Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz (22 page)
Authors: Greg Lawrence,John Kander,Fred Ebb
BOOK: Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz
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EBB: We were up against a couple of shows that year that I had never even heard of. But it was still a pleasure to win it, and we loved Bacall.
KANDER: Oh, she was great with us.
EBB: I had a fantastic time with that lady. We had established early on a funny thing between us, when she called the house one day. I answered the phone and she said, “Hello.” I said, “Hello, Jimmy.” I was absolutely convinced that she was Jimmy Coco, with whom I had been playing poker regularly. “This is not
Jimmy,” said the voice. I said, “Oh, come on, Jimmy, I have to be somewhere. Don’t hold me up. What do you want?” She said, “I don’t want anything.” She would not let me off the hook, and I kept calling her Jimmy.
Jimmy,” said the voice. I said, “Oh, come on, Jimmy, I have to be somewhere. Don’t hold me up. What do you want?” She said, “I don’t want anything.” She would not let me off the hook, and I kept calling her Jimmy.
KANDER: She is Jimmy to this day.
EBB: Finally, she said, “This is Lauren Bacall,” and the nickname stuck. She loved teasing me.
KANDER: She likes being Jimmy and we liked that it was something special between us. To this day, when she leaves a message on the service, she says, “Hello, this is Jimmy calling.” I’m sure that we have the same reaction to her. There are a lot of social situations where I become self-conscious and unhappy and shy, but somehow if she’s in the room I always feel better. It’s funny to talk about her as a pal, but she is pal-like in our relationship with her. There are stories about how difficult she could be, but she was never that way with us.
EBB: Those stories come from people who don’t really know her, like a hairdresser or a chauffeur. She could be a little rough on underlings.
KANDER: With her peers she was wonderfully gracious.
EBB: Yes, with other actors. She was very generous with Marilyn Cooper, who was stealing the show. At eleven o’clock, this little gnome came on and walked away with it.
KANDER: When we were working on the show out of town, if a number didn’t work and had to be replaced, Bacall always took responsibility for it. Nobody else has ever done that with us. She would say, “That’s really a terrific number, and I wish I had the voice to sing it.”
EBB: We had a big showstopper with “The Grass Is Always Greener.” The song came very late in the second act, and afterwards there was nothing in particular for Bacall to do. We had a meeting with the producers, Larry Kasha and David Landay, and Jimmy was there. They told us that after “The Grass Is Always
Greener” she had to have a big number like “New York, New York.” I said, “Well, who’s gonna sing it?” And Jimmy screamed with laughter. She thought it was hilarious that somebody would say a thing like that with her in the room. She said, “You know, he’s right. I can’t handle a song like that.”
Greener” she had to have a big number like “New York, New York.” I said, “Well, who’s gonna sing it?” And Jimmy screamed with laughter. She thought it was hilarious that somebody would say a thing like that with her in the room. She said, “You know, he’s right. I can’t handle a song like that.”
KANDER: We first met Tommy Tune when he came out of town to help us stage a number for
Woman of the Year
.
Woman of the Year
.
EBB: A number called “I Wrote the Book.” I don’t know why that was giving Tony Charmoli problems, but Tommy came and actually he staged it on me. I guess I walk like Bacall. I’m about as graceful as she is. It was less choreography than staging.
KANDER: Tony Charmoli was the choreographer, and how they got to the point where they called Tommy in I don’t remember either. Tommy sort of comes in and out of our lives. I think we had met before but never worked together.
EBB: Yes, we met Tommy before we did
Woman of the Year
.
Woman of the Year
.
KANDER: You remember the pitcher of water? Somebody came up with the idea that just before the end of the show—
EBB: Jimmy was to get drenched.
KANDER: The guy who was playing opposite her was to take a pitcher of water and throw it in her face.
EBB: Over her head really.
KANDER: Nobody wanted to tell her because we were all afraid. We were in Boston at the Sheraton Hotel, and all of us wanted to get her to try the scene, and nobody had the courage to ask her. But you did. You were the brave one.
EBB: I just figured, she’s our pal and if she doesn’t want to do it, that’s her choice. But the scene would probably be funny, and the audience wants her to get soaked by that point in the show.
KANDER: Bacall’s reaction was perfect. “Sure, I’ll try it. I’ll try anything. Do you really think it will get a laugh?”
EBB: It did, and it got a big hand too.
KANDER: It also gave her a curtain call because she came out with the bathrobe—
EBB: And towel.
