| COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AnObserver 03:28 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Did anyone see the COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 (or thereabouts) with Julie Wilson (as Joanne) and Allen Case (as Bobby) and Tandy Cronyn? How were the actors? Was the set as sophisticated as the original Bway set? Elevators, etc? Can't imagine they had elevators on tour. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 and a Julie Wilson story... | |
| Posted by: | dbg 10:34 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AnObserver 03:28 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw this production at the huge Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln, NE. Some friends and I were meeting first for dinner at a nearby hotel, which had on the marquee "Welcome Home, Julie Wilson." Who was in the lobby waiting for someone but Julie Wilson. I went up to her and said "Miss Wilson, I can't wait to see you as Joanne." She said, "How did you know I'm playing Joanne?" I said I'd seen the show before and knew she would be a great Joanne. She replied, "Well, I'm no Elaine Stritch, I hope you won't be disappointed." I said I knew she would be wonderful and had a chance to tell her so after the performance when I saw her leaving the stage entrance. A couple of years later I was at a nightclub in Omaha, and Julie was there with a friend. I went up to her and said "I'm sure you won't remember me, but I talked to you in the lobby of the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln when you did Company there." She said, "I remember you very well. You were the only person who talked to me in Lincoln, Nebraska." We had a nice conversation, which ended with a suggestion to get together in Omaha, where she was then living. She came to a class I was giving on musical theater, mainly to talk about life on the road doing a bus and truck company of A Little Night Music. She had the students mesmerized. Though I haven't seen her in quite awhile, I do hope she is doing well and still in her home in New Jersey. She's a lovely, kind lady. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 and a Julie Wilson story... | |
| Posted by: | TheOtherOne 10:55 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 and a Julie Wilson story... - dbg 10:34 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| She didn't have to be Elaine Stritch, she had to be Joanne. And it sounds like she was. Great Julie Wilson story, dbg. Thank you for sharing. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 and a Julie Wilson story... | |
| Posted by: | Alcindoro 03:05 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971 and a Julie Wilson story... - TheOtherOne 10:55 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| Thanks for that lovely story about Ms. Wilson. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | Delvino 11:32 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AnObserver 03:28 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw it in Peoria, IL. AlanScott and I have discussed it at length here in the past. It was without an elevator, but Case and Wilson were persuasive. No complaints. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | garyd 01:12 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - Delvino 11:32 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Allen had a very good voice and could act. I really don't' know how he ended up in the tour of "Company" however. I think he was in L.A. at the time since he did quite a bit of TV work. (was he recruited during the initial L.A. tour stop?). He had a daughter, Amanda(?), yes, I think so. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | PlayWiz 01:22 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - garyd 01:12 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| I think he was sounds very good indeed on the OCR of "Hallelujah, Baby!" and on the studio recording of "Oh, Kay!" along with the lovely Barbara Ruick and Jack Cassidy. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | JT 05:12 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AnObserver 03:28 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw this tour. The actors were fine- polished and professional. Carolyn Kirsch played the part Donna McKechnie played on Broadway and was terrific in her dance solo. This tour was so long ