CRAZY FOR YOU by George Gershwin

Peter Tatlow looks at the UK amateur premiere by Nemcom Theatre Company at Wimbledon

Gershwin's musical CRAZY FOR YOU had its UK amateur premiere when Nemcom Theatre Company gave seven performances of the famous show at Wimbledon Theatre in October. Professionally it was not an immediate success. In Washington there was an estimated loss of half a million dollars in December 1991 but the show became an instilnt hit a t the Shubert Theatre on BroadwilY in February 1992.

The lavish BroadwilY production staged by Mike Ockrent won the Tony AWilrd for best musical and Tonys also went to Susan Stroman for he r dazzling choreography and William Long for lavish costumes. The London West End production starred Ruthie Henshall ilnd Kirby Ward. It opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in IVlarch 1993 ilnd gained an Olivie r Award for Stroman. '

When the West End production closed, the show went on tOllr to the main regional theatres, finishing in July 1997 at Ea.stboufl1c. Nemcom Theatre Company were then proud to announce they had got the UK amateur premiere.

MUSIC AND PLOT Four of the George and Ira Ge rshwin numbers came from the 1930 musical GIRL CRAZY: "Could You Use Me", "I Got Rhythm", "Bid in' ]lily Time" and "But Not For Me". Another dozen or so numbers were added from other

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Gershwin musicab to make up the vcry exciting and lavish CRAZY FOR YOU.

Ken Ludwig's new book was an adaptation from Guy Bolton and John McGowan's script. The storyline is of wealthy young Bobby Child, sent by his mother to close Deadrock's theatre, the Gaiety, in I evada. In Deadrock, Bobby meets Polly Baker and fillls in love at first sight. To escape PoUy's anger at the possible closure of the local theatre, Bobby pretends to bl~ Bela Zangler, the New York impresario, .,nd comes up with the idea of putting on a show to raise money owed to his mother. Thus the seeds of comic d(lc~ption are sown and the hilrvest is reaped to the full when the real Zangler comes into town. The tale of boy meeting girl in the Wild West ends up happily with everYllOe with the one they love.

CA$T There are 30 named parts in the cast together, with 10 chilracters playing iln assortment of minor roles . The leading man is Bobby Child, a young New Yorker in love. with the thea tre. It is a lilrge singing role with a lot of dancing.

The leading lady is Polly Baker, postmistress at Dead rock, Nevada. She should be aged 25 to 33-ish, needs a strong voice and must be a competent dancer with tap. Above all, she has to be an excellent actress

to COV('.r just about every emohon. The show is abou t her discovery of \vomanhood (lnd sexual l'I.\vareness.

Bela Zangler is an established New York impresd rio of Hungilrian descent. He plays 'Yvith ,In clCccnt, must look dis tinguished, docs not need to dance but should be a good mover. It is a good character part with some subtle comic moments.

Irene Roth is a rich New York society debutante. She has to be ilttrilctive and must be able to wear clothes bea utifullv. This chi\l',1(ter h" s two sides: mo~tly she is a hard-faced bitch of a woman used to her own WdY and the audience should then be shocked vvhen she signs in a passionate, sexual and allurin g manner.

Among the other principill singing roles me Eugene Fodor, an English tourist and Patricia Fodor, Eugene's sister. Comple ting the ten named chilracters are the mother, IvIrs Lottie Child, Bobby's business controlling parent and Perkins, the mother's business attendant.

The ten Zangler Follies Girls constantly change costume and must be strong tap and stage dancers. They dance many routines. Tess is the dance director Zangle r's filvourite, Patsy is the showgirl with a high speaking voice and Mitzi is the principal dancer. The cowboys also tap and are all singers.

The 30-strong cast is augmented by

ten people playing chauffeur, stage hands, stage manager, show girls, lackeys, directors and New Yorkers.

COSTUMES The period is 1930s and costumes were provided by Charles Alty. The costume bill is high and Nemcom Theatre Company set the show fees at a unique level. They revolved around the number of costumes per character and, as Polly and Bobby have at least seven ch.,nges, their show fee was £90. The Follies Girls and Irene paid £70 and the boys and other principals £60 each, with the rest paying £50 each. 11,'If of the fees were due before the auditions and the remainder it

month after. Unsuccessful applicants got their money back.

It"was, however, part of a carefully through-through scheme with £10 of the fees returned for every 20 full­price tickets sold by members through the society. The amateur theatre has many excellent incentives for ticket selling but [ venture to sugges t that one was unigue. Pe rhaps readers may prove me wrong on that score.

ORCHESTRA Mention of score leads naturally to orchestrations, which are written for piccolos, flutes, clarinets, oboe, horn, sax, bassoons, trumpets, trombones, percussion, guitar banjo, strings and synthesizer. A keyboard part can be used for the violin and cello.

The orchestriltion for "I Got Rhythm" for Polly and chorus is set for hubcaps, dustbins, sandpaper, saws, hammers and shovels, thus presenting props with a task' This show has got just about everything.

The arc deven scenes in Act One Md five after the interval, set in BroildwilY theatres, street scenes, saloon bars ilnd the Gaiety Theatre in Deildrock.

Special'ly designed scenery is available from Scenic Projects at Becdes. Their plan is for maximum flying rigs but advice will be given for adapting to smaller stages.

The main set consists of four trucks/wagons with il number of painted backcloths and three sets of portals. The wagons have been designed to turn, open and reverse in order to portray most of the major scenes in both Acts One and Two.

Normally these wagons CM be stored Off-st.lge when not in use but where there is limited wing space they can be stored in the immediate space behind the false proscenium/ portals. The saloon doorway truck can be used as an exit and entrance.

DEUMBER

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They rehearsed Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8 to 10 pm and Sundays from 5 to 9 pm. Even so, they reckoned they were peaking a week or ten days before the dress rehearsal. There were references on the rehearsal schedule to "iron out problems", "surgery" and for the dress

The choreographer (Melanie Edwards) arranged all the big production numbers before the show was cast. It meant that some of the dancers had to work really hard to get to the standard required. It was drilled into them how important it was to warm up as they could not

A Fonies staircase is provided for the finale. This would normally be stored already in position at the back of the stage, just in front of the black starcloth. For smaller stages the staircase could be omitted. Where flying is limited all cloths must be wiped.

A gauze panel painted like a Follies Girl poster can be used as an alternative effect for the Follies Girl dream sequence in which a car was used in the West End production. The effect is as if the girl in the poster comes to life and the opening becomes a doorway through which all the girls can pass.

Nemcom Theatre Company used the

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DECEMBER

car at Wimbledon Theatre. It was moved by a peTson walking inside and needed the stage crew to steady it from inside. Bobby climbed up an internal ladder to reach the roof to tap dance. First Follies Girls came out of the bonnet of the car and then others through the car, using a black hmnel.

Stage Manager Wesley Henderson Roe reported a very tight schedule, the secret of which was plenty of stage hands. He had eight from the theatre and about eight of his own. Some of the chorus also helped at very quick changes.

He fOlLl1d the Becdes scenery handled very well and he was well in time for the company rehearsal. He had to counteract the rake with extra drop bolts.

Sound Operator Stuart Vaughan was switching 13 radio mics accommodate 17 performers. He said it was very hard work for the sound man who needed to watch his script every second .

REHEA SALS

Because the professiona.! company did not finish until July, Nemcom Theatre were unable to announce amateur UK production before then. It meant rehearsal time for a massi ve show was restricted to eleven weeks, quite a challenge for such a dance and musical show.

rehearsal "stunts first".

DIRECTION Directors Andy Locke and Melanic Edwards said, "We wanted to give the characters a history, so that they knew why each person behaved in the way they did. For example, Mother was 'old money' - she did not try to impress with her wealth and power ­she just did. vVhereas Irene was 'new money' - her father probably made their money and spoilt the child with the best that money could buy. Therefore she would display a different aura of wealth to Mother.

"As far as the rest of the show goes, vve vvanted to give a real sense of progression. The cowboys were dirt)' and rank to begin with, but they didn't suddenly learn manners upon the arrival of the girls. It was all very gradual up to the end of Act One.

"At no point did we lose sight of the fact that the show is entertainment ­and good humoured. No expense was spared on the guns and sugar bottles in the fight scene and that resulted in tremendous applause from the audience eve ry night."

afford injuries. Every Friday was a pure dance rehearsal with mirrors to ensure the show girls Were identical.

COPYRIGHT MusicScope deals with the copyright in this country and among the various aids they provide for productions is the CRAZY FOR YOU Choreography Guide by Susan Stroman, the original Broadway choreogra pher. The 300-page guidebook defines movement in re lation to the music and drama.

Details of the step execution are put into perspective by explanations of particular steps being used and their relationship to the characters in the context of scenes in the play. There are also explanations as to how actors, singers and dancers should handle their props. The choreography guide ipcludes 45 blocking diagrams induding actors' stage movements and 18 black and white photographs of scenes from the Broadway production that convey the general shape of the particular stage tableaux.