise)", the second Act "Ballet" and "Being Alive" which was cut after opening) performed by the original Broadway cast.
Some songs were slightly edited for the recording, eliminating all dialogue and being trimmed down to a more classical song form.
Also, the song order was slightly different from the performance where "My Own Space" was performed as a kind of faux encore, following the finale ("Walking Papers").
The Original Broadway cast recording was released by RCA Victor Broadway in January 1968 and the CD was released on March 10, 1992.
John Kander himself is featured on the recording, playing the piano in "My Own Space".
Also, the song order was slightly different from the performance where "My Own Space" was performed as a kind of faux encore, following the finale ("Walking Papers").
The Original Broadway cast recording was released by RCA Victor Broadway in January 1968 and the CD was released on March 10, 1992.
John Kander himself is featured on the recording, playing the piano in "My Own Space".
For detailed information on the cast album click here
Photos
Recording the Original Broadway Cast Album
Photos: Henri Dauman © 1968
Photos: Henri Dauman © 1968
Additional Recordings
As with most of their shows, Kander & Ebb recorded demo versions of the score before the show went into production. This Demo Recording includes most of the numbers that were later cut from or not used in the show. All songs on this recording are performed by Fred Ebb (vocals) and John Kander (piano and additional vocals).
THE HAPPY TIME
Composer Demo (1967) 01. The Happy Time 02. He's Back 03. Allez-Oop * 04. Tomorrow Morning 05. Please Stay 06. I Don't Remember You / St. Pierre 07. Without Me 08. In His Own Good Time * 09. End of Act I 10. Among My Yesterdays 11. Getting Younger Every Year * 12. If You Leave Me Now * 13. A Certain Girl 14. Being Alive / Finale * cut or unused songs |
An instrumental album containing most songs from the score performed by the Orch. '70, conducted by Joe Reisman, was released by RCA Victor Broadway in 1968. All songs were substantially re-orchestrated for this recording.
ORCH. '70 PLAYS MUSIC FROM THE HAPPY TIME (Instrumental Album)
Joe Reisman conducts the New Orch. '70 (1968) 01. Tomorrow Morning 02. Seeing Things 03. Without Me 04. A Certain Girl 05. Among My Yesterdays 06. Please Stay 07. The Happy Time 08. I Don't Remember You 09. St. Pierre 10. He's Back 11. The Life Of The Party |
Several songs from THE HAPPY TIME were subsequently recorded by other artists and appear on various recordings.
Additionally, a number of songs that were initially written for but then cut from or not used in THE HAPPY TIME were recorded by various artists and released on their solo albums or on different compilations.
About the show
Excerpt from "Kander & Ebb", written by James Leve
© 2009 Yale University Press
© 2009 Yale University Press
Immediately after CABARET, Kander and Ebb were in high demand. In 1967 they wrote industrials musicals for General Electric and Ford Motor Company, and in 1968 they provided the scores for two Broadway musicals, THE HAPPY TIME and ZORBÁ. Neither show, one a comedy of self-discovery, the other a dark story of personal awakening, was a definitive hit. THE HAPPY TIME had everything going for it, a charming and beloved source, Robert L. Fontaine’s novel of the same name; Broadway’s hottest super-director, Gower Champion; the shrewdest and most powerful producer in the business, David Merrick; and a star-studded cast including Robert Goulet and David Wayne. Merrick nearly closed THE HAPPY TIME out of town and lost interest in it entirely once it became clear that he would never recoup his investment. ZORBÁ, too, showed a lot of promise, but Hal Prince, who produced and directed it, cut short the initial Broadway run before it had broken even.
Kander and Ebb’s score for THE HAPPY TIME is a colorful mixture of pastiche, musical comedy, musical play, and opera. However, the critics, who still had CABARET ringing in their ears, were caught off guard by its conventionality and offered little more than passing judgment. Walter Kerr’s comments are typical: “John Kander and Fred Ebb, lacking that first twist of mind that led them into composing the brittle, sneaky score for CABARET, are working at half-staff.” By most accounts, Gower Champion’s concept for the show robbed the score of its charm, stripped key parts of the script, and ruined the musical’s chances of success.
Fontaine’s novel "The Happy Time" is a coming-of-age story set in the 1920s told from the point of view of a boy named Bibi, the youngest member of an idiosyncratic French Canadian family. The novel consists of several loosely connected episodes in Bibi’s life, all taking place during the year leading up to his first discovery of love. Filling out the novel are the antics of Bibi’s eccentric family, including his debonair and permissive grandfather; his father, a vaudeville musician and armchair philosopher who can turn a request to pass the sugar into an ethics lesson; his mother of Scottish descent (Maman), beneath whose occasional stern demeanor lies a profound maternal love; his alcoholic ne’er-do-well but irresistible uncle; and his budding female cousin. We also get to know an array of other local characters, most notably, a fanatical moralist of a schoolmaster who inflicts corporal punishment on Bibi for allegedly lying until the boy’s father and uncles give the educator a taste of his own medicine. Although not monumental, the ordinary events detailed in the novel shape the boy’s view of the world as he emerges from childhood and discovers his first true love, a redheaded American who lives next door.
The positive reception of Fontaine’s book led to a stage play of the novel by Samuel Taylor, which in turn generated discussion of a possible musical adaptation. Rodgers and Hammerstein, who turned to producing in the mid forties, produced Taylor’s play. It was a hit, running for 614 performances, and was turned into a film starring Charles Boyer and Louis Jourdan. Rodgers and Hammerstein had no interest themselves in writing the musical adaptation, and David Merrick eventually acquired the musical rights. By the time Merrick got around to producing it, a new generation of musical theater writers had arrived. He hired Kander and Ebb only after his first choice, Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, turned him down. Merrick apparently never considered hiring Taylor to write the book, perhaps because his play was not a workable model for the musical. In any case, the playwright was occupied at the time with his comedy AVANTI!, which opened on Broadway just days before THE HAPPY TIME. Merrick approached N. Richard Nash, who felt that Fontaine’s novel was “too sentimental” and ordinary. According to William Goldman, Nash was more interested in developing an idea of his own “about a small-town Mid-western photographer who comes home every four or five years and wrecks the family. And finally his father makes him tell the truth about the ‘glamorous’ life he’s been leading—that he’s a liar and a failure and has never found himself and is always living on the edge of dishonesty.” Merrick, eager to exercise his option, allowed Nash to map his prodigal son and homecoming story onto Fontaine’s breezy coming-of-age novel.
