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Preview by Paul Nelson
THESE days it seems that anything that can be even remotely hitched to the
name Stephen Sondheim is a lost classic. Consequently there is hardly a cabaret
act in the country that doesn't include at least one of his numbers, and if
you can find another one that is more esoteric and less tuneful than the last,
bingo!
The Gryphon Limited, having found the Bridewell again, has managed
to get its hands on Anyone Can Whistle, a 1964 Sondheim musical flop
(lasting all of nine performances), which, as Walter Kerr once averred, thereby
ensured a turkey had been canonised.
It started in 1961 as The Natives Are Restless, and retitled Side
Show, before fetching up with its present title. It was offered to three
Hollywood stars who had never at that point ever done a stage musical before,
Lee Remick, Harry Guardino and Angela Lansbury.
The plot dealt with Cora (Lansbury), the Mayor of a corrupt town that is going
bankrupt. The council creates a 'miracle', water from a rock, and the tourist
trade booms.
Nurse Fay Apple (Remick) comes to the miracle with her 'cookies' (from the
town's mental institution The Cookie Jar), and the patients mix with the sane
townsfolk Dr Hapgood (Guardino) manages to separate the two groups, though
nobody can tell which group is which. Nurse Apple falls for Hapgood, and it
is then learned the doctor is not a doctor but actually another 'cookie',
as a new miracle is discovered in a nearby town and the tourists move on.
The production, directed by the author of the book, Arthur Laurents, descended
into virtual chaos, with numbers cut, replaced, then reinstated.
When the show reached Broadway, still unprepared, requests by Laurents for
more time before opening were turned down and ended up as a fist fight in
the alley and an actor died.
This chapter of accidents, muddle and errors now gets an airing in London.
Laurents has had a chance to rework the entire book and is presenting a new
script. Sondheim apparently, is still proud of his score and we will have
a chance to see how a show can be brought back from the dead. As I mentioned
earlier, most of the songs will be familiar through the endless cabaret performances
of the Sondheim canon. I earnestly hope that this time the show gets the presentation
all concerned believe it deserves.
The director, Michael Gieleta's previously directed Sondheim's Company
at the Oxford Playhouse. The Gryphon Ltd has recently obtained the worldwide
production rights for Seesaw (Coleman, Fields), which will be produced
next year.
Anyone Can Whistle by Arthur Laurents. Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Directed by Michael Gieleta. Presented by The Gryphon Ltd at The Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane (off Fleet Street), London, Thursday, January 2 to Saturday, February 15 (NOT Mondays). Tickets 020 7936 3456.
RELATED LINKS: Click here
for the Bridewell Theatre website...
