If It Only Even Runs a Minute

If you live in NYC and you adore flop musicals, there are several options available for your entertainment dollar. The "Closing Notice" series of piano-only concert revivals, presented by Opening Doors Productions at the Duplex, is specifically dedicated to shows that failed to find an audience in their day. Mel Miller's "Musicals Tonight!" and the York Theater Company's "Musicals in Mufti" include many short-runners in their programming, and Scott Siegel's Broadway concerts at The Town Hall frequently offer what might be called "hits from misses." Even the high-profile City Center Encores! series occasionally unearths a bona fide flop -- e.g., House of Flowers. Oh, and it's never hard to find cabaret shows that embrace songs from unloved musicals.

What makes If It Only Even Runs a Minute different from all of the above? According to Jennifer Ashley Tepper, who with Kevin Michael Murphy co-created and co-hosts this new concert series at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, "We think we're unique because we present not just songs but also anecdotes, projected photos, and historical tidbits from rare musicals."

If It Only... is also noteworthy for featuring personal appearances and performances by veterans of some of Broadway's biggest bombs and most grievous disappointments. The first concert in the series had Nancy Anderson singing a song from A Class Act and talking about that short-lived show based on the life and career of Ed Kleban (see photo above, by Monica Simoes). Additionally, Craig Carnelia spoke of his non-hits Is There Life After High School? and Sweet Smell of Success, while Nick Blaemire shared memories of Glory Days, which closed on its Broadway opening night in May 2008.

So, what's in store for audiences at the second If It Only Even Runs a Minute concert, slated for Sunday, May 30 at 9:30pm at the Beechman? "It wasn't planned," says Tepper, "but I realized that we're going to have a large number of Off-Broadway musicals represented: Annie Warbucks, A Man of No Importance, Debbie Does Dallas, Diamonds, Personals. So I guess we have an unintentional theme. But there will be Broadway songs, too, from Mack and Mabel, All American, Drat! The Cat!, Starmites. And I think we're going to do "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife."

Tepper and Murphy (pictured in Monica Simoes photo at right) pride themselves on giving true rarities a hearing. Says Tepper, "Our musical director, Caleb Hoyer, is so wonderful that he's been able to transcribe some very obscure songs from shows that don't even have published sheet music. In this next concert, we're going to have a song from Marlowe, everyone's favorite 1981 musical about Christopher Marlowe. Caleb transcribed it from a bootleg recording, which is pretty awesome. There was no way we were ever going to find sheet music from Marlowe! He also transcribed a song from Via Galactica that we'll be doing."

Anyone who thinks obsessive love for flop musicals is limited to middle-aged and elderly "show queens" should think again; Tepper and Murphy are still in the bloom of youth, and the audience for the first If It Only Even Runs a Minute consisted largely of folks under 30. Notes Tepper, "We had a lot of young people who are involved with NYMF, and a lot of NYU students and recent grads. Believe it or not, there is a young audience out there who've listened to A Man of No Importance or even Drat! The Cat! a million times."

The format of If It Only Even Runs a Minute might make some of those NYU alums feel like they're back at school, in that Tepper and Murphy provide highly informative commentary in their introductions to the songs. "The whole endeavor is very much its own animal," Tepper remarks. "It's kind of a concert, but we joke around and say that it's also kind of a class. I'd say it's in the same basic genre as Seth Rudetsky's Broadway 101: It's fun, but you learn something."

Among the performers slated for Sunday's show are Aaron Simon Gross, A.J. Shively, Eric William Morris, Leslie McDonel, Jaclyn Huberman, Lance Rubin, Lindsay Mendez, Lorinda Lisitza, Kristy Cates, Molly Hager -- and a very special guest. Says Tepper, barely able to contain herself, "Evan Pappas is going to do a song from My Favorite Year and talk about his experience with the show! That was one of the cast albums that I listened to over and over as a teenager. I wrote to Evan blindly, hoping he'd do this for us, and he said yes. I'm so excited that I want to cry whenever I think about it."

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[The Laurie Beechman Theatre is located in the West Bank Café at 407 West 42nd Street, just west of Ninth Avenue, in Manhattan. Tickets for If It Only Even Runs a Minute are priced at $15, and there is a $15 food/drink minimum. For reservations, phone 212-695-6909.]

Gregg Baker: From Crown to Porgy

With his huge physical, vocal, and dramatic presence, baritone Gregg Baker virtually owned the role of Crown in the George Gershwin masterpiece Porgy and Bess for the past quarter century, having played it in just about every high-profile production of the period (Radio City Music Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne, and so on). If you missed his definitive performance, you still have the opportunity to see and hear it, as the Glyndebourne production was videotaped and is available on DVD.

An artist has to grow, so it's not surprising that Baker would eventually graduate to the central role of the crippled beggar Porgy, which he recently sang for the Opera Company of Philadelphia. New York-area folks have a chance to see him in the part for two performances this weekend, when the New Jersey State Opera brings the Philadelphia production to Newark Symphony Hall on Friday, May 21 at 8pm and Sunday, May 23 at 3pm. Most of the cast is new, but Mr. Baker is reprising Porgy, this time opposite the Bess of Laquita Mitchell. A few days ago, I spoke with him about the role and the opera.

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BROADWAYSTARS.COM: When you sang Porgy in Philadelphia, was that your first time in the part?

GREGG BAKER: Yes, but I've recorded it twice -- for Zubin Mehta on Teldec records, and with the late Erich Kunzel on Telarc.

STARS: It's a tremendously challenging role. Aside from the huge amount of singing, you're required to perform on your knees.

GREGG: Actually, I won't be on my knees this time; I'll be on crutches. I think that's the new concept for the part, ever since Glyndebourne, when Trevor Nunn gave Porgy walking sticks instead of having him on his knees and in a goat cart. But I did sing the part on my knees in Philadelphia.

STARS: Did you have a goat in Philly?

GREGG: No. I had a cart, but no goat!

STARS: The opera is a masterwork, but some people are put off by its depiction of impoverished African Americans living in the South in the early years of the 20th century. What's your take on that?

GREGG: Porgy and Bess is a fantastic piece. Because of the social environment in which we live, certain words and references that were in the original production could never be included now. It would just be unacceptable. But those elements are of little consequence to the construct of the piece a whole, so it really doesn't suffer if they're cut, as they have been over the years.

STARS: You were Crown in the opening night cast of the Metropolitan Opera production in 1985, with Simon Estes as Porgy and Grace Bumbry as Bess. If I recall, Estes had been injured during rehearsals, so he had to do the part on crutches rather than on his knees. Isn't that right?

GREGG: Yes. In the first orchestra/dress rehearsal, Simon twisted his knee during one of our fight scenes, so he had to make some adjustments.

STARS: Would you like to say something about the musical qualities of the opera?

GREGG: It's very eclectic. Various parts of it are written like Wagner, Verdi, Puccini. A lot of people come to Porgy not fully understanding how difficult a piece it is, both from a vocal and orchestral standpoint. I stayed away from it for the first part of my career, because I knew some people who were already in "the Porgy vortex," whereby once you become identified with the piece, you're pretty much locked in. Once I chose to do Crown, I examined the whole work from a musical standpoint and tried to figure out what I could bring to the role vocally, aside from my size and my athletic ability.

STARS: Have you ever seen the Otto Preminger film version of Porgy and Bess?

GREGG: Of course. I like the movie, even though Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge don't do their own singing. I still think it's a classic. Sammy Davis, Jr. was the perfect Sportin' Life.

STARS: Speaking of Dorothy Dandridge: I got to see you play Husky Miller in Carmen Jones in London some years ago. Do you think that show could be a hit if it was revived in this country?

GREGG: Definitely. After London, I did a concert version of the show with Vanessa Williams in D.C. at the Kennedy Center, and it was very well received.

STARS: How was Ms. Williams as Carmen?

GREGG: She was fantastic. At first, I think she was a bit intimidated because she categorized it as an opera, but it really isn't. The show can be done with opera singers, but it doesn't have to be. Vanessa is a very strong musical theater performer; once we all made her feel more comfortable and at ease, she was wonderful in the part. I think the show would go over really well on Broadway today. As a matter of fact, we're in low-level discussions on how to possibly pull it together for Broadway. I'm hopeful that there might be an announcement of a revival in the near future -- and if there is, I'll be a part of it.