In effect, Nash transformed Fontaine’s story into an adult-oriented story of self-exploration. By centering the story on a new protagonist, a photographer named Jacques, the playwright relegated Bibi to a secondary role, the agent through which Jacques learns to see the truth about himself. Jacques is a traveling photographer and the black sheep of the family, “an artist who could go either way, towards art or commercialism.” At sixteen years of age, Jacques left St. Pierre for a life of adventure. For years he has been passing himself off as an international success and bon vivant. Jacques seldom visits home, but chaos usually ensues when he does. Bibi worships him. The musical portrays the visit that changes Jacques’s life. He attempts to rekindle a relationship with Laurie, his childhood sweetheart and Bibi’s schoolteacher. She still loves him, even though they see the world differently, he with his head in the clouds, she with her feet on the ground (as Kander might say, poetry versus prose). During Jacques’s first night in town, Bibi follows his uncle to see “The Six Angels” at the theater where his father works. They stay out all night, and Bibi, drunk with the love he feels for his uncle—and from his first taste of brandy—asks Jacques if he can accompany him on his world travels. Bibi’s request gives rise to the dramatic conflict of the story. Jacques asks his brother, Philippe, to let Bibi leave school temporarily, and Philippe refuses, more in defiance of his brother than for reasons regarding Bibi’s education. Philippe’s decision, however, drives Bibi further into Jacques’s arms. Jacques decides to take matters into his own hands and declares that he will take Bibi with him. Grandpère, with the insight that only a parent can have, intervenes and forces Jacques to confess the truth about his life. In one of the most powerful, soul-searching scenes in musical theater, Jacques, no longer able to hide, admits to Bibi that he is a fake, as his father looks on.
Still without a director, Merrick approached Gower Champion, with whom he had worked on several occasions. Champion agreed to direct the musical because it fit in with another projected he wanted to do: Elliot Martin, director of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, had approached Champion to direct a dance musical for the opening of the new Ahmanson Theatre. Champion thought that THE HAPPY TIME was a good project for the purpose.
Nash’s script and Kander and Ebb’s score suggested an intimate musical with a small orchestra and no chorus, but Champion wanted to give the piece a sophisticated look and fluid rhythm. He decided to present the story as a memory play, which he would convey with the IMAX system, invented by Chris Chapman and Barry Gordon. The result was a show that, in Kander’s words, “smothered the intimate subject matter with too enormous a production.” Champion pressured Nash to alter his script in order to facilitate his grand vision for the musical. At Champion’s request, Nash wrote a prologue and epilogue. In the former, Jacques addresses the audience directly, entreating them to return with him to St. Pierre. Champion spent considerable time and money on creating slides of Jacques’s photographs to project against a cyclorama. Champion photographed a series of rose images at Griffith Park Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles, planning to use them as examples of Jacques’s work. Since the IMAX system required a large fixed-rear-projection screen, the rest of the set had to be minimal. A revolving platform was devised, and the orchestra sat onstage (although they were back in the pit by the time the musical reached New York). Merrick was forced to book one of the largest Broadway theaters in order to accommodate the projections. The effect was stunning, but Nash’s intimate story suffered from the excesses of the production. To use John Kander’s words, “The heart of the piece just vanished.” […]
Champion hoped to end the musical with a seven-minute film montage following the death of Grandpère while Jacques sings a song called “Being Alive” to Bibi. The film montage would reveal the next three years of Bibi’s life and end with a frozen image of Bibi in midair, which dissolves to the glorious strains of “St. Pierre.” The live actors would then appear at Bibi’s high school graduation. The film turned out to be too technically difficult to pull off and, although stunning to look at, “dwarfed the stage action, rendering it dull and colorless by comparison.” The Los Angeles critics responded with unflattering reviews.
In the wake of the negative press, Champion made several drastic changes, mostly to the consternation of Nash, who by this time was rather unhappy. The sets had to be completely revamped. Champion was convinced that audiences did not want to see Robert Goulet in the part of a cad, so he sweetened his role. As Ebb noted, Champion’s Hollywood crowd “thought we should change him into a fellow who was simply a misunderstood desperate person who kept up this pretense, not because he was a liar and a sham, but because he wanted his nephew to love him.” Nash and Champion clashed over this change, and the director secretly solicited help from the writer Michael Stewart. The version of THE HAPPY TIME that opened in New York ended with an anticlimactic epilogue in which Jacques informs the audience that he became a success and is happily married. This ending cuts against the grain of Nash’s original concept of “a man who has lost his chances and to whom the nephew means everything.” For Nash the theme was “reality versus romance,” but for Champion it was about facing the truth before it is too late. According to William Goldman, “what Champion tried with HAPPY TIME was to re[-]create the Dolly! experience. The projections - the razzmatazz part of the show - stayed, because that was the part of the show that was working. The part that wasn’t working - the part involving characters - Champion tried to brighten up,” and, as result, the show got “soft, gooey, marshmallow-cored.”
Champion also took a lot of liberties with Kander and Ebb’s score, cutting songs because, in his estimation, they either slowed the momentum or were nonessential to the story. “Jeanne Marie” is a spirited, hu-morous folk song that Jacques sings first with Bibi and then with the entire family when he returns home. It helped to establish the bond between Bibi and his uncle, but Champion felt that it sapped energy from the first scene. “Allez-oop” is a cancan for the “Six Angels,” but at Champion’s request Kander and Ebb came up with the more risqué “Catch My Garter.” “In His Own Good Time” depicts an argument between Philippe and Suzanne over Bibi’s upbringing. “I Won’t Go,” the most contrapuntal piece in the score, is an ensemble number in which each member of the Bonnard family threatens to boycott Grandpère’s birthday party. At the party Grandpère sings “I’m Getting Younger Ev’ry Year,” which was later substituted with “The Life of the Party.” “Being Alive” (which predates Sondheim’s song of the same name by two years) represents Jacques’s emotional breakthrough. Kander and Ebb wrote the ballad “If You Leave Me Now” for Laurie, but it was never incorporated into the show.
The New York critics had many of the same concerns as the Los Angeles critics. They complained about the weak script and placed the blame at Champion’s feet. In response to the oversized production, Kerr wrote, “the [IMAX] technique creates a vast cavern, accenting the hole at the heart of things: it [the cyclorama] makes the stage inside it seem dark and gloomy.” For Kerr, bloated shows like THE HAPPY TIME were the source of Broadway’s ills at the time.
Ironically, THE HAPPY TIME was one of the most commercially successful musicals to open on Broadway during the 1967–68 season, and Champion won Tony Awards for best director and best choreographer, which helped to keep the show afloat. Most of the other shows nominated for a Tony Award in the best musical category - HOW NOW, DOW JONES and ILLYA DARLING - did poorly by comparison. THE HAPPY TIME ran for 286 performances, only 7 less than HALLELUJAH, BABY!, that year’s Tony Award winner for best musical.
THE HAPPY TIME is rarely performed today, and it is hardly ever mentioned in the literature, even though Nash, Kander, and Ebb made considerable improvements to the musical for a revival at Goodspeed Opera House in 1980. Nash restored some aspects of his original script that Champion had eliminated, intensified the drama, and fleshed out the characters. The revised script contains more intense interactions between Jacques and his brother Philippe, his father, and Laurie Mannon. From the beginning Grandpère senses that Jacques is concealing his unhappiness. Laurie is more mature, has two sons, and is more of a match for Jacques. She and Jacques sing “I Don’t Remember You” not as a nostalgic ballad, as in the Broadway version, but as a willful song of denial about their true feelings for each other. Nash also brought Laurie’s opinion to bear on the fraternal battle between Jacques and Philippe over Bibi’s upbringing. She takes Philippe’s side when Jacques objects to his insistence that Bibi make a public apology for hanging up naked pictures at his school. Jacques exclaims, “a child has a right to be a fool,” but Laurie turns the tables on him, responding, “nobody has a right to be a child - not forever.” One must eventually live up to the responsibility of being an adult, she insists. This exchange leads to “Seeing Things,” in which they express their different philosophies of life. (In the Broadway version, “Seeing Things” occurred after Bibi’s public apology.)
Nash’s new script gave Kander and Ebb an opportunity to reconsider some of the songs that Champion expunged. They reinstated “Jeanne Marie,” “In His Own Good Time,” and “I’m Sorry,” and they wrote one new song, “Running,” which fills the musical void at the dramatic climax of the story, created when Champion cut “Being Alive.” In “Running,” Jacques forces Bibi to see him for what he really is. He acknowledges the mistake he made by leaving home and urges Bibi not to commit the same error. Jacques thereby saves his nephew from what would have been a lot of anguish. It is his moment of redemption.
In his review of the Goodspeed production Frank Rich praised the revised score but attacked the book for being clunky and underdeveloped. He admonished the lack of “esthetic unity” and felt that the best musical moments did little to illuminate character or story, a sentiment first articulated by Martin Gottfried in 1968. In the final analysis, the problems with THE HAPPY TIME might be a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup. By the time Fontaine’s novel was filtered through Taylor’s play, Nash’s conflation, and Champion’s intervention, it had lost its charm and identity.
Kander and Ebb’s score for THE HAPPY TIME is a colorful mixture of pastiche, musical comedy, musical play, and opera. However, the critics, who still had CABARET ringing in their ears, were caught off guard by its conventionality and offered little more than passing judgment. Walter Kerr’s comments are typical: “John Kander and Fred Ebb, lacking that first twist of mind that led them into composing the brittle, sneaky score for CABARET, are working at half-staff.” By most accounts, Gower Champion’s concept for the show robbed the score of its charm, stripped key parts of the script, and ruined the musical’s chances of success.
Fontaine’s novel "The Happy Time" is a coming-of-age story set in the 1920s told from the point of view of a boy named Bibi, the youngest member of an idiosyncratic French Canadian family. The novel consists of several loosely connected episodes in Bibi’s life, all taking place during the year leading up to his first discovery of love. Filling out the novel are the antics of Bibi’s eccentric family, including his debonair and permissive grandfather; his father, a vaudeville musician and armchair philosopher who can turn a request to pass the sugar into an ethics lesson; his mother of Scottish descent (Maman), beneath whose occasional stern demeanor lies a profound maternal love; his alcoholic ne’er-do-well but irresistible uncle; and his budding female cousin. We also get to know an array of other local characters, most notably, a fanatical moralist of a schoolmaster who inflicts corporal punishment on Bibi for allegedly lying until the boy’s father and uncles give the educator a taste of his own medicine. Although not monumental, the ordinary events detailed in the novel shape the boy’s view of the world as he emerges from childhood and discovers his first true love, a redheaded American who lives next door.
The positive reception of Fontaine’s book led to a stage play of the novel by Samuel Taylor, which in turn generated discussion of a possible musical adaptation. Rodgers and Hammerstein, who turned to producing in the mid forties, produced Taylor’s play. It was a hit, running for 614 performances, and was turned into a film starring Charles Boyer and Louis Jourdan. Rodgers and Hammerstein had no interest themselves in writing the musical adaptation, and David Merrick eventually acquired the musical rights. By the time Merrick got around to producing it, a new generation of musical theater writers had arrived. He hired Kander and Ebb only after his first choice, Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, turned him down. Merrick apparently never considered hiring Taylor to write the book, perhaps because his play was not a workable model for the musical. In any case, the playwright was occupied at the time with his comedy AVANTI!, which opened on Broadway just days before THE HAPPY TIME. Merrick approached N. Richard Nash, who felt that Fontaine’s novel was “too sentimental” and ordinary. According to William Goldman, Nash was more interested in developing an idea of his own “about a small-town Mid-western photographer who comes home every four or five years and wrecks the family. And finally his father makes him tell the truth about the ‘glamorous’ life he’s been leading—that he’s a liar and a failure and has never found himself and is always living on the edge of dishonesty.” Merrick, eager to exercise his option, allowed Nash to map his prodigal son and homecoming story onto Fontaine’s breezy coming-of-age novel.
In effect, Nash transformed Fontaine’s story into an adult-oriented story of self-exploration. By centering the story on a new protagonist, a photographer named Jacques, the playwright relegated Bibi to a secondary role, the agent through which Jacques learns to see the truth about himself. Jacques is a traveling photographer and the black sheep of the family, “an artist who could go either way, towards art or commercialism.” At sixteen years of age, Jacques left St. Pierre for a life of adventure. For years he has been passing himself off as an international success and bon vivant. Jacques seldom visits home, but chaos usually ensues when he does. Bibi worships him. The musical portrays the visit that changes Jacques’s life. He attempts to rekindle a relationship with Laurie, his childhood sweetheart and Bibi’s schoolteacher. She still loves him, even though they see the world differently, he with his head in the clouds, she with her feet on the ground (as Kander might say, poetry versus prose). During Jacques’s first night in town, Bibi follows his uncle to see “The Six Angels” at the theater where his father works. They stay out all night, and Bibi, drunk with the love he feels for his uncle—and from his first taste of brandy—asks Jacques if he can accompany him on his world travels. Bibi’s request gives rise to the dramatic conflict of the story. Jacques asks his brother, Philippe, to let Bibi leave school temporarily, and Philippe refuses, more in defiance of his brother than for reasons regarding Bibi’s education. Philippe’s decision, however, drives Bibi further into Jacques’s arms. Jacques decides to take matters into his own hands and declares that he will take Bibi with him. Grandpère, with the insight that only a parent can have, intervenes and forces Jacques to confess the truth about his life. In one of the most powerful, soul-searching scenes in musical theater, Jacques, no longer able to hide, admits to Bibi that he is a fake, as his father looks on.
Still without a director, Merrick approached Gower Champion, with whom he had worked on several occasions. Champion agreed to direct the musical because it fit in with another projected he wanted to do: Elliot Martin, director of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, had approached Champion to direct a dance musical for the opening of the new Ahmanson Theatre. Champion thought that THE HAPPY TIME was a good project for the purpose.
Nash’s script and Kander and Ebb’s score suggested an intimate musical with a small orchestra and no chorus, but Champion wanted to give the piece a sophisticated look and fluid rhythm. He decided to present the story as a memory play, which he would convey with the IMAX system, invented by Chris Chapman and Barry Gordon. The result was a show that, in Kander’s words, “smothered the intimate subject matter with too enormous a production.” Champion pressured Nash to alter his script in order to facilitate his grand vision for the musical. At Champion’s request, Nash wrote a prologue and epilogue. In the former, Jacques addresses the audience directly, entreating them to return with him to St. Pierre. Champion spent considerable time and money on creating slides of Jacques’s photographs to project against a cyclorama. Champion photographed a series of rose images at Griffith Park Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles, planning to use them as examples of Jacques’s work. Since the IMAX system required a large fixed-rear-projection screen, the rest of the set had to be minimal. A revolving platform was devised, and the orchestra sat onstage (although they were back in the pit by the time the musical reached New York). Merrick was forced to book one of the largest Broadway theaters in order to accommodate the projections. The effect was stunning, but Nash’s intimate story suffered from the excesses of the production. To use John Kander’s words, “The heart of the piece just vanished.” […]
Champion hoped to end the musical with a seven-minute film montage following the death of Grandpère while Jacques sings a song called “Being Alive” to Bibi. The film montage would reveal the next three years of Bibi’s life and end with a frozen image of Bibi in midair, which dissolves to the glorious strains of “St. Pierre.” The live actors would then appear at Bibi’s high school graduation. The film turned out to be too technically difficult to pull off and, although stunning to look at, “dwarfed the stage action, rendering it dull and colorless by comparison.” The Los Angeles critics responded with unflattering reviews.
In the wake of the negative press, Champion made several drastic changes, mostly to the consternation of Nash, who by this time was rather unhappy. The sets had to be completely revamped. Champion was convinced that audiences did not want to see Robert Goulet in the part of a cad, so he sweetened his role. As Ebb noted, Champion’s Hollywood crowd “thought we should change him into a fellow who was simply a misunderstood desperate person who kept up this pretense, not because he was a liar and a sham, but because he wanted his nephew to love him.” Nash and Champion clashed over this change, and the director secretly solicited help from the writer Michael Stewart. The version of THE HAPPY TIME that opened in New York ended with an anticlimactic epilogue in which Jacques informs the audience that he became a success and is happily married. This ending cuts against the grain of Nash’s original concept of “a man who has lost his chances and to whom the nephew means everything.” For Nash the theme was “reality versus romance,” but for Champion it was about facing the truth before it is too late. According to William Goldman, “what Champion tried with HAPPY TIME was to re[-]create the Dolly! experience. The projections - the razzmatazz part of the show - stayed, because that was the part of the show that was working. The part that wasn’t working - the part involving characters - Champion tried to brighten up,” and, as result, the show got “soft, gooey, marshmallow-cored.”
Champion also took a lot of liberties with Kander and Ebb’s score, cutting songs because, in his estimation, they either slowed the momentum or were nonessential to the story. “Jeanne Marie” is a spirited, hu-morous folk song that Jacques sings first with Bibi and then with the entire family when he returns home. It helped to establish the bond between Bibi and his uncle, but Champion felt that it sapped energy from the first scene. “Allez-oop” is a cancan for the “Six Angels,” but at Champion’s request Kander and Ebb came up with the more risqué “Catch My Garter.” “In His Own Good Time” depicts an argument between Philippe and Suzanne over Bibi’s upbringing. “I Won’t Go,” the most contrapuntal piece in the score, is an ensemble number in which each member of the Bonnard family threatens to boycott Grandpère’s birthday party. At the party Grandpère sings “I’m Getting Younger Ev’ry Year,” which was later substituted with “The Life of the Party.” “Being Alive” (which predates Sondheim’s song of the same name by two years) represents Jacques’s emotional breakthrough. Kander and Ebb wrote the ballad “If You Leave Me Now” for Laurie, but it was never incorporated into the show.
