Bock, Harnick And She Loves Me
For twelve years Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick were one of the most important teams writing musicals for Broadway. Beginning with The Body Beautiful in 1958 and continuing with Fiorello! (1959), Tenderloin (1960), She Loves Me (1963), Fiddler on the Roof(1964), The Apple Tree (1966), and The Rothschilds (1970), they managed to write a landmark musical (Fiddler), a cult classic (She Loves Me) and garner a rare Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Fiorello! This celebrated team garnered Tony Awards (for Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof) a Pulitzer Prize (for Fiorello.0, a Grammy (for She Loves Me) and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards (for Fiorello! and Fiddler on the
Zero Mastel as Tevye in the Tony Award-winning Fiddler on the Roof Roof). The team split after The Rothschilds and neither achieved the success alone that they had achieved together. Recently, Harnick has collaborated on two New York musicals: as lyricist for Rex with Richard Rodgers and as librettist for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. He has moved into more serious music working as a translator/adapter for several operas. As composer and lyricist, Bock and Harnick were noteworthy for their recreation of the time and place of their shows without becoming truly imitative of older styles. Sock's music is often very melodic and Harnick's lyrics offer a compassionate, often witty understanding of
human longings.
She Loves Me is based on Miklos LasIo's play Parfumerie. A film version was made in 1940 called The Shop Around the Corner and a musical film was made in 1949 called In the Good Old Summertime. The film musical had music by several composers and is related to She Loves Me only in terms of source material. After a Broadway run, She Loves Me ran in London and was revived in a concert version in New York in 1977 and off. Broadway in 1985. A television version was made by the BBC and was broadcast in the United States by PBS in 1979. Intimate in scope, She Loves Me is considered one of the most fully-integrated musicals ever written.
St~phen Berwind
Acting, Singing And Dancing: Bringing It All Together.
Theater is a collaborative art form and in successful productions of musicals the close cooperation of a director, a musical director and a choreographer is necessary. One Saturday morning before a 10:00 a.m. rehearsal, I met with She Loves Me's director, Peter Bennett; musical director, Ken Gargaro; and choreographer, Judy Conte. I started by asking Peter how he felt about the collaboration involved in a musical
PETER: It's always a collaborative effort on some level even in the straightest of plays. You've got designer collaboration, producer collaboration and actorto-actor collaboration. The process remains the same even though there are more variables to juggle in a musical. It's just a matter of opening it up for more input all along the way. • The timing of this interview is great. Today is the first day that all three of us will be there dealing with specifics. The first thing we're going over today is Maraczek's song "Days Gone By." We'll look at what's going on dramatically and decide where and how he's going to move. It all starts to come together toaay.
HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THE PLAY?
PETER: We're trusting the piece for starters. Clearly, it's one of the few musicals where there are wonderful little dramatic scenes. The relationships are really clear and nicely developed. The various elements of the show are very well integrated. If you look at the piece on paper to find out- How did this relationship develop? Where did they fall in love? How do they feel about each other on a conscious level? The subconscious level? There are really no scenes where this happens in the first act. It all happens in the music - in the letters they read which are basically songs.
SINCE SHE LOVES ME ISN'T A WELLKNOWN MUSICAL, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE MUSIC?
KEN: Musically. the atmosphere is implicit in the music. As I began to get into the piece, I began to notice the stylistic authenticity of the piece in that they are using a European style. Not only in the musical orchestrations which are orchestral in nature and derived from a romantic feel. The vocal parts themselves are written almost like instrumental pieces. The voice will be imitating a violin many times or a cello. The choices of the rhythms are polka rhythms, cancans and czardas. That is where the charm comes from musically. What I've been trying to do is to really go for an authentic sound with the voices So that we have something that creates a time that is different from our time. A fantasy world that is a pre-World War II world. It must have been a time when people were seeing things fail apart so that the art was pulling on the romantic
as people were trying to immerse themselves in some sort of fantasy world. It's really very exciting The more I get into the piece, the more I think 'Yes, this is really a rare gem.'
PETER, DID YOU GIVE KEN ANY SPE• CIAL INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU SENT HIM OFF WITH THE SINGERS?
PETER: Not really. We had enough time getting to know each other musically through the audition process to where I had total trust that he was seeing the piece in the same way. Then once the song is learned and we start to put it Into the show, I'm sure that Ken and I will be talking a lot about interpretation.
JUDY, HOW DO YOU BECOME IN• VOLVED IN ALL THIS?
JUDY: The best way for working on the show is for Peter and I to talk about it. or for me to see the sketched-out block-
ing which is what we're going to start to work with. I best serve him by trying to embellish his point-of-view, our point of view, for how we can make it a total piece. You can do that physically by having them bump-up what would be normal gestures and that can evolve into dance which would certainly not be naturalistic movement. That's where I come in. To keep embellishing so we can keep layering. I'll come up with something and then Peter'II say,'Oh, you know, if they would turn and see something in Maraczek's window, that will be the impulse to help them move into the store. Now, how can I help accommodate that?' It keeps flopping back and forth.