STARS: Great! Any final thoughts on Porgy?

GREGG: I believe it's a timeless piece. This production was put together rather quickly, but I think we have a good mix of young singers and veterans. I'm really looking forward to it.

[For more information about the New Jersey State Opera performances of Porgy and Bess, click here].

Mad for Mitzi!

One of the most gorgeous and talented women in the history of show business, Mitzi Gaynor has had a major career resurgence in recent years, capped by a 2010 Emmy Award for the PBS documentary special about her TV variety shows of the 1960s and '70s. (That program is now available on DVD, and you have got to get a hold of it.)

Although she's best known for those amazing specials and for her performance as Nellie Forbush in the film version of South Pacific, as well as for such films as There's No Business Like Show Business and Les Girls, Mitzi has conquered just about every medium of entertainment from splashy Las Vegas extravaganzas to solo recordings -- except for Broadway (see below). Now she's bringing her one-woman career retrospective show to Feinstein's at Loews Regency, an appearance that will mark her first time on a New York stage in more than half a century. I recently spoke with her about this momentous occasion.

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STARS: New York is mad for Mitzi! The folks at Feinstein's anticipated that your show would be hugely popular, so they booked you into the hotel's ballroom rather than the more intimate space where the shows are usually held. And, even before the opening, your run was extended from one week to two. Isn't that exciting?

MITZI: I'm over the moon about it. I'm also a little trepidatious, of course. But Michael [Feinstein] wanted it. They're building a stage for me, and a dressing room, so I'll have a place for costume changes.

STARS: After all, what would a Mitzi Gaynor show be without costume changes?

MITZI: I know! One time, I played a theater in Columbus, Ohio, and right on the marquee it said: "Mitzi Gaynor and Her Bob Mackie Costumes!"

STARS: Tell me about the new show.

MITZI: It's got some old songs, some new ones. When I'm offstage, we show film clips to sort of progress the story of my life and career. I can't wait to do this show in New York! The last time I worked in New York was when I was a kid in the ballet of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and we played at City Center as part of a tour.

STARS: That must have been about 60 years ago!

MITZI: Yes. Thank you, darling. Can I have a cigarette, please? [Laughs]

STARS: You never did a Broadway musical. Was that on purpose, or did things just work out that way?

MITZI: Well, anytime something came up that I would have liked to do, I couldn't because I was busy with my own show. One day, Irving Berlin called me up after he had seen one of my TV specials. He said, "Hello, Mitzileh!" I said, "Hello, Mr. Berlin." He said, "How'd you know it was me?" I said, "I can tell by your voice." Anyway, he told me he wanted me to do Annie Get Your Gun on stage, but I said I couldn't because I was doing my show. He said, "What's it called?" I told him, "The Mitzi Gaynor Show." He said, "That's a very clever title." I guess you get spoiled when you do your own shows; it's hard work, but it's very fulfilling.

STARS: You would have been an amazing Mame. That's a very tricky role to cast, but you have all the necessary qualities in terms of looks, talent, glamour, warmth, and humor.

MITZI: I would have loved to have done Mame. But I couldn't do it now, because the entire world has done the part, including your Aunt Ethel -- probably better than I.

STARS: I know you did a tour of Anything Goes. Did you enjoy that experience?

MITZI: Oh, yes. I had a ball. We went all over the U.S. and Canada, for about eight months. I played the part that Ethel Merman created. She and I were very close friends until she died; we really bonded on the set of There's No Business Like Show Business.

STARS: I didn't get to see you in Anything Goes, but a friend showed me the souvenir program, and I still remember your bio. It started with a line that went something like, "Mitzi Gaynor is to Virgo as Virgo is to Mitzi Gaynor."

MITZI: It's true. We Virgos are such pains in the asses. It's "Do it my way and we only have to do it once. Then we can go have dinner!"

STARS: I know your late husband, Jack Bean, was a great force in your life and career.

MITZI: We were like one person. He was my husband, my manager, my producer, my everything. When he passed away, I didn't want to do anything anymore, but then I realized I had to go back to work. It would be a sin not to.

STARS: In your early career, you were known primarily as a dancer. I've always thought it ironic that your most famous film role was Nellie in South Pacific, which requires almost no dancing. But you sang the songs so beautifully.

MITZI: Thank you so much for saying that. [Director and co-author] Josh Logan really wanted me for the part, and Oscar Hammerstein wanted me, and Richard Rodgers. The whole triumvirate. I didn't have much contact with Dick Rodgers, because he wasn't very well at the time, but I did meet him. I think he could tell that I'm a real person -- as real as a phony bitch Virgo actress can possibly be! Oscar was on set for some of the filming; he came to the island. Josh would say to him, "Why don't you direct this scene." It was thrilling. You know, I'm so lucky, because I've never worked with a stinker -- someone who made me think, "Oh God, do I have to go to work again today?" Never. Isn't that great?

STARS: Definitely. I should say congratulations on your Emmy Award. The clips in that documentary are so wonderful; I'm loving the DVD. Do you think there's a place for variety shows on TV today?

MITZI: Yes. I think because of the popularity of shows like Dancing With the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance?, more and more kids are studying dance and realizing that you have to know what you're doing in order to get a job. And I think American Idol has a lot to do with so many people wanting to learn how to sing. There should be a place for variety shows on TV -- but in the meantime, people who love that kind of thing are just going to have to come to Feinstein's and see Mitzileh!

[For more information about Mitzi Gaynor's show at Feinstein's, or to order tickets, click here]

Natalie Douglas Celebrates Lena Horne

The wonderful singer Natalie Douglas's celebration of Lena Horne has been acclaimed at both Birdland and Feinstein's at Loews Regency. She's bringing the show, titled To Lena: A Tribute to a Lady and Her Music, back to Birdland this coming Monday, May 17 at 7pm -- a performance that will be all the more affecting with the passing of the legendary Lena on Sunday, May 9 at age 92. I called Natalie to talk about the show a few days before Ms. Horne's death, and then I called back the day after to offer my condolences. Here's some of what she had to say:

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BROADWAYSTARS: I know that Lena meant a lot to you. How are you feeling?

NATALIE DOUGLAS: Of course, I'm very sad. We didn't have a personal relationship, and yet I feel deeply affected by her death. Everything I can think of to say is so clichéd. She was one of the greats, and now she's gone. Thank God we have the legacy that she left.

STARS: I don't suppose you've had time to think about how you're going to reference her passing in the show on Monday.

NATALIE: Not specifically. What strikes me is how many performers -- black women especially -- talk about what a formative experience it was to see her in movies, or in her Broadway show, or on Sanford and Son, or singing with the Muppets. She definitely had something that made us want to do that, and made us feel almost personally encouraged by watching her. Lena Horne quite literally broke down the doors in allowing that to be possible for black women.

STARS: I missed your show at Birdland and at Feinstein's. Can you tell me about it?

NATALIE: There's a lot of great music in it. One of my favorites is "I Love to Love," a Herbert Baker tune; it's a little naughty but terribly, terribly proper. I like to do "Ain't It the Truth" from Cabin in the Sky, and I really enjoy singing some of her nightclub tunes, which a lot of people don't know. I also love "Can't Help Lovin' That Man." Lena held so many emotions about that song, because she was so happily anticipating doing the role of Julie in the movie of Show Boat, and she was deeply disappointed and hurt when she didn't get it.

STARS: Is there a fair amount of historical information in the show?

NATALIE: Lena was a complicated woman, so it's not easy to tell her life story. There are things about her that are hard to understand without a lot of the background and history. I try to do a show that, if you love Lena and you don't want to hear anything negative about your favorite, I'm not going to offend you; but if you know some of the stuff about her life that's a little rougher, you'll understand that from the context. There are all different levels of knowledge about Lena. I think a lot of people don't know much about her aside from "Stormy Weather" and knowing "Oh, my God, she was so beautiful." People who saw her one-woman show have a little bit more information, but there's a younger group who only know her from The Wiz or The Muppet Show or whatever. So I try to talk about some of the realities of her life and how she got from one place to the next.

STARS: I haven't yet read James Gavin's bio of her, but I'm looking forward to doing so.

