Friday Dance Party: He Stopped Believin'

This week's Dance Party, once again, stars one of the recently deceased.

Cory Monteith

1982-2013

Everybody knows this young actor died this week, from an overdosed mixture of heroin and alcohol.  Only 31, Cory had struggled with addiction since his early teens, and spent some time in rehab as recently as April of this year. 


Monteith and Lea Michele are Glee's central romantic
couple, both on and off screen.

It's sad and discouraging when someone so young is taken, though I confess that Monteith was not a particular favorite of mine.  But the Internet has been buzzing all week about this loss, and it will certainly affect the trajectory of that TV phenomenon, Glee.

Glee provided an earlier Dance Party, in which klutzy Jane
Lynch swing dances with hoofer Matt Morrison.  Go here.

Our hero is Canadian, and after he cleaned up his act the first time (in his mid-teens), he began appearing on the American TV shows which were being shot in his hometown of Toronto.  His audition for Glee was by videotape, and though his musical skills are suspect, his charming naivete is not. 

Kevin McHale as Artie. Glee will
be remembered for its positive
treatment of disadvantaged
teens.

I confess that I have not attempted an episode of Glee in many years, having become so frustrated with it in its second season that I dropped the habit, pardon the goulish pun.  But somebody saw something in Monteith, and he landed the role of the football jock turned glee club enthusiast which anchored the "student" cast of the show.  He has been one of the show's headliners ever since.

The idea that high school jocks would also be performing geeks is foreign to someone my age, but apparently, this crossing over of various high school cliques really does happen these days.

Glee, as I mentioned, is a bit of a phenomenon: after several years of sliding ratings, it was a surprise that it was recently given a multi-year renewal.  It's unprecedented, that a show with declining ratings be given a commitment by a network for two more seasons, but Glee received just that in April. 

Both Neil Patrick Harris and Gwyneth Paltrow have won Emmys for guest shots on Glee, but Jane Lynch is the only regular to win for her performance.  The tally of the show's Emmy nominations has been declining, as usually happens with aging programs.

The show these days is a messy hodgepodge with a huge canvas of characters;  the program has run long enough that the initial group of kids has graduated high school and gone on to adult life. 

Glee often devotes full episodes to a single artist's music.
Jane Lynch's Madonna-Vogue sequence is well remembered.

Glee attempts to cover them all, as well as new students joining the current high school's club, and I understand the show these days is bloated and unwatchable.

This shot reflects the cast of the first season.  These days, the show's canvas is even bigger, covering original characters as they begin professional show biz careers, as well as current members of the glee club.

But Glee is a phenomenon for another reason:  it has gained unexpected and spectacular success in the recording arena.  Producers have shrewdly released recordings of each episode's songs on I-Tunes, the day of each episode's airings, and the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. 

This scene from the pilot episode became a defining moment for Glee. The original six members of the glee club sing "Don't Stop Believin'" in an empty theatre, secretly observed by the teacher who is losing the fight to keep the club in existence. The song's recording became a million seller, and launched Glee's success in the record world.

In 2009, Glee placed 25 singles on the Billboard top 100, a number which was beat only by the Beatles in 1964.  The next year, Glee shattered that record, placing a whopping 80 singles on the Billboard chart, far outpacing any other musical act in history. 


Glee albums include compilations of love songs, dance tunes,
Christmas carols, and this soundtrack to their episode dedicated
to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

It must be noticed, however, that most of these singles dropped out of the top 100 after only one week.  But physical CD sales of the show's various compilations have also been strong sellers, and Glee's inaugural single, 'Don't Stop Believin'", which appeared in the pilot episode, has been classified as a platinum hit (selling over a million copies).

Alex Newell as Unique is an example of Glee's ongoing commitment to presenting characters of diversity.  The character, new last year, is a transgender teen.  The Glee canvas has always included those of differing races and sexual orientations.

This week's Dance Party is not one of those big sellers, but it's a very sweet scene.  It must come from season 3 or 4 of the series, I did not see its original airing.  The song brings to a close a story line which earned high marks from the LGBT community, and which earned Cory's costar Chris Colfer a Golden Globe. 


Monteith and Colfer have a sweet chemistry.

Monteith, as I said, played a jock, and Colfer plays a role written specially for him, a flamboyantly gay boy infatuated with his straight friend. 

Darren Criss and Chris Colfer broke some ground as Glee's first
gay romance.  The show also features a lesbian couple.

