By Linda Romine
Special to The [Memphis, Tennessee] Commercial
Appeal
What makes a good musical?
"Quality material, quality interpretation, taste and talent,"
answers Harold
`Hal' Prince, who should know.
Over the past four decades, Prince's name has become synonymous
with the
Broadway stage, including 55 musicals. Since 1962, the veteran
theatrical
director and producer has been behind such popular shows as Fiddler
On the
Roof, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, West Side
Story, Damn Yankees, and The Pajama Game.
And the list goes on, with such heavy-hitting productions as Show
Boat, Kiss
of the Spiderwoman, The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Sweeney
Todd, Candide, A
Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Follies, Company, Cabaret,
and She
Loves Me.
"Taste comes from all the collaborators," says Prince, speaking
by phone
recently from his office in New York City. "It can also come from the
audience. When the audience expresses good taste - by demanding
substance from the material - that's wonderful, too. But they don't always.
"I don't want to sound like a scold," the director continues,
"but I'm
grateful when the material, the production, and the audience
really meet on a level
that you can be proud of. It happens." Happily, it happens
in Prince's latest effort, Parade. It is based on the true story of Leo
Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Atlanta who in 1913 was wrongly convicted
of murdering 13-year-old Mary Phagan.
The courtroom drama-cum-romantic musical, which won two 1999 Tony
Awards for
Jason Robert Brown's musical score and Alfred Uhry's musical
book, is a murder
mystery that also spotlights the loyalties and love between Leo
and his wife,
Lucille. Another undercurrent running through the musical is
that of changing
attitudes about such issues as race and social status in the
turn-of-the-century
American South.
Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Uhry, author of Driving Miss
Daisy, Parade is
a celebrated musical that made a false start. Despite critical
acclaim, the
production closed within months due to reconstruction at the
Lincoln Center
Vivian Beaumont Theatre, where the musical had originally opened.
Because of
his strong belief in Parade, Prince, who had co-conceived the
idea for the
musical, committed himself to restaging the production.
And what better venue to reopen the musical than in Atlanta, where
the story's
events took place nearly a century ago?
After its premiere in that city this month, the Broadway-bound touring production of Parade travels to the Orpheum in Memphis. Performances run from June 20-25. For ticket information, call the Orpheum at 525-3000 or Ticketmaster at 743-ARTS.
While those who saw the first version of Parade may notice some
tweaking,
Prince emphasizes that the differences are subtle. "I made some
judicious cuts in the
first act - cutting some things I loved but which I thought might
be a bit indulgent," he says.
Another serendipitous inspiration occurred in the revamp process. "In
looking
at the second act, I said to the authors, `My God! We have a
second-act opening
number, but we don't get to it until 10 minutes into the second
act!' Everybody smiled," Prince says, recalling others' response
to his brainstorm. "So we
changed it and made it the opening of the second act."
The results have paid off, judging by audience reaction. "We've had a series of invited run-throughs here in New York," he says, "and they have resulted in a couple of performances. The numbers which before were OK, suddenly got a rousing reaction," Prince explains. "I suppose it's akin to what film directors do. It's a very potent experience for someone who directs."
Prince has directed two films: Something For Everyone and A Little Night Music.
For the stage, his directing credits have included The Visit,
The Great God Brown and End of the World. Prince also penned the play Grandchild
of Kings, which was staged off-Broadway. In addition, he has directed operatic
productions with the world's leading companies, including the Metropolitan
Opera, The Lyric
Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Vienna Staatsoper and
the Theatre Colon
in Buenos Aires. Prince is also currently connected with three
North American
productions of Show Boat, as well as 11 international productions
of The Phantom of the Opera.
Not surprisingly, Prince has assembled a stable of actors and
other colleagues
with whom he regularly works.
"In this case, it's a marvelous company," he says of Parade. Its
cast includes
longtime colleagues Prince refers to as "old standbys in good,
featured roles." He mentions John Leslie Wolfe and John Vosburgh,
two actors Prince has employed
off and on for the past two decades. "I have a bunch of wonderful
actors," he
says.
"The two leads are also quite amazing," Prince adds.
The musical stars David Pittu and Andrea Burns as Leo and Lucille
Frank. Pittu
most recently appeared in a touring production of Titanic. His
off-Broadway
work includes Dangerous Corner, directed by David Mamet; Lanford Wilson's
Sympathetic Magic; The Lights at Lincoln Center; and Three Postcards
at Circle Rep. He is a member of the Atlantic Theater company, where his
work as a director includes Kaufman & Hart's Once in a Lifetime.
Burns, meanwhile, has starred in touring productions of Evita,
1776, Company,
Oklahoma!, and West Side Story. Recently, she appeared in the New York
premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night and also co-starred
with Elaine Stritch in Noel Coward's Sail Away at Carnegie Hall. Broadway
roles include Belle in
Beauty and the Beast, and off-Broadway she performed in
Brown's Songs for a New World at the WPA Theater.
Prince's daughter, Daisy Chaplin, directed that show, and introduced her father to Brown. Prince was impressed with the 23-year-old. "He's amazing. I brought him this show Alfred (Uhry) brought to me," Prince says, referring to Parade. And he got a Tony for it."
Prince believes in mentoring. "We have not done well in the commercial
theater
with the next generation of composers and librettists," he says.
"We have not
nurtured them the way we were by our antecedents. It has been
very much on my
mind that we need to pass the torch, musically."
Prince himself has won some 20 Tony Awards. He was also a 1994
recipient of
the lifetime achievement Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.
Born in New York,
Prince is 72 years old. "I'm numerically 72, but it makes absolutely
no sense
to me," he says with a laugh, "because I feel like much younger."
Parade is representative of his overall career, he explains. "My
reputation is
largely based on musical theater that tells a story, which in
this case I
think is very fascinating," he says of Parade. " It's about a
crisis period in
American history, a period that we've put behind us and learned
from. We
should be very proud of where such events took us, and how much
we've learned.
"It's an amazing system, American democracy," Prince continues.
"I mean,
everything about it - even with all its flaws - it is unparalleled."
Prince's upcoming projects include a not-yet-titled work that
marks his first
collaboration with Sondheim in 19 years, he says. Another friend,
Carol
Burnett, and her daughter Carrie Hamilton have co-written a play
that Prince wants to
direct. "It's a drama with a lot of comedy in it," Prince says,
adding that the co-authors do not plan to star in the show.
Prince realizes that each show takes time, but the rewards are worth reaping.
"Getting a show on is a long journey," he says. "There are signposts
along the
way. And I think Parade is one of my favorite shows. I knew this
the other
day. I knew again why - because . . . working and creating an
art form is about the
pleasure you get working in collaboration with . . . the authors
(and) the
actors. And this one is just so satisfying. It reaffirms why
I've spent my life doing what I've done."
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