NATALIE: There are so many bios about Lena. She was not shy about telling her story, it's just that it wasn't the whole story. There were different versions of it. In my show, I try to be truthful about her, but I find it easy to give her a break in terms of some of the stories that show her in a less flattering light, because I think I get the anger she had seething beneath the surface. It's so easy to understand that anger, given the times she lived in and what she was up against. So many of her performances for so much of her career were about skimming the surface; she did these light, sophisticated, enjoyable shows, the kind of thing that café society enjoyed, but there was all that anger and passion seething underneath. It's fascinating.

STARS: Did you ever get to see her perform live?

NATALIE: Yes. My mom brought me to see The Lady and Her Music in Los Angeles, and we got to go backstage and meet her. She couldn't have been more gracious. That show was just spectacular; I've never forgotten it. On my first album, there's an arrangement of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" that I created with Charlie Lindberg; I really wanted to sing it because I had heard Lena do it in her show, in a way that I had never heard anyone else do it. It was the first time I realized that this old standard, which I had heard a hundred times, was all about sex. I never knew how illicit the song is until I heard Lena's take on it. She taught me a lot about how you can approach a song from different points of view -- like, for example, the two versions of "Stormy Weather" that she did in The Lady and Her Music. She was a remarkable woman.

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[For more information on Natalie Douglas's tribute to Lena Horne at Birdland, click here]

The Kid Has Two Dads

It usually takes the theater a few years to reflect current events. That said, it's a little surprising that only now are we starting to see shows dealing with a fact of life that has become more and more common over the past two decades or so: gay couples having children, by various methods. One of the first shows in this genre opens tonight (May 10) at Theatre Row: The Kid, a smart, funny, and touching new musical with a book by Michael Zam, lyrics by Jack Lechner, and music by Andy Monroe, directed by Scott Elliott.

Based on the book of the same title by sex advice columnist Dan Savage, The Kid is all about what happened when Savage and his partner, Terry Miller, decided to bring a baby into their lives. Just prior to a recent preview performance, I caught up with Christopher Sieber and Lucas Steele, who respectively play Dan and Terry and who both are jazzed to be involved in a project that truly deserves the label "groundbreaking."

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BROADWAYSTARS: Dan Savage is quite famous as a sex advice columnist; Terry Miller is less well known. Was physical resemblance to the actual Dan and Terry an issue in terms of casting this show?

CHRISTOPHER SIEBER: God, no! People ask that a lot. Fortunately, we don't have to do a life study of these two. It would drive me crazy if I felt I had to study Dan Savage and recreate his mannerisms.

LUCAS STEELE: In the book, the first time Dan mentions Terry, he refers to him "the boy with the long, blond hair and the big lips." I guess that's why I popped into Scott Elliott's mind, although now Terry has short hair.

STARS: It must be very exciting to be in a musical about gay parenting.

CHRIS: It's definitely a unique story -- one that I don't think has ever been told on stage before, especially from the point of view of two gay men. It's funny, some of the older ladies who've seen the show, they love it so much. Two of them came up to Lucas and me after one of the first performances and they said, "It isn't a gay story, it's a love story!"

LUCAS: Yes. I think the story really lends itself to being musicalized -- all that witty banter.

STARS: Would you say that gay theater is by now part of the mainstream?

CHRIS: Definitely. Look at the stuff that's out there now: The Temperamentals, Next Fall, Yank!, La Cage...

LUCAS: And Angels in America is coming back. I look forward to seeing the new school of plays involving gay characters, because as I said, I do feel there's been a lot of rehashing.

STARS: Do you think we'll see a lot of plays about gay marriage in the coming years?

CHRIS: I'm sure people are writing them. I did the original production of Bill C. Davis's Avow in the late '90s. It's about two gay men struggling with their religious identities and whether or not they want to get married in church. I think that play was just a few years ahead of its time.

STARS: Chris, you said in an interview in the Gay City News that you'd be a terrible father. Were you exaggerating?

CHRIS: No! Look in my refrigerator -- it's empty. At the market, I always grab pre-made food, because I don't make things. If there's nothing in the fridge, I just don't eat.

STARS: So it's primarily a food issue?

CHRIS: Yes, but also, I'm so frenetic. I'm all over the place all the time. I love my nieces and nephews, and my friends' kids, but I just don't think I'd be a very good father.

STARS: And what about you, Lucas?