The New York critics had many of the same concerns as the Los Angeles critics. They complained about the weak script and placed the blame at Champion’s feet. In response to the oversized production, Kerr wrote, “the [IMAX] technique creates a vast cavern, accenting the hole at the heart of things: it [the cyclorama] makes the stage inside it seem dark and gloomy.” For Kerr, bloated shows like THE HAPPY TIME were the source of Broadway’s ills at the time.
Ironically, THE HAPPY TIME was one of the most commercially successful musicals to open on Broadway during the 1967–68 season, and Champion won Tony Awards for best director and best choreographer, which helped to keep the show afloat. Most of the other shows nominated for a Tony Award in the best musical category - HOW NOW, DOW JONES and ILLYA DARLING - did poorly by comparison. THE HAPPY TIME ran for 286 performances, only 7 less than HALLELUJAH, BABY!, that year’s Tony Award winner for best musical.
THE HAPPY TIME is rarely performed today, and it is hardly ever mentioned in the literature, even though Nash, Kander, and Ebb made considerable improvements to the musical for a revival at Goodspeed Opera House in 1980. Nash restored some aspects of his original script that Champion had eliminated, intensified the drama, and fleshed out the characters. The revised script contains more intense interactions between Jacques and his brother Philippe, his father, and Laurie Mannon. From the beginning Grandpère senses that Jacques is concealing his unhappiness. Laurie is more mature, has two sons, and is more of a match for Jacques. She and Jacques sing “I Don’t Remember You” not as a nostalgic ballad, as in the Broadway version, but as a willful song of denial about their true feelings for each other. Nash also brought Laurie’s opinion to bear on the fraternal battle between Jacques and Philippe over Bibi’s upbringing. She takes Philippe’s side when Jacques objects to his insistence that Bibi make a public apology for hanging up naked pictures at his school. Jacques exclaims, “a child has a right to be a fool,” but Laurie turns the tables on him, responding, “nobody has a right to be a child - not forever.” One must eventually live up to the responsibility of being an adult, she insists. This exchange leads to “Seeing Things,” in which they express their different philosophies of life. (In the Broadway version, “Seeing Things” occurred after Bibi’s public apology.)
Nash’s new script gave Kander and Ebb an opportunity to reconsider some of the songs that Champion expunged. They reinstated “Jeanne Marie,” “In His Own Good Time,” and “I’m Sorry,” and they wrote one new song, “Running,” which fills the musical void at the dramatic climax of the story, created when Champion cut “Being Alive.” In “Running,” Jacques forces Bibi to see him for what he really is. He acknowledges the mistake he made by leaving home and urges Bibi not to commit the same error. Jacques thereby saves his nephew from what would have been a lot of anguish. It is his moment of redemption.
In his review of the Goodspeed production Frank Rich praised the revised score but attacked the book for being clunky and underdeveloped. He admonished the lack of “esthetic unity” and felt that the best musical moments did little to illuminate character or story, a sentiment first articulated by Martin Gottfried in 1968. In the final analysis, the problems with THE HAPPY TIME might be a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup. By the time Fontaine’s novel was filtered through Taylor’s play, Nash’s conflation, and Champion’s intervention, it had lost its charm and identity.
Playbill
Opening Night Playbill of THE HAPPY TIME, January 18, 1968
You can flip through the pages by clicking on the numbers
Copyright © Playbill, Inc.
You can flip through the pages by clicking on the numbers
Copyright © Playbill, Inc.
Press & Reviews
THE ACT CONTINUES TO PLEASE, DESPITE CRITICS
"Independent", Oct. 3, 1977
By Bob Thomas, Associated Press
"Independent", Oct. 3, 1977
By Bob Thomas, Associated Press
Critics generally dislike it. Audiences seem to enjoy it. The pattern is likely to be repeated when Liza Minnelli opens THE ACT on Broadway on Oct. 29. THE ACT, formerly SHINE IT ON and before that, IN PERSON, is the most written- and talked-about stage musical in recent times. Most of the writing and talk has been bad, yet the show has been virtually a sell-out in Chicago, San Francisco and now at the Los Angeles Music Center.
"I'm amazed at the reaction" says Ernest Martin, who with partner Cy Feuer has produced GUYS AND DOLLS, SILK STOCKINGS and other hits. "Ordinarily, you open a show quietly in a small town and proceed normally to opening night on Broadway. This show has been in a goldfish bowl every minute. I believe there has been more tumult and excitement than are warranted by the facts. But listen, controversy only creates ticket sales, and the show has played to full houses every performance." Martin reported that THE ACT has already recovered half of its $800,000 cost. "Barring rejection by New York audiences, we are guaranteed financial success at this point," said the producer.
Minnelli is contracted for 39 weeks in New York, where operating costs will be substantially lower than on the road. The show has been booked into the Majestic, which housed SOUTH PACIFIC and other big hits.
THE ACT is a show within a show, and its form has confused audiences as well as critics. Minnelli plays Michelle Craig, a Hollywood star who tries to cure her career and personal doldrums by appearing in a splashy Las Vegas act. Interwoven with the musical numbers are scenes with her producer-husband, Barry Nelson, a boyfriend, Mark Goddard, a songwriter, Arnold Soboloff, and others.
The troubles started in Chicago, where the transitions from onstage to the personal story didn't work. Neither did the costumes. Thea Van Runkle, who had just worked with Liza and director Martin Scorsese in NEW YORK, NEW YORK bowed out for a film assignment. She was replaced by Halston.
For the San Francisco run, author George Furth (COMPANY, TWIGS) wrote a more serious approach to the story, John Kander and Fred Ebb (CABARET) supplied new songs. Cumbersome scenery was scrapped, along with the title, IN PERSON, which made the show sound like a concert. "Everyone agreed that the title should be THE ACT, which is what the show is all about," explained Martin. "But A.C.T. - the American Conservatory Theater - is well established in San Francisco. To avoid confusion, we chose the title of the opening song, SHINE IT ON.