In this story arc, Monteith's single mother dated, and then wed, Colfer's single father, resulting in the two boys becoming step-brothers, and ultimately, friends rather than antagonists.  Cory Monteith inadvertently ended his own life this week, and in his honor, enjoy this sentimental wedding clip:

By The Wayside

My affection toward Wayside Theatre caused my family to surprise me one Christmas, with the gift of a personalized brick, which currently resides on the wall next to the door of the theatre's bar (natch).  Every non-profit theatre out there is always fundraising, it's why they're called NON-PROFIT;  Wayside had a hard time convincing donors that a sustained level of charitable giving was necessary to keep presenting quality work.

In the pages of this blog, I have frequently offered entries on my own birthday, and even more often, have presented tributes to (or occasionally, diatribes about) celebrities on their birthdays.  Today's entry is a special one, in that it commemorates the birthday of a friend, colleague, and all-around admirable fellow.

Happy Birthday, Warner Crocker! This shot was snapped at the Opening Night Reception for Man of La Mancha, and illustrates one of the lovely traditions Warner created at Wayside Theatre.  After each Opening Night, he took the time to toast each and every person involved with the current production.

Warner isn't dead.  Today is his 57th birthday, and it must be a strange and bittersweet one for him. 

Warner Crocker, Birthday Boy

Only a few weeks ago, he announced his resignation from his position as Artistic Director of Wayside Theatre in Middletown, VA.  He ran the theatre for about 15 years, which, I'm told, is about twice as long as the average artistic director runs the average regional theatre.  But neither Warner nor Wayside are average.


Warner had a strong tradition of hiring DC-area actors;  both Tom Simpson and myself were imported for Man of La Mancha.  Out of town talent became more and more problematic for the theatre as funding dried up, and housing became an issue.



I am not, I assure you, privy to the inner workings of a regional theatre, but I've been around long enough to see that Wayside Theatre had a lot of challenges to its existence. 

I first learned of Wayside when I was appearing
in Big River at the neighboring
Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. During a day off,
I drove up the road and dropped off my headshot.
The artistic director at the time (who preceded Warner)
ignored it.  But I'm not bitter.

Its location, about 90 or so miles from Washington, DC, may lead one to assume it's a bedroom (ie: commuter) community, and indeed, there are some residents in the area who are crazy enough to make the long drive to and from DC every day.  But mostly, the residents who are lucky enough to have Wayside in their midst would be considered rural.  Though Wayside Theatre is over 50 years old, it sits in a community for whom theatre-going is not a routine part of life. 

If you didn't know Wayside was there, you might miss it.  Located on Main Street of tiny Middletown, VA, right next to the fire station, it was a central gathering place which should have been given greater respect from its community than it received.  Warner struggled to teach his patrons that there was a big difference between community theatre and professional.  I still don't think they get it.

I know Warner and his staff struggled mightily throughout the years to instill a sense of regional pride in their theatre, as well as a recognition that Wayside was an important asset to the community which needed to be encouraged, financially as well as creatively.  This was an uphill battle.

My first appearance at Wayside Theatre was in Agatha Christie's Black Coffee, a whodunit which is known primarily as the first onstage appearance of her famous Dutch detective, Hercule Poirot.

One of Warner's most important Wayside legacies must be his internship program, which gave countless theatre professionals their launching pad.  His former interns are now working all over the country (indeed, all over the world!).  Above are four such success stories, surrounding Larry Dalke, one of Warner's favorite actors.

I was a last-minute replacement in Black Coffee, which I mention only to justify the fact that my performance was not one of my best. 

Warner's trust and respect toward actors was
always evident. He chose to work repeatedly
with actors of talent who also had spirits of
generosity, kindness, and fun. Jim Fleming
was one of Warner's regulars.

There wasn't anything substantially wrong with it, I just never connected with the character.  I came away from the show with many, many great personal memories of the experience, but with the sour taste which comes from an unsatisfactory performance.

My debut at Wayside Theatre was in Black Coffee, a thriller in which I played a clueless, dullard husband.  I was a last minute replacement in the role, and was not cast into my strengths.  Wayside's leading actress, Thomasin Savaiano, played my wife, and wiped the stage with me.  I was sure I would never be invited back to Wayside again.

It was many years before I returned to Wayside. 

Sound designer Steve was instrumental (pun alert!)
in creating the niche into which most Wayside
musicals fell, where actors played the music.

My next role, Sancho Panza in the classic musical Man of La Mancha, was more successful.  Though once again cast against type, I had lots of help from director Warner and musical guru Steve Przybylski(I wrote about this experience in several entries at the time, including this tribute to Steve and the entire cast).

