LOVE LETTER TO THE YORK THEATRE

October 24, 2006 – 3:30 pm

by Paulette Attie

I’m both an exhibitionist and a voyeur. I love to do it (perform), and see it (watch the performances of others). For watching it being done, there’s no more satisfying an experience than attending a show at the York Theatre.

The company was founded thirty-seven years ago by Janet Hayes Walker. I had the good fortune to attend a few of the York’s early offerings, and took special pleasure in seeing the reconceived posters associated with those shows, which at that time were almost exclusively revivals. “Who was this person,� I wondered. The artist, who created the posters and also many of the sets, was Jim Morgan. Jim became the York Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director in 1997. What exceptional and transformative years these past nine have been.

Under Jim’s leadership, the company’s mission has expanded to include, and focus on, new musicals and world premieres, providing support for today’s creators of musical theatre, hands-on theatre education for students, and free or low-cost performances to under-served audiences. There’s also a Developmental Series with free admission to the public. You read it right. No admission charge.

Lighting designer Chris Robinson, Daniel Marcus, Joseph Kolinski, Nat Chandler, Camille Saviola, director Michael Leeds, Marla Schaffel, librettist Joe Stein, Ray Wills, Alison Walla, music director Grant Sturiale, Eli Zoller, Producing Artistic Director Jim Morgan

Cut to the chase and what’s up and running at the theatre now. It’s the York’s popular Musicals in Mufti series of musical theatre gems from the past. Playwright/Librettist Joseph Stein is in the spotlight. His shows being performed are Take Me Along, Carmelina, and Plain and Fancy. The Mufti I just saw was Carmelina, with music by much loved theatre and film composer, Burton Lane, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, also co-librettist, with additional lyrics by Barry Harman.

Carmelina opened on Broadway in 1979 and lasted for 17 performances. This is reason enough to stay away from a show, what with production costs being so prohibitive, even for non profit theatre companies. But this is the York’s second mounting of Carmelina, and this one is musical theatre seventh heaven. Make that eighth heaven, since there are eight heavenly cast members in this show. Joseph Stein proposed a toast to the company at their closing night cast party: “This is the kind of show that Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner dreamed about. I’m enormously grateful.�

There are many reasons why a show doesn’t succeed. A major one, in Carmelina’s case, is that It was considered “old fashioned� by the critics; a death knell in the year when Sweeney Todd, with its cutting edge black humor, was all the rage and won all the prizes. As theatre owner Lee Shubert once said, “There’s no such thing as a bad show, just the wrong time to put it on.� With this new revised version, we have a romantic comedy that’s gorgeous to hear, funny, and touches the heart. Just what audiences yearn for in today’s times.

High praise goes to director Michael Leeds. He chose a cast that was born to play each of their parts. One, Daniel Marcus, was invited back to play the role he created for the first Mufti of Carmelina, in 1996. The show’s lynchpins depend on the proper casting of the male and female leads and here, Leeds’ choices were brilliant. With all due respect, I expect opera star Cesare Siepi, Broadway’s Vitorio, didn’t connect to the humor inherent in his role. With Ray Wills, every bit of humor is mined to perfection, with body moves and reactions to others that elicit gales of laughter. He also has a wonderful voice and is very good looking. I’ve one small suggestion for consideration by this fine, fine actor/singer for the remounting of the show (my hope is that Carmelina will be done again). Let us finally see why Carmelina loved you all along; your sincere love connection and a sense of fulfillment. You truly earned this prize, didn’t you?

Carmelina’s Carmelina satisfies all expectations an audience could hope for in a leading lady. Among her impressive credits, Marla Schaffel created the title role of Broadway’s Jane Eyre, which earned her several Awards and a Tony nomination. As Carmelina, Marla is an irresistible, stunning, sexy, robust voiced character, with an excellent sense of humor and a good Italian accent.

Camille Saviola’s very presence on the stage lets an audience know they’re in for a good time. She plays three roles in Carmelina, and is hilarious in each of them. The three former GI’s are terrific. One is my personal favorite but, as with the show, I won’t reveal who that one is. Hint: he’s handsome.

The paired down cast of eight makes it feasible to produce Carmelina off-Broadway, maybe even at the York Theatre, if backing is forthcoming. Wouldn’t that be a gift? This show would also do well at numerous regional theatres.

My exhibitionist (loving to do it) connections to Carmelina run deep. Marla Schaffel was one of the guest stars on my Friars Club show, Irving Berlin Is Alive and Well and Singing at the Friars Club. When I asked Marla to join the cast, she said she didn’t have an Irving Berlin song. I suggested “I Got Lost in His Arms,� from Annie Get Your Gun. She sang it magnificently. People from the Rogers and Hammerstein office who attended were duly impressed with Marla and spoke to her after the show. Shortly thereafter, she was cast as Maria in the national company of The Sound of Music. It’s my fantasy that her Friars Club appearance infinitesimally boosted her chances of landing the part of Maria.

Burton Lane was a guest on my WNYC radio show, “Paulette Attie’s Musical Playbill.� He sang and played “On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever,� written with Alan Jay Lerner, answered questions about the source of his inspirations, and spoke about his idol, George Gershwin. Lane is often acknowledged the heir to the great Gershwin tradition.

Lane was also a guest and performed on one of my Lamb’s Theatre concerts. When he sang, “One More Walk Around the Garden,� a musical gem from Carmelina, members in the audience cried. They somehow knew they were participating in a unique experience. Less than two months later, Burton Lane was no longer with us. I quote from a letter sent me by Marie Artesi, Director of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs: “When Burton Lane sat at the piano to play and sing his memorable hit songs, we were indeed captured by a magical moment in time. Burton Lane is a treasure, and his legacy to our country and to the world are both precious and priceless.� What a lovely and gracious man he was. At the mufti performance, I also cried when the three GI’s, harmonizing beautifully, sang “One More Walk Around the Garden.�

In the final analysis, history is not about events, it’s about people. So too, this love letter is not about a theatre named York. It’s about the people who make the York Theatre vibrate and invest it with their love and passion. In addition to all mentioned above, there’s W. David Mc Coy, the Board of Directors’ Chairman, who would have Christie’s and Sotheby’s furiously outbidding each other if they knew of his auctioneering skills. Among David’s many duties, he’s the auctioneer at the York’s annual fundraiser. Scott F. Dela Cruz, Production Stage Manager and Technical Director, Norman Meranus, Casting Director, Kimberley Miller, House Manager, and Development Director Nancy Barry. There are many more, but I feel a friendly kinship toward these mentioned.

First, last, and always, there’s Jim Morgan. Jim is involved with every aspect of the company’s endeavors, including giving a speech before every performance. His jovial stories and self-deprecating asides fit his audience to a tee and are a great warm up for whatever show follows. The joke that always evokes laughter, which his loyal audience must now know by heart, is this for the Mufti series: “We give the performers 30 hours to rehearse, whether they need it or not.� Shows with far more rehearsal hours are seldom as gratifying as Jim’s Mufti series.

The York produces nearly 200 musical theater performances each year. Upcoming events include two new family shows: The People Garden and New Kid. Next up, a gala, all-star one night benefit performance of the Sherman brothers’ fabled Busker Alley, directed and designed by Tony Walton and starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close. Then there’s That Time of the Year, a main stage production, “just in time for the holidays,� Jim says, encouraging audience members to book the show and bring the grandchildren along.
When I asked Lynn Lane, Burton Lane’s widow, how she liked Carmelina, she answered, “I loved it. Jim Morgan is a genius.� If printing this in cyberspace substantiates Lynn’s statement, let it be known that Jim Morgan is, indeed, a genius.