Film maker Scorsese (TAXI DRIVER) had never worked on the stage before, and some of the on-the-job training proved difficult. But he has shown himself to be "a tough little guy," said Martin, and Scorsese has stuck with THE ACT despite personal travails. At the party following the Los Angeles premiere, the director admitted his marriage to Julia Cameron had ended. "That added to rumors about the show," Martin added. "Liza was supposed to be having a romance with Martie. But I know for a fact that his marriage was over when Martie started the show. And Liza is living at home with Jack Haley, Jr."
The show's creators are striving to simplify the book before the New York opening. Running time is still five to seven minutes too long. But where to cut? "Audience reaction has been strong in Los Angeles - when something's working, you wonder, 'Should we take it out?'".
Martin views the star of THE ACT with admiration and wonderment. "Liza is the ultimate professional. She is onstage for the whole show, except for two brief periods, and she never lets down. When she gets a cold house, as is inevitable with any show, she puts forth added effort until she wins them over. She is absolutely athletic; she hasn't even had a cold since we started in May. I never saw Al Jolson perform on a stage, but I've been told that Liza is the closest thing to Jolson in her magnetism in the theater."
"I'm amazed at the reaction" says Ernest Martin, who with partner Cy Feuer has produced GUYS AND DOLLS, SILK STOCKINGS and other hits. "Ordinarily, you open a show quietly in a small town and proceed normally to opening night on Broadway. This show has been in a goldfish bowl every minute. I believe there has been more tumult and excitement than are warranted by the facts. But listen, controversy only creates ticket sales, and the show has played to full houses every performance." Martin reported that THE ACT has already recovered half of its $800,000 cost. "Barring rejection by New York audiences, we are guaranteed financial success at this point," said the producer.
Minnelli is contracted for 39 weeks in New York, where operating costs will be substantially lower than on the road. The show has been booked into the Majestic, which housed SOUTH PACIFIC and other big hits.
THE ACT is a show within a show, and its form has confused audiences as well as critics. Minnelli plays Michelle Craig, a Hollywood star who tries to cure her career and personal doldrums by appearing in a splashy Las Vegas act. Interwoven with the musical numbers are scenes with her producer-husband, Barry Nelson, a boyfriend, Mark Goddard, a songwriter, Arnold Soboloff, and others.
The troubles started in Chicago, where the transitions from onstage to the personal story didn't work. Neither did the costumes. Thea Van Runkle, who had just worked with Liza and director Martin Scorsese in NEW YORK, NEW YORK bowed out for a film assignment. She was replaced by Halston.
For the San Francisco run, author George Furth (COMPANY, TWIGS) wrote a more serious approach to the story, John Kander and Fred Ebb (CABARET) supplied new songs. Cumbersome scenery was scrapped, along with the title, IN PERSON, which made the show sound like a concert. "Everyone agreed that the title should be THE ACT, which is what the show is all about," explained Martin. "But A.C.T. - the American Conservatory Theater - is well established in San Francisco. To avoid confusion, we chose the title of the opening song, SHINE IT ON.
Film maker Scorsese (TAXI DRIVER) had never worked on the stage before, and some of the on-the-job training proved difficult. But he has shown himself to be "a tough little guy," said Martin, and Scorsese has stuck with THE ACT despite personal travails. At the party following the Los Angeles premiere, the director admitted his marriage to Julia Cameron had ended. "That added to rumors about the show," Martin added. "Liza was supposed to be having a romance with Martie. But I know for a fact that his marriage was over when Martie started the show. And Liza is living at home with Jack Haley, Jr."
The show's creators are striving to simplify the book before the New York opening. Running time is still five to seven minutes too long. But where to cut? "Audience reaction has been strong in Los Angeles - when something's working, you wonder, 'Should we take it out?'".
Martin views the star of THE ACT with admiration and wonderment. "Liza is the ultimate professional. She is onstage for the whole show, except for two brief periods, and she never lets down. When she gets a cold house, as is inevitable with any show, she puts forth added effort until she wins them over. She is absolutely athletic; she hasn't even had a cold since we started in May. I never saw Al Jolson perform on a stage, but I've been told that Liza is the closest thing to Jolson in her magnetism in the theater."
UM JEDEN PREIS
German magazine "Der Spiegel", Dec. 12, 1977
Liza Minnelli am Scheideweg zwischen Darstellungskunst und Show-Klamauk:
Ihr neues New Yorker Musical THE ACT wird von der Kritik abgegelehnt, vom Publikum bejubelt.
German magazine "Der Spiegel", Dec. 12, 1977
Liza Minnelli am Scheideweg zwischen Darstellungskunst und Show-Klamauk:
Ihr neues New Yorker Musical THE ACT wird von der Kritik abgegelehnt, vom Publikum bejubelt.
Als Kraftakt ist Liza Minnellis New Yorker Musical THE ACT in der Tat imponierend. Kein einziges Theaterstück wurde bislang in den USA - bei Probeaufführungen in Chicago, San Francisco und Los Angeles - im vorhinein so grimmig verrissen wie dieses, keinem widerfuhr dennoch am Broadway ein so großer Premierenerfolg.
Schon auf der 15wöchigen Provinztournee hatte THE ACT, an dem fortwährend noch gearbeitet wurde, gut die Hälfte der einen Million Dollar Produktionskosten wieder eingespielt. Beim Start in New York waren, trotz des Rekord-Eintrittspreises von 25 Dollar, bereits für zwei Millionen Dollar Tickets im Vorverkauf abgesetzt.
Das Publikum, so scheint es, will nicht ein Musical sehen, sondern die Minnelli - um jeden Preis. Es bekommt, wofür es bezahlt hat: einen bis zur totalen Erschöpfung singenden und tanzenden Superstar, der während der Show kaum Zeit findet, mal hinter der Bühne am Wasserglas zu nippen oder die Garderobe zu wechseln, der sich im Scheinwerferlicht aus- und anschält und zwölf der 13 Songs ganz allein absolviert.