PETER: It's really interesting that the one event that is really danced is in the cat~ - which is a deliberate puncturing of the romanticism. It's a little insulin shock for the audience. That's obviously a very conscious choice on the creators' part. The only time we see a dance number, it's not a romantic dance number
Night Of Live Theater At The Public Is One Gift They Won't Return! Our gift certificates are available In any amount beginning at $5.00 and may be redeemed for any play or Gift Shop item now through June, 1987. Your
Loves Me
continued from page 1
JUDY: Yes, they do everything in their [power] in destroying the atmosphere. The waiter and the busboy keep dropping things, keep interrupting the little meetings that the lovers are having. All the people in the cafli ultimately start to dance together, but it gets very chaotic. D9 YOU HAVE ANY FINAL COMMENT?
PETER: There's one thing you might want to mention just for fun. I don't know, in a sense, She Loves Me is crazily timely because of all the personal notices there are in so many magazines and newspapers today. The thing is, this story could never happen today because they have T.V. screening of the potential correspondent. You go into these dating services and actually see somebody on tape who's a potential date for you. In a sense it's timely; but in a sense it's preserved in the past when it was simply a letter.
Stephen Berwind
Don't be left out by a sell out! The tremendous advance sale for our full-scale holiday musical, She Loves Me, promises another hit at the Public! Make sure you're not waiting in line, or on a list, for the seats you want. SUBSCRIBE NOW TO THIS SEASON'S 5 REMAINING PLAYS FOR AS LITTLE AS $45.00. WONDERFUL HOLIDAY
Book by Joe Masteroff
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Directed by Peter Bennett
November 11-December 21
A critic recently raved: "I'd like to see She Loves Me at least once a month for the next 12 months!"
A delectable musical by the musical comedy champs who wrote Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and Cabaret. A delightful "valentine to ultimately requited love" (Mel Gussow, New York Times) and an unforgettable holiday gift as well.
HIGH-WIRE THRILLER! ORPHANS
by Lyle Kessler
Directed by Mel Shapiro
January 6- February 8
An electrifying new comedy-drama, Orphans is the suspenseful story of an older businessman who enters the lives of two delinquent brothers. Direct from triumphant runs in New York and London, "Orphans lifts you from your seat! A play with many hilarious touches of humor. I advise you not to miss it!" (Clive Barnes, New York Post)
by Ferenc Molnar
Adapted by P. G. Wodehouse
Directed by George Sherman
February 24-March 29
In this riotous romp about playwrights, actors and actresses, an experienced writer rights the wrongs in the romance of his young collaborator. Two of the funniest writers of the 20th century, Hungary's Molnar and the extraordinarily popular creator of Jeeves, P. G Wodehouse, team for a scintillating evening of laughter! "High spirits, sprightliness and charm." {New York Post)
SENSATIONAL NEW COMEDY! SCOUT'S HONOR
by Arthur Giron
Directed by Lee Sankowlch
April 14-May 17
An aged Indian fighter, a social misfit and an Indian princess help a young Boy Scout overcome the problems of adolescence This warm, touching play by the author of the Public's 1985 hit, Becoming Memories, will deliver many laugh-filled evenings to Pittsburgh audiences.
HILARIOUS FINALE! PRINCESS GRACE AND THE FAZZARIS
by Marc Alan lagoren
Directed by Peter Bennett
May 26 - June 28
Our delightful new comedy takes place in the home of the Italian-American Fazzari family of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on a special day in 1956. That's when Lucille Fazzari insists that her daughter be married at the exact time that movie star Grace Kelly is being married to Prince Rainier in Monaco. 5
Sun. matinee
Student and senior citizen ½ price discounts are available 30 minutes before curtain time (if the performance is not sold-out) with valid identification.
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2. By mail. Enclose payment, note performance desired, include name, address, telephone number and a stamped self-addressed envelope. Mail to : Pittsburgh Public Theater Box Office, Allegheny Square, Pittsburgh, PA 152125362.
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Special discounts of Lip to 33% off regular ticket prices are available for groups of 10 or more. Call (412) 321-9800 for more information and assistance in planning for your group outing.
R.blic Announces Final Play Of 1986-87 Season
The premiere of a delightful comedy, Princess Grace and the Fazzaris, by Marc Alan Zagoren, will be the final production of Pittsburgh Public Theater's 1986-87 Season.
The play hilariously chronicles the effect on the Italian-American Fazzari family of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, on the day in 1956 when Lucille Fazzari insists that her daughter be married at the exact time that movie star Grace Kelly is being married to Prince Rainier in Monaco.
Princess Grace and the Fazzaris will be directed by Peter Bennett, who staged the Public's 1984 hit, 'night, Mother, and is currently directing She Loves Me.
The Public's Producing Director Bill Gardner has worked with the playwright and director for some time on Princess Grace and feels that it is now ready for production. "Marc Zagoren is one of the two or three funniest playwrights working in the current American theater," says Gardner. "This play may help him join the ranks of John Guare, David Mamet and Neil Simon."
Princess Grace and the Fazzaris will begin previews on May 26, open on June 3 and run through June 28.
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