KANDER: With quite a few people that we have worked with, when we know that something is built into the show, that person will try anything.
EBB: Gwen Verdon was another.
KANDER: And Lotte Lenya, who we’ve mentioned. If you know Lenya is going to be there and her voice is in the back of your head, it’s not that you say to yourself, “How am I going to tailor it for her?” It’s just that you listen to the sound of that voice and it guides you. There was some of that with Bacall. We wrote songs that were so well suited for her that when other people sing them they are not quite the same. The show has been done a number of times, fortunately, but nobody really made it work like Bacall did, in large part because we had her in mind as we wrote.
EBB: I think that’s true. I remember Raquel Welch and Debbie Reynolds in the role.
KANDER: With each of those ladies we had to make adjustments to make it work.
EBB: Raquel was breathtakingly beautiful and wore wonderful costumes. She was the kind of woman who got a hand when she entered because of how stunning she looked. The body was perfect, and the audience would applaud just for her walking out there. She didn’t play the part as well as Jimmy—nobody could—but she brought something else to it. The audience thoroughly enjoyed her.
KANDER: Raquel knew where to take the water. When they were staging the scene, she said, “No, no, lower!”
EBB: She wanted a wet T-shirt.
KANDER: But she knew exactly what she was doing.
EBB: No one was ever surer of her sexuality than Raquel Welch. And good for her, why not?
KANDER: That was certainly the climax of the show. As the water descended and the outline of her breasts showed through, there was a gasp from the audience.
EBB: She worked very hard, and she delivered. I’d work with Raquel again in a minute. Debbie was fine also. However, Debbie had a propensity to ad-lib. When she thought a scene was not going entirely right, she managed to sneak in something about her husband or about Eddie Fisher. Out of her training, the Vegas stuff, came a sensibility that says you are allowed the freedom to do that on the stage. Steve and Eydie did the same thing in
Golden Rainbow
. I don’t think they ever played the same show twice, because they would ad-lib whenever they thought they could get the audience to laugh along with them. Debbie had the same mentality. Bacall would not do that, and I don’t think Raquel would have done it.
Golden Rainbow
. I don’t think they ever played the same show twice, because they would ad-lib whenever they thought they could get the audience to laugh along with them. Debbie had the same mentality. Bacall would not do that, and I don’t think Raquel would have done it.
KANDER: Raquel just didn’t understand where the jokes were.
EBB: But Debbie was sweet in the part, except for her ad-libbing. I remember there was one scene in a bar where she got started on something, and she went on about marriage and how you keep getting married until you get it right. The audience encouraged her, and she went on and on until it looked like a comedy monologue.
KANDER: I never saw that.
EBB: I was there, and it had nothing to do with the piece. But the audience loved it. Audiences love mistakes. They love any contact that assumes some special knowledge shared between the performer and themselves, which I think gives them a sense of power. But my woman of the year will always be Bacall, the glorious Jimmy now and forever.
The Rink
and
Kiss of the Spider Woman
and
Kiss of the Spider Woman
T
he Rink
reunited Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, but the stellar combination failed to ignite the musical when it opened at the Martin Beck Theater on February 9, 1984. Despite the show’s unfavorable reception, Kander describes
The Rink
as “the most complete realization of our intentions on any production we have done.” It also provided Rivera with her first Tony Award for her portrayal of Anna, the mother who owns the roller rink. Minnelli played the role of Angel, an ugly-duckling flower child who returns home after seven years only to discover the beloved roller rink of her childhood is now a derelict ruin awaiting demolition. Angel’s conflict with her mother was illuminated by numbers like “Don’t ‘Ah, Ma’ Me,” “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer,” and “All the Children in a Row.” Directed by A. J. Antoon,
The Rink
lasted 204 performances and provided one of the most poignant Kander and Ebb moments with the song “Colored Lights.”
he Rink
reunited Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, but the stellar combination failed to ignite the musical when it opened at the Martin Beck Theater on February 9, 1984. Despite the show’s unfavorable reception, Kander describes
The Rink
as “the most complete realization of our intentions on any production we have done.” It also provided Rivera with her first Tony Award for her portrayal of Anna, the mother who owns the roller rink. Minnelli played the role of Angel, an ugly-duckling flower child who returns home after seven years only to discover the beloved roller rink of her childhood is now a derelict ruin awaiting demolition. Angel’s conflict with her mother was illuminated by numbers like “Don’t ‘Ah, Ma’ Me,” “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer,” and “All the Children in a Row.” Directed by A. J. Antoon,
The Rink
lasted 204 performances and provided one of the most poignant Kander and Ebb moments with the song “Colored Lights.”
KANDER: I loved doing
The Rink
.
The Rink
.
EBB: I loved
The Rink
, too, though I’ve always been more susceptible than you are to bad reviews. I can be talked out of my pride in a show by bad reviews.
The Rink
, too, though I’ve always been more susceptible than you are to bad reviews. I can be talked out of my pride in a show by bad reviews.
KANDER: That show was a very emotional, fulfilling experience. Whatever little ups and downs we had, it was a piece I was especially proud of. I thought it was directed and cast wonderfully. But we really got slammed.
EBB: It also looked fabulous on the stage.
KANDER: I went back all the time.
EBB: So did I. Initially, Liza wasn’t supposed to be in it. Chita Rivera was already cast, and Liza called me in California and said, “Can I be in
The Rink
? I’ll do anything. I’ll take second billing. I’ll bow next-to-the-last bow. I just want to be in it. I want to be with you guys and Chita.”
The Rink
? I’ll do anything. I’ll take second billing. I’ll bow next-to-the-last bow. I just want to be in it. I want to be with you guys and Chita.”
KANDER: She called me too, separately. As I remember, she was in England when she made the call. I was telling her the same thing that I’m sure you told her. “It’s really a second lead. You would be playing this schlumpy girl.” But one of the things she said was, “I want to do the show because there’s not one sequin in it.” I thought that was a really understandable and bright thing to say.
EBB: If you were to ask me now, I would say that was an error.
KANDER: It turned out to be an error because the audience didn’t want to see her without the sequins.
EBB: They were disappointed in the lack of sequins, though I thought she played the role beautifully. But we had made certain writing errors, and they were magnified because it was Liza. For instance, we had the song “Colored Lights” opening the show primarily because it was Liza, and we thought she’s out there as the big star attraction. Now we see that was exactly the wrong thing to do. Our fault. Not hers.
I was sitting on a sand dune in Santa Cruz
Or Monterey.
Well, anyway,
I could feel the trickle on my cheek of ocean spray,
A perfect day.
Well, anyway,
I remember that I turned to Sam and said …
Or was it Fred? …
Well, anyway,
I should be up and yet I’m down instead.
Something’s missing, Sam;
Something’s missing, Fred.
Something’s missing here.
Or Monterey.
Well, anyway,
I could feel the trickle on my cheek of ocean spray,
A perfect day.
Well, anyway,
I remember that I turned to Sam and said …
Or was it Fred? …
Well, anyway,
I should be up and yet I’m down instead.
Something’s missing, Sam;
Something’s missing, Fred.
Something’s missing here.
Where are my colored lights?
Beads and bleachers and colored lights?
Passing smiles, ’round and ‘round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Beads and bleachers and colored lights?
Passing smiles, ’round and ‘round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Noisy boys, long and lean.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Gold and amber and green.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Gold and amber and green.
I was sailing out of Long Beach on a catamaran
Or fishing scow.
Well, anyhow,
I was leaning, chewing cashews off the starboard bow.
That sunset: Wow!
Well, anyhow,
I remember telling Joey, “God, you’re sweet!”
Or was it Pete? …
Well, anyhow,
I wonder why I feel so incomplete.
Something’s missing, Joe;
Something’s missing, Pete.
Something’s missing here …
Or fishing scow.
Well, anyhow,
I was leaning, chewing cashews off the starboard bow.
That sunset: Wow!
Well, anyhow,
I remember telling Joey, “God, you’re sweet!”
Or was it Pete? …
Well, anyhow,
I wonder why I feel so incomplete.
Something’s missing, Joe;
Something’s missing, Pete.
Something’s missing here …
Where are my colored lights?
Beads and bleachers and colored lights?
Passing smiles, ‘round and ’round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Beads and bleachers and colored lights?
Passing smiles, ‘round and ’round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Noisy boys, long and lean.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Gold and amber and green.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Gold and amber and green.
And I tried to find the answer in the friends I made,
Or beds I’d share,
Well, anywhere.
But with other people’s music ringing in my ear
I couldn’t sing,
Well, anything.
And I thought if I could just be twelve again,
Or was it ten? …
Well, anyway,
It seems to me I knew the secret then.
It’s so simple: twelve.
It’s so simple: ten.
It was simple there.
Passing smiles, ‘round and ’round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Or beds I’d share,
Well, anywhere.
But with other people’s music ringing in my ear
I couldn’t sing,
Well, anything.
And I thought if I could just be twelve again,
Or was it ten? …
Well, anyway,
It seems to me I knew the secret then.
It’s so simple: twelve.
It’s so simple: ten.
It was simple there.
Passing smiles, ‘round and ’round
Thumping oom-pah-pah organ sound.
Noisy boys, long and lean.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Red and orange and gold and amber and pink and yellow and green.
Giggles of girls in the mezzanine.
Filtered through colored lights,
Red and orange and gold and amber and pink and yellow and green.
Leaving home years ago,
What was I looking for?
I don’t know.
I can’t recall well, anyway.
What was I looking for?
I don’t know.
I can’t recall well, anyway.
Soon I’ll have my days and nights of
Wonderful, glimmering, beautiful, shimmering
Colored lights!
Wonderful, glimmering, beautiful, shimmering
Colored lights!
KANDER: That piece was very special—
EBB: But Liza with a backpack and long, stringy hair?
KANDER: She looked marvelous!
EBB: But she was fat. She had all that weight. The audience didn’t like that.
KANDER: Actually, the audiences were very responsive. They were on their feet every night.
EBB: For Liza and Chita. But the critics didn’t like it.
KANDER: I don’t think the mistakes that we made were large enough to account for why the critics took after us.
EBB: I don’t know that we ever wrote anything much better than “Don’t ’Ah, Ma’ Me” from
The Rink
.
The Rink
.
KANDER: That was one of the best lyrics you ever wrote. It was a confrontation between the mother and daughter early in the show, and it was furious:
Anna:
If the earth had opened up,
If it swallowed me inside,
Would my darling baby girl
Even realize I’d died?
You were sitting on a hill
With some yippie on your lap
Talking love and life and art
And that transcendental crap
With the dope I’m sure you smoke
And a healthy dose of coke
Up your nose.
If the earth had opened up,
If it swallowed me inside,
Would my darling baby girl
Even realize I’d died?
You were sitting on a hill
With some yippie on your lap
Talking love and life and art
And that transcendental crap
With the dope I’m sure you smoke
And a healthy dose of coke
Up your nose.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Up your nose.
Up your nose.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
And for all you ever knew
I was hustling for the rent
’Cause you only called collect
Maybe every other Lent.
While I’m bleeding on the street
From some maniac’s attack
You’re in some Ramada Inn
Seeking wisdom on your back
Making kibble of your brain,
An emancipated pain
In the ass.
And for all you ever knew
I was hustling for the rent
’Cause you only called collect
Maybe every other Lent.
While I’m bleeding on the street
From some maniac’s attack
You’re in some Ramada Inn
Seeking wisdom on your back
Making kibble of your brain,
An emancipated pain
In the ass.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
In the ass.
In the ass.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
You said you had to find yourself
So find yourself some other place
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
I don’t need you around
To help me complicate my life.
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
You said you had to find yourself
So find yourself some other place
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
I don’t need you around
To help me complicate my life.
And if you really gave a damn
You’d have never stayed away.
When you break a mother’s heart,
Does it make a guru’s day?
But you’re nearly thirty now
And you’re panicked and upset
So you walk back in the door
And expect me to forget.
Welcome home, my little pig.
Boy, you really got a big
Set of balls.
You’d have never stayed away.
When you break a mother’s heart,
Does it make a guru’s day?
But you’re nearly thirty now
And you’re panicked and upset
So you walk back in the door
And expect me to forget.
Welcome home, my little pig.
Boy, you really got a big
Set of balls.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Some balls.
Some balls.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
You said you had to find yourself
So find yourself some other place
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
I don’t need you around
To help me complicate my life,
capisce
?
Don’t Ah, Ma me.
The sign on the apartment
Doesn’t say Salvation Army, does it?
Don’t Ah, Ma me.
I’ve heard it all your life
And I don’t need to hear it now.
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
You said you had to find yourself
So find yourself some other place
And don’t Ah, Ma me.
I don’t need you around
To help me complicate my life,
capisce
?
Don’t Ah, Ma me.
The sign on the apartment
Doesn’t say Salvation Army, does it?
Don’t Ah, Ma me.
I’ve heard it all your life
And I don’t need to hear it now.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna
: [
spoken
] Jesus!
: [
spoken
] Jesus!
Angel:
It’s like it was before,
I just walk through the door
And right away you start to fight and curse.
It’s like it was before,
I just walk through the door
And right away you start to fight and curse.
Anna:
[
spoken
] That’s bullshit!
[
spoken
] That’s bullshit!
Angel:
Ma, I hoped there’d be some tears
And after all these years
You might have mellowed some
But Jesus, was I dumb.
Ma, I hoped there’d be some tears
And after all these years
You might have mellowed some
But Jesus, was I dumb.
Anna:
So you thought I might be calm,
Maybe jolly you along
But believe me I’m not calm
And believe me you were wrong.
Should the sound of your hello
Be like music to my ears
When I haven’t seen your face
In, what is it, seven years?
Now you walk back in my life,
Should I really bless my luck?
That’s an outfit you could wear
On a sanitation truck.
Have a daughter, I was told,
They’re a blessing when you’re old.
Ah, stroongatz.
Maybe jolly you along
But believe me I’m not calm
And believe me you were wrong.
Should the sound of your hello
Be like music to my ears
When I haven’t seen your face
In, what is it, seven years?
Now you walk back in my life,
Should I really bless my luck?
That’s an outfit you could wear
On a sanitation truck.
Have a daughter, I was told,
They’re a blessing when you’re old.
Ah, stroongatz.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Stroongatz.
Stroongatz.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Enough.
Enough.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
That’s it.
That’s it.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Shut up.
Shut up.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
I quit.
I quit.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Now I got a good thing going
And I don’t need you to hex it.
Did you notice where you enter
You can also make an exit?
So go out and find a husband,
Join a convent,
Be a whore
But I am sick and tired of your
Ah, Ma.
Now I got a good thing going
And I don’t need you to hex it.
Did you notice where you enter
You can also make an exit?
So go out and find a husband,
Join a convent,
Be a whore
But I am sick and tired of your
Ah, Ma.
Angel:
Ah, Ma.
Ah, Ma.
Anna:
Shush!
Shush!
EBB: It was such a pleasure to write and I thought it was at least acceptable writing, but that song was never even mentioned in reviews. The music was so appropriate, and it was also so smart and so funny. [
laughing
] And unnoticed, and that hurts a person. It was up front, right at the start of the show. But nothing happened. We didn’t score critically, though I think the audience might have enjoyed it. I was proud of our work, and it was so well performed. We had showstopping numbers. The number
“The Rink” did exceptionally well. “After All These Years” also did well for the guys who were the demolition crew. Jason Alexander was head of the crew, and we had Scott Ellis, another one who went on to do first-rate work in the theater.
laughing
] And unnoticed, and that hurts a person. It was up front, right at the start of the show. But nothing happened. We didn’t score critically, though I think the audience might have enjoyed it. I was proud of our work, and it was so well performed. We had showstopping numbers. The number
“The Rink” did exceptionally well. “After All These Years” also did well for the guys who were the demolition crew. Jason Alexander was head of the crew, and we had Scott Ellis, another one who went on to do first-rate work in the theater.
KANDER: That was the first time we worked with Scott.
EBB: And Rob Marshall, who has now directed the movie of
Chicago.
Look what happened to him.
Chicago.
Look what happened to him.
KANDER: We had worked with Robbie before. We first met him when he was in the chorus on
Zorba
, in the revival with Anthony Quinn. That was Rob’s first job in New York. Later he was an understudy in
The Rink
and the dance captain. He became a part of that group of collaborators we worked with often.
Zorba
, in the revival with Anthony Quinn. That was Rob’s first job in New York. Later he was an understudy in
The Rink
and the dance captain. He became a part of that group of collaborators we worked with often.
EBB: I hope it’s not sour grapes, but even today I really cannot understand why that show was attacked the way it was. Looking for reasons to make some sense of it, you come up with maybe it was Liza being too high-powered a personality for that role, or maybe we threw too much at them for what was essentially a slender story.
KANDER: I don’t think any of those explanations amount to a hill of beans.
EBB: Because we’ve never come up with one. Maybe we should just take umbrage.
The Rink
seemed like it would be hard to go wrong with Terrence and Chita and Liza.
The Rink
seemed like it would be hard to go wrong with Terrence and Chita and Liza.
KANDER: I thought that Terrence McNally’s book was terrific in drawing the relationship between the two women and the whole device of the six guys who played the other parts, all wonderfully talented men.
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