Liza Minnelli kämpft in THE ACT, laut Vertrag nun 39 Wochen lang, augenscheinlich ums Überleben, und das tut sie grandios. Von Kindheit an hatte sie das im Schaugeschäft übermächtige Image ihrer Mutter Judy Garland zu überwinden versucht und es in Spitzenleistungen wie CABARET sowie mancher Musik-Show durchaus geschafft.
Im Filmgeschäft freilich läuft neuerdings ein Showdown für die selbstbewußte "Liza with a Z". Daß sie in einer Leinwand-Klamotte wie ABENTEUER AUF DER LUCKY LADY (1975) mitwirkte, hatte kaum einer ihrer Fans überhaupt bemerkt. Daß Martin Scorseses NEW YORK, NEW YORK ("Spiegel" 37/1977) an der Kinokasse versagte, lasteten Kritiker überwiegend Liza Minnellis schwacher Darbietung an. Da ist es nur folgerichtig, wenn sie derzeit im Theater alle Reserven mobilisiert.
Wohl nicht zufällig wird in THE ACT vom Buchautor George Furth, die Story einer an Kassenmagnetismus geminderten Filmschauspielerin erzählt, die mittels einer Show in Las Vegas ein Comeback erreichen will. Auf viele bekannte Entertainer-Karrieren, die von Mutter Garland eingeschlossen, mag dieses Klischee passen - für Liza Minnelli drängt sich der Vergleich geradezu auf. Ohne sie würde das Stück wie ein angestochener Luftballon zusammenfallen; sie ist THE ACT.
Die Song-Autoren John Kander und Fred Ebb, die ihr in einem Dutzend Jahren das Material für 17 Shows, darunter CABARET, zubereitet hatten, paßten ihr die musikalischen Kostüme hautnah auf den Leib. Sie kennen ihre Interpretationsfähigkeiten und ihr Stimmvolumen, wissen, wo in der Melodie sie die Spannung steigert - da konnte nichts schiefgehen.
Doch THE ACT ist keine Nummern-Revue, in der sie sich wie auf der Nachtclub-Bühne uneingeschränkt austoben kann. Hier muß sie Dialog sprechen, muß durch Worte Emotionen wecken, und dabei zwingt das karge Libretto sie in ein zu enges Korsett.
Durch Rückblenden während der Vorbereitung ihrer Las-Vegas-Show (mit der etwa die Hälfte des Stückes bestritten wird) memoriert die Heroine Michelle Craig Stationen ihres bisherigen Lebens: die Ehe mit einem ungeliebten und viel zu alten Produzenten, eine Abtreibung, eine Liebesaffäre, an der die Ehe zerbricht, sowie viele berufliche Ups and Downs.
Martin Scorsese, Liza Minnellis Regisseur aus dem Film NEW YORK, NEW YORK und im Theater gänzlich unerfahren, hatte diese Trivialstory zunächst derart dilettantisch in Szene gesetzt, daß Kostüme im Wert von 92 000 und Kulissen für 80 000 Dollar kurzerhand ausrangiert werden mußten. Um die kranke Show dennoch zu retten, ließen die Produzenten Feuer und Martin den Broadway-Routinier Gower Champion (HELLO DOLLY!) daran herumdoktern. Der reduzierte die Dialogszenen, um das Tempo zu steigern, auf ein Minimum.
Dennoch bestand Liza Minnelli eigensinnig auf ihrem Scorsese: "Wenn er die Produktion verläßt, gehe ich auch." Amerikanische Klatschkolumnisten berichten von romantischen Liebesszenen zwischen Scorsese und der Minnelli am Rande der Proben, vom Händchenhalten in verschwiegenen Bars. Scorseses Ehefrau Julia Cameron reichte während der Vorbereitung von THE ACT die Scheidung ein.
Die maßlose Energie, die Liza Minnelli auf der Bühne entfesselt, hat sie offenbar auch im Produktionsbüro zur Durchsetzung ihrer privaten Wünsche eingesetzt. Alles dreht sich um Liza: ein - so Theaterkritiker Howard Kissel - "im höchsten Maße arrogantes Konzept".
Die Minnelli, die sich im Spielfilm POOKIE (1969) immerhin als subtile Charakterdarstellerin bewiesen hatte, muß sich jetzt zwischen Ausdruckskunst und Bühnenklamauk entscheiden. Ihr ACT sei, so urteilte Kissel, schon gar nicht gutes Theater, aber noch nicht einmal die Imitation einer Nachtclub-Darbietung aus Las Vegas, sondern allenfalls "die Imitation der Hollywood-Filmversion eines Las-Vegas-Acts".
Schon auf der 15wöchigen Provinztournee hatte THE ACT, an dem fortwährend noch gearbeitet wurde, gut die Hälfte der einen Million Dollar Produktionskosten wieder eingespielt. Beim Start in New York waren, trotz des Rekord-Eintrittspreises von 25 Dollar, bereits für zwei Millionen Dollar Tickets im Vorverkauf abgesetzt.
Das Publikum, so scheint es, will nicht ein Musical sehen, sondern die Minnelli - um jeden Preis. Es bekommt, wofür es bezahlt hat: einen bis zur totalen Erschöpfung singenden und tanzenden Superstar, der während der Show kaum Zeit findet, mal hinter der Bühne am Wasserglas zu nippen oder die Garderobe zu wechseln, der sich im Scheinwerferlicht aus- und anschält und zwölf der 13 Songs ganz allein absolviert.
Liza Minnelli kämpft in THE ACT, laut Vertrag nun 39 Wochen lang, augenscheinlich ums Überleben, und das tut sie grandios. Von Kindheit an hatte sie das im Schaugeschäft übermächtige Image ihrer Mutter Judy Garland zu überwinden versucht und es in Spitzenleistungen wie CABARET sowie mancher Musik-Show durchaus geschafft.