LUCAS: I "mannied" for a couple of years and took care of some kids, but at the end of the day, I always got to leave. I think I would be a good dad, but right now, it's just not in the realm of reality for me. Maybe that will change.

CHRIS: I can see this interview now: "We hate children!" But that's not true. I guess it would be nice to have someone to help do the dishes, take out the trash, and walk the dog. "Do your chores, kids!"

STARS: I've heard some stories of gays adopting children that unfortunately made it sound like they were doing it for the wrong reasons. But, of course, some straight couples are also ill-equipped to raise kids, for one reason or another.

CHRIS: Everyone should have the right to be parents. That doesn't mean you're going to be good at it. My parents said to me the other day, "We didn't know what we were doing, but you turned out okay." You just do the best you can. It's funny to look at my friends who are parents: Whenever a couple has their first child, they're so neurotic and overprotective, it's like they bubble-wrap the kid. Then the second one comes around, and it's like, "Where's the baby? Ah, he'll be okay; he's running around somewhere, playing with a broken bottle."

CHRIS: It's going to be very weird to finally meet this kid, since we already have an emotional attachment to him.

Tony Hopefuls

As Harvey Fierstein memorably pointed out a few years ago, the Tony Awards are not a beauty contest. Still, this year's nominees are a rather exceptionally attractive lot. Here are my pix of some of the hopefuls in their respective categories, taken at this year's nominees reception, held on Wednesday, May 5 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel.

Jude Law, Leading Actor in a Play, Hamlet.

Laura Linney, Leading Actress in a Play, Time Stands Still.

Bobby Steggert, Featured Actor in a Musical, Ragtime.

Montego Glover, Leading Actress in a Musical, Memphis.

David Bryan and Joe DiPietro, nominated for their score for Memphis.

Viola Davis, Leading Actress in a Play, Fences.

Here's Davis again, being interviewed with her Fences co-star Denzel Washington, who's nominated as Best Leading Actor in a Play.

Valerie Harper, Leading Actress in a Play, Looped.

Sean Hayes, Leading Actor in a Musical, Promises, Promises.

Kate Baldwin, Leading Actress in a Musical, Finian's Rainbow.

Kevin Chamberlin, Featured Actor in a Musical, The Addams Family.

Tony nominees Sheryl Kaller and Geoffrey Nauffts, respectively the director and author of Next Fall.

Rob Ashford, nominated for his choreography of Promises, Promises.

Andrew Lippa, nominated for his music and lyrics for The Addams Family.

Levi Kreis, Featured Actor in a Musical, Million Dollar Quartet.

Jan Maxwell, a double nominee this year for her leading performance in The Royal Family and her featured performance in Lend Me a Tenor.

Lillias White, Featured Actress in a Musical, Fela!

The great Marian Seldes, who has already been announced as a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award winner this year.

They Did It His Way

For those of us who enjoyed Come Fly Away on Broadway but can never get enough of Frank Sinatra's music, the New York Pops obliged on Monday, May 3. Among the guest performers in this thrilling celebration of the man and his music were Frank Sinatra, Jr. (who offered a gorgeous rendition of Rodgers and Hart's "Spring Is Here"), Michael Feinstein, Steve Tyrell, John Pizzarelli, and Tony DeSare, plus such Broadway notables as Michael Cerveris, Cheyenne Jackson, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Norm Lewis, Montego Glover, and the incredible team of Karine Plantadit and Keith Robert from the company of Come Fly Away. Here are my pics of the after-party at the Plaza.

Michael Feinstein (center), flanked by Tony DeSare (left) and New York Pops music director and conductor Steven Reineke.

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Broadway stalwart Michael Cerveris.

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Here's Cerveris again with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who has appeared on Broadway in On the Town and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and who is now part of the cast of the hit TV show Modern Family.

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Here's Jesse again with his mom, Anne Ferugson.

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Cheyenne Jackson (right), star of such shows as Finian's Rainbow, Xanadu, and All Shook Up, with author Marc Acito (How I Paid for College, Attack of the Theater People.

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From Come Fly Away, here is Tony Award nominee Karine Plantadit with her dance partner, Keith Roberts.

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Here's Karine again with Norm Lewis, one of the stars of Sondheim on Sondheim.