During Man of La Mancha, I stayed in this charming guest house.  In earlier days, Wayside had access to a building which housed out-of-town actors, but I guess that was deemed a wasted expense.  In recent years, out-of-towners were usually housed with Wayside constituents who wished to help out the theatre.

Only a few years went by before I was asked back to Wayside, to play a role for which I was perfectly suited.  The Nerd was the kind of comedy very accessible to a wide range of audiences, and I had a ball with the play and the role. 

As the sardonic neighbor with an agenda, The Nerd provided
me with a great role. It was to be Wayside's final production
as an Equity house to date.

It was during this period, though, that I began to realize the huge financial challenges which Warner faced every day of his career at Wayside Theatre.  His board of directors seemed split over how to help the theatre continue to survive and grow. 


Warner and his staff did all they could to keep the theatre in business. During renovations, they moved their season to
another location, actually creating a lovely little theater space out of a warehouse. Forever Plaid and other shows continued the Wayside tradition of quality;  it would have been the perfect "second space" for the theatre, but the Board saw no need.

A capital campaign to expand the theatre's space only got far enough to pay for some essential upgrades to the existing theatre (during my first show there, it was necessary to actually go outside the building to cross from backstage right to left).  Wayside's property includes an empty lot behind the theatre which Warner hoped to build on, to add rehearsal/shop/office space and perhaps a black box to house their thriving education wing.  No such luck.

It might be said that some board members were pretty blind to the realities of keeping a theatre alive.

The summer I appeared in The Nerd, we were in the midst of the economic downturn, so charitable giving bottomed out, and the theatre ran into trouble with Actors Equity.  The Nerd, in fact, was to be the theatre's final show produced under the union's Small Professional Theatre contract;  Wayside became, in a professional sense, a non-union house. 

Chairs with booties.  The perfect example, in microcosm, of some of the challenges Warner faced in creating theatre. Rehearsal space was always an issue; for The Nerd, we worked on the upper floor of a grand old house in Winchester, VA.  It was originally a ballroom, and its hard wood floors had to be protected, hence the booties on the chairs.  We added and removed them every single rehearsal.  I always sensed that Warner would like to spend all his time with actors, creating theatre.  Don't get me wrong, he never brought the outside problems of Wayside into the rehearsal room.  Instead, he seemed to relax and become his best self there.

Warner, to his credit, has always been a big supporter of the actors union, and continued to employ AEA members when he could, using the Guest Artist contract, but he was forced to severely downsize his staff, which was already skeletal to my eyes. 


My birthday buddy Malia was Wayside's Production Stage Manager for many years. Once the theatre went non-Equity, she had to move on. Like so many other Wayside folks, she landed on her feet and now works in the mid-West.

Two major fundraising campaigns seemed to prove that, when push came to shove, the community did care that Wayside was around, and recently, they seemed ready to enter a new chapter.

I guess that chapter will be without the theatre's major engine.  I have no inside info on why Warner tendered his resignation earlier this month. 

Thomasin Savaiano: Wayside's leading teacher,
actress, cheerleader, bottle washer, and
administrator.

According to the local papers, the board intends to continue with the season which Warner selected, hiring independent directors for each show, but refraining from hiring a new artistic director, at least for now.  How the hell that's going to work is beyond my comprehension, as I've been in that tiny second floor loft where Wayside Theatre's administrative offices are cramped. Warner and Thomasin, with the help of one or two others, ran all the administrative aspects of the theatre.  Without them, I wonder how the day-to-day operations will continue.


To my knowledge, Warner was never granted the title
"Producing Artistic Director," but that's what he was.  He
was also the Managing Director, but again, without the
title.

While at Wayside, Warner made many financial sacrifices, all to keep the "little theatre with the big heart" producing quality, professional shows.   I have not heard what Warner's next career step will be, but wherever he lands, he's likely to take that same determination and enthusiasm for creating theatre.  And wherever he goes, I hope he takes my headshot with him!

Warner and Thomasin hosted their final Opening Night reception last week.  I was devastated that I could not attend, but I was trapped in Riverside Park in NYC, having my eyes gouged out in King Lear.  I hated to miss this important sendoff for the Crocker/Savaiano team, but I know they understand.

Happy Birthday, Warner.

 

 

Addendum: on 8/8/13, a few weeks after I wrote the above entry, the Board of Directors of Wayside Theatre announced its immediate closing.  Its 52 year history is now that: history.

Friday Dance Party: They Want To Love Us Tender

This guy stars in this week's Dance Party.  Nobody knows who he is.  Nobody cares.

After the week I've had, I'm in the mood for something laugh out loud funny. 