Im Filmgeschäft freilich läuft neuerdings ein Showdown für die selbstbewußte "Liza with a Z". Daß sie in einer Leinwand-Klamotte wie ABENTEUER AUF DER LUCKY LADY (1975) mitwirkte, hatte kaum einer ihrer Fans überhaupt bemerkt. Daß Martin Scorseses NEW YORK, NEW YORK ("Spiegel" 37/1977) an der Kinokasse versagte, lasteten Kritiker überwiegend Liza Minnellis schwacher Darbietung an. Da ist es nur folgerichtig, wenn sie derzeit im Theater alle Reserven mobilisiert.
Wohl nicht zufällig wird in THE ACT vom Buchautor George Furth, die Story einer an Kassenmagnetismus geminderten Filmschauspielerin erzählt, die mittels einer Show in Las Vegas ein Comeback erreichen will. Auf viele bekannte Entertainer-Karrieren, die von Mutter Garland eingeschlossen, mag dieses Klischee passen - für Liza Minnelli drängt sich der Vergleich geradezu auf. Ohne sie würde das Stück wie ein angestochener Luftballon zusammenfallen; sie ist THE ACT.
Die Song-Autoren John Kander und Fred Ebb, die ihr in einem Dutzend Jahren das Material für 17 Shows, darunter CABARET, zubereitet hatten, paßten ihr die musikalischen Kostüme hautnah auf den Leib. Sie kennen ihre Interpretationsfähigkeiten und ihr Stimmvolumen, wissen, wo in der Melodie sie die Spannung steigert - da konnte nichts schiefgehen.
Doch THE ACT ist keine Nummern-Revue, in der sie sich wie auf der Nachtclub-Bühne uneingeschränkt austoben kann. Hier muß sie Dialog sprechen, muß durch Worte Emotionen wecken, und dabei zwingt das karge Libretto sie in ein zu enges Korsett.
Durch Rückblenden während der Vorbereitung ihrer Las-Vegas-Show (mit der etwa die Hälfte des Stückes bestritten wird) memoriert die Heroine Michelle Craig Stationen ihres bisherigen Lebens: die Ehe mit einem ungeliebten und viel zu alten Produzenten, eine Abtreibung, eine Liebesaffäre, an der die Ehe zerbricht, sowie viele berufliche Ups and Downs.
Martin Scorsese, Liza Minnellis Regisseur aus dem Film NEW YORK, NEW YORK und im Theater gänzlich unerfahren, hatte diese Trivialstory zunächst derart dilettantisch in Szene gesetzt, daß Kostüme im Wert von 92 000 und Kulissen für 80 000 Dollar kurzerhand ausrangiert werden mußten. Um die kranke Show dennoch zu retten, ließen die Produzenten Feuer und Martin den Broadway-Routinier Gower Champion (HELLO DOLLY!) daran herumdoktern. Der reduzierte die Dialogszenen, um das Tempo zu steigern, auf ein Minimum.
Dennoch bestand Liza Minnelli eigensinnig auf ihrem Scorsese: "Wenn er die Produktion verläßt, gehe ich auch." Amerikanische Klatschkolumnisten berichten von romantischen Liebesszenen zwischen Scorsese und der Minnelli am Rande der Proben, vom Händchenhalten in verschwiegenen Bars. Scorseses Ehefrau Julia Cameron reichte während der Vorbereitung von THE ACT die Scheidung ein.
Die maßlose Energie, die Liza Minnelli auf der Bühne entfesselt, hat sie offenbar auch im Produktionsbüro zur Durchsetzung ihrer privaten Wünsche eingesetzt. Alles dreht sich um Liza: ein - so Theaterkritiker Howard Kissel - "im höchsten Maße arrogantes Konzept".
Die Minnelli, die sich im Spielfilm POOKIE (1969) immerhin als subtile Charakterdarstellerin bewiesen hatte, muß sich jetzt zwischen Ausdruckskunst und Bühnenklamauk entscheiden. Ihr ACT sei, so urteilte Kissel, schon gar nicht gutes Theater, aber noch nicht einmal die Imitation einer Nachtclub-Darbietung aus Las Vegas, sondern allenfalls "die Imitation der Hollywood-Filmversion eines Las-Vegas-Acts".
Photos
Robert Goulet, David Wayne and Mike Rupert perfoming a medley from the show at the 1968 Tony® Awards
Photos © Tony Award Productions
Photos © Tony Award Productions
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:
1968 Tony® Awards
Best Musical
Best Actor in a Musical Best Actor in a Musical Best Featured Actor in a Musical Best Featured Actress in a Musical Best Composer and Lyricist Best Scenic Design (Play or Musical) Best Costume Design (Play or Musical) Best Choreography Best Direction of a Musical |
Book by N. RICHARD NASH; Music by JOHN KANDER;
Lyrics by FRED EBB; Produced by DAVID MERRICK (Nominee) ROBERT GOULET (Winner) DAVID WAYNE (Nominee) MIKE RUPERT (Nominee) JULIE GREGG (Nominee) JOHN KANDER & FRED EBB (Nominee) PETER WEXLER (Nominee) FREDDY WITTOP (Nominee) GOWER CHAMPION (Winner) GOWER CHAMPION (Winner) |
1968 Theatre World Awards
MIKE RUPERT (Recipient)
JULIE GREGG (Recipient)
Robert Goulet (with wife Carol Lawrence) and recipient Mike Rupert at the 1968 Theatre World Awards
Photos © Theatre World Awards
Photos © Theatre World Awards
Revivals
Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, CT
Opening Night: May 7, 1980
Opening Night: May 7, 1980
THE HAPPY TIME was revived at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1980. The production was directed by Sue Lawless with choreography by Dan Siretta. Kander & Ebb and author Nash thoroughly revised the book and score in an attempt to return to their original vision of the show. Three cut songs were reinstated (“Jeanne Marie,” “In His Own Good Time,” and “I’m Sorry”) and one new song, “Running”, was written to replace the cut "Being Alive".
For a full cast / creative team list and an overview of the new version of the score, click here
Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA
Opening Night: April 10, 2008
Opening Night: April 10, 2008
THE HAPPY TIME was presented at the Signature Theatre in 2008 as part of their KANDER & EBB CELEBRATION which also included productions of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN and THE VISIT plus a series of concerts. The production was directed by Michael Unger and choreographed by Karma Camp and included numerous further revisions.