Beginings of American Theater

Where did commercial theater begin in the US? The NYtimes has an article on exactly that - I thought it was interesting and thought I'd point it out to you. Actually, I'd love to find out where theater originated in the mid Hudson valley - unfortunately so far my research has not turned up anything promising ...

From the nytimes:

"The quiet, tree-lined boulevards of this reconstructed colonial town may seem an unusual setting for an international conference on the origins of the American commercial theater. But to the people at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the location makes perfect sense.

“This is it,” exclaimed Jim Bradley, public affairs manager for Colonial Williamsburg, gesturing at the dirt road dotted with tourists and school groups. “This is where American theater began.”

The occasion for the conference — “The Williamsburg Playhouse of 1760 and the World of 18th-Century Theater,” set for Thursday through Saturday — is the completion of a 10-year excavation of one of the first commercial theaters in America. While not the oldest (that distinction belongs to a playhouse erected in Williamsburg in 1716), the theater was among the most important of the colonial era, and the most popular. Records exist of an incident in 1772, when George Washington — who frequented the theater, as did Thomas Jefferson — struggled to get box seats to a play called “A Word to the Wise” but had to settle for seats in the pit, even though he had helped to underwrite the playhouse."

Dreamgirls Headed for a Broadway Run

It looks likely that Dreamgirls is headed for Broadway the first revival since 1981 [Correction: Dreamgirls was previously revived on Broadway in 1987, running 177 performances at the Ambassador Theatre (June 28-November 29) ]. As you may know Dreamgirls is a Broadway musical, which opened on December 20, 1981 at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway. The musical ran for 1,522 performances, and won six 1982 Tony Awards.

Show Broadway History:
It is based upon the history of Motown act The Supremes, Dreamgirls follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called "The Dreams", who become music superstars. It features music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen, and was directed by Michael Bennett, produced by Bennett, Bob Avian, Geffen Records, and The Shubert Organization, and choreographed by Bennett and Michael Peters. The original Broadway production, which won six Tony Awards.

The musical was adapted into a motion picture by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, and opened in limited release on December 15, 2006. The feature film version of Dreamgirls stars Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, and Danny Glover.

Show Background:
Dreamgirls to craft a musical about Black back-up singers, which was given the working title of Project #9. Project #9 was had its beginnings as a project for Nell Carter. Playwright Tom Eyen and composer Henry Krieger first worked together on the 1975 musical version of Eyen's play The Dirtiest Show in Town. Carter appeared in the musical, and her performance inspired Eyen and Kriegerworkshopped for Joe Papp; Carter was joined at this time by Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine, who were to play her groupmates. The project was shelved after Carter departed to appear in the soap opera Ryan's Hope in 1978.

A year later, Project #9 was brought back to the table, after catching the interest of successful Broadway director/producer/choreographer Michael Bennett. Ralph and Devine returned, and Bennett had Eyen, who was to direct, begin workshopping Big Dreams, as the musical was now known. Joining the cast at this time were Ben Harney, Obba Babatunde, Cleavant Derricks, and twenty-year-old gospel singer Jennifer Holliday as Carter's replacement (after Carter accepted an offer from NBC to star in Gimme a Break).

However, Holliday left the project during the workshopping phase, as she disliked the material and was upset that her character, Effie White, died at the conclusion of the first act. Eyen, Bennett, and Krieger continued to iron out the story and songs. Cheryl Gaines was at one point cast as a replacement for Holliday.

After two mildly successful workshops, Holliday returned to the project, now known as Dreamgirls. However, she found that the Effie character's role had been reduced significantly in favor of Sheryl Lee Ralph's Deena character, and Holliday eventually quit the project again. After acquiring funding from music industry mogul David Geffen and fellow co-financiers ABC Entertainment, Metromedia, and the Shubert family, Bennett called Holliday back and agreed to rewrite the shows second act and build up her character. (read more)

1-22-2007 Dreamgirls a Dream at the Box office
12-9-2006 Dreamgirls Christmas

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First American Musical Q & A from the Times

I saw this in the times RSS feed and thought it would be something to share with all of you - it's a bit of interesting minutia from the theater world.

NY Times post from today:

Q. It’s a delight to see that “A Chorus Line” is back and doing well. Now, please tell me: What was the first American musical?

A. You can get an argument about this. Some purists, for example, may contend that the first modern musical was “Oklahoma!” or “Show Boat.” Others point to minstrel shows or even to an English ballad opera, “Flora,” presented in Charleston, S.C., in 1735.

But the most often mentioned ancestor of the musical and its predecessor, the leg show, is “The Black Crook,” which opened in Manhattan at Niblo’s Garden on Sept. 12, 1866.

According to Stanley Green’s Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theater (Dodd, Mead, 1976), the musical came about by accident. A French ballet troupe had been booked into the Academy of Music, but it burned down before the opening. Meanwhile, “The Black Crook,” a silly melodrama based loosely on Faust, was set to open at Niblo’s, on Broadway near Prince Street.

Not trusting the melodrama, William Wheatley, Niblo’s manager, hired the ballet company and combined it with the story line. The show ran more than five hours, but nobody seemed to care. The sight of 100 dancing girls was enough to ensure a spectacular run. If that weren’t enough, preachers denounced it from the pulpit for its suggestive songs.

In 1954, a Broadway musical, “The Girl in Pink Tights,” was based on the circumstances surrounding the original production.

Big production numbers and chorus girls — two vital Broadway features today — came into their own with “The Black Crook,” prompting some writers to label it the first true American musical comedy.

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London Theater Museum to close January 7

The Theatre Museum in London is scheduled to be closed to the public January 7, 2007 it is due to a lack of financing for redevelopment. It is shaky when and where the collection will reopen. It is a tragedy that one of the world’s largest collections of documents and artifacts related to theater, dance, opera and other performances will no longer be available to enrich and educate the public.

The Theatre Museum was opened in its premises in Russell Street, Covent Garden, in 1987. It is a collection comprised of the theatre collections held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, notably that of Gabrielle Enthoven, and at Leighton House.

There is an online petition collecting names to save the museum on a website run by an organization called Guardians of the Theater Museum at theatremuseumguardians.org.uk

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