This woman's hilarious video is ripe for parody, except it's
already one. It went viral a month ago, and put
"Prancercise" into the vernacular.

This week's Dance Party provides me with such.  The video is in English, but comes from Sweden and looks to be several decades old. 

This week's dance ensemble can't be missed. They must have been recruited from the nearest junior college, where girl dancers outnumber the boys 4 to 1.

At least, I HOPE it's several decades old.  But whenever it was produced, it should have proven that the Swedes should stick to meatballs.  The choreography of the ensemble is what really makes the song ...um... memorable. 

I posted this clip from Lawrence Welk during another week
in which I needed a big hoot.

I don't usually post bad videos (though I was guilty awhile back when this Bollywood monstrosity showed up).  And everybody has already seen the excruciating rendition of the song which appeared here a few days ago, "I'm Telling You...". 

OK, I guess I've been guilty a few times of posting really, really bad videos, such as this one starring Cher, Tina Turner, and the very uncomfortable Kate Smith.

Any and all of these videos are hard to sit through without guffaws. Here's another to add to the list.  Happy Dance Party!

Birthday Dance Party: I'm Not Going

Today, July 2, has some historical significance, allow me to illuminate.

It is generally accepted that the fall of our civilization began on July 2, 1962.  Walmart opened its first store.

This is the actual date, in 1776, that the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence (though it took that group of slackers two days to actually get the thing signed and printed).

A year later, it was the date that Vermont became the first state to abolish slavery. Because at the time Vermont was a sovereign territory, it wasn't even AT the Second Continental Congress.

Only 4 American Presidential Assassinations have been successful, so far. This artist's rendering reflects James Garfield being shot by Charles Guiteau. Garfield has the distinction of serving as President only 200 days, the second shortest presidency (William Henry Harrison only lasted about a month), but he spent his time working toward greater civil rights for the recently freed slaves.  Why is he in this entry?  He was shot on July 2, and though he lingered hopefully until September, his official assassination date is today.

Perhaps I'm being a little bit zealous about July 2nd. You have already guessed that it must be my birthday.

But not just mine. Lindsey Lohan was also born on this date, and I imagine she is hoisting a few to celebrate even as I write this.

Tyrone Guthrie was born today, in 1900. I wouldn't
mind working at his theater.

Ron Silver shares my birthday. He appeared in
one of my favorite forgotten films, Garbo Talks.
Polly Holliday and Larry David were also born 7/2.

 Happy Birthday to that famous flip-flopper Thomas Cranmer. He was the 15th century cleric who pronounced Henry VIII legally divorced from Catherine of Aragon, and was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury for his pains. Of course, Cranmer later made an oopsie by trying to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne, for which that spoil-sport Bloody Mary burned him at the stake. But that didn't happen on July 2nd, so who cares? BTW, this is actor Bernard Hepton, who portrayed Cranmer in several British miniseries, and is considered his definitive portrayer.

I can't claim to share much in common with Thurgood Marshall (I don't have an airport named after me) or Imelda Marcos (I haven't bought new shoes in years) or the Roman Emperor Valentinian. (Let's get real, who the hell even knows anything about any Roman Emperor after Nero? Well maybe Constantine, but just because he popped up in Sunday School...).

Speaking of death and destruction, I have to admit that many more important people died on July 2nd than were born on it. That sourpuss Nostradamus left this earth in 1566, signalling the way to a whole host of influential folks to follow suit.

On July 2nd, Earnest Hemingway stopped wondering For Whom the Bell Tolls, discovering on this date that it tolled for he. By coincidence or divine intervention, his granddaughter Margeaux Hemingway also died today, in 1996. WWII Pin-up girl Betty Grable finally retired those million-dollar legs on this date (in her later years, I saw her in "Hello, Dolly" in summer stock, she wasn't half bad!).

Fred Gwynne moved out of 1313 Mockingbird Ln
on 7/2.  Lee Remick and Jimmy Stewart joined him,
and Mario Puzo, creator of The Godfather, began
sleeping with the fishes today.

I don't think Bathsheba Spooner had the legs of Betty Grable, but she died July 2, too. She was a real piece of work back in the 18th century. She nursed a 16 year old soldier back to health during the Revolutionary War, then became pregnant by him. She then arranged for two escaped British Prisoners of War to kill her aging husband, and dump the old coot down a well.

Happy Execution Day, Bathsheba!

At her trial, she pleaded extenuating circumstances (wouldn't you?), and became the first woman to be executed by the newly formed United States of America.

She was still pregnant at the time.

Amelia Earhart disappeared on this date, in the middle of that round-the-world flight she was taking.


In my opinion, the most significant thing to happen on any July 2nd occurred in 1987.  That year, one of the most influential figures in the American Theatre died. 

Micheal Bennett died on my
birthday in 1987.

I write of the late, great Michael Bennett, creator of A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, and the sorely underrated Ballroom (which I saw twice in one week during its short Broadway life. Go here for its number presented at the Tony Awards).  Bennett's work has appeared numerous times on the Dance Party, including this grainy but exciting clip from the original A Chorus Line, and this unforgettable clip from Katherine Hepburn's only musical, Coco.  He was also responsible for this kooky holiday number from Promises, Promises. 

But for this special catch-up/birthday/deathday Dance Party, let's take a look at Dreamgirls. 

This original Broadway cast included, left to right, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Loretta Devine.  The show was Bennett's last to hit Broadway before his death, and featured a seamless, cinematic style which has now been adopted as a standard staging technique for the genre.

Before Michael Bennett became attached to the project, it was being prepped as a starring vehicle for Nell Carter, who later departed the workshop phase when TV beckoned. 

Holliday was ferocious in the show, as you can see from the
clip below. Her role was originally to die in Act I, but our
star was having none of that. Effie now succeeds as a solo
in Act II.

It was Bennett himself who plucked Jennifer Holiday from her gospel obscurity (she was only 20) and placed her at the center of the musical.  The new star gave him lots of trouble, quitting twice because her role was too small.  The clip below, from the Tony Awards of 1982, shows why Holliday won the award that year.  It's a bit long, but includes brief appearances by Sheryl Lee Ralph and a very slim Loretta Devine, both of whom went on to larger careers.  Holliday did too, but she never escaped the fame earned from this debut performance, with which she will always be associated.
In honor of the day, here's this:

Friday Dance Party: They Heard.

Once again, I have fallen behind on the Dance Parties, my attentions having been pulled elsewhere. 


I'll be spending the summer here.

But while I was sweating out on that slab of concrete in NYC's Riverside Park, getting my eyes (theatrically) gouged out, the week turned quite a corner for Marriage Equality and gay civil rights. 

I have issued several entries over the years to celebrate Gay Pride.  To read any or all of them, just put "Stonewall" in the search engine in the upper left corner of this page.

To add to the gaiety of the week, I'm composing this entry on Sunday, June 30, which, this year, is Gay Pride Day in New York City. 

Celebrations this week outside the Stonewall Inn.

ACTUAL Gay Pride Day is June 27, the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which also took place in NYC and is considered the birth of the modern gay rights movement.  But unless the 27th falls on a weekend, New York and all other American cities choose a different day for their municipal celebration.  As I've mentioned before, the big cities in close proximity to each other always spread out their Gay Pride Celebrations, taking advantage of all those 'mos with expendable income who wish to attend them all.  So, you will never find Gay Pride Day in DC or NY or Philadelphia or Boston to ever land on the same day. On the west coast, Gay Prides in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego will be similarly spread out(Gay Pride in South Carolina, where I spent two years in grad school, is in the fall, for some reason.)

Today's Stonewall Inn looks like any other club or bar, but 44 years ago, it was a hole-in-the-wall dive trying to escape attention in Greenwich Village.  The clientele consisted of drag queens, hustlers, and the men who were interested in them.  When the fateful police raid occurred, the night of Judy Garland's funeral, these queens had had enough.  The resulting riot launched the Gay Rights Movement as we know it today, and is celebrated every year in June.

Anyway, it's been a very gay week, so in honor of such, our Dance Party comes from a gay men's chorus. 

This magazine cover is destined to be a classic.
Despite efforts from Sesame Street to dissuade
everyone, their favorite "roommates," Bert and
Ernie, were claimed by the Gay Movement
long ago.

There are these kinds of choruses all over the place these days, this particular group seems a bit subdued, perhaps due to the auspiciousness of the situation (I know for a fact that this group puts on a fabulous series of concerts every year).  They are stationed outside the Supreme Court Building in DC, waiting, as were hundreds of others, for this week's historic decisions by the Nine Supremes. 



Ragtime's Coalhouse Walker never admits defeat.  In the show's
11:00 number, Stokes created an anthem for all
people searching for equal treatment.

The song can be considered a civil rights song, but it was not really written as such.  It comes from Ragtime, and was introduced to the world by Brian Stokes Mitchell in the original Broadway company.  The lyrics, in that case, reflected the African-American struggle, but it has been co-opted by other groups as a plea for equality for all.  And is there anything more beautiful than a male chorus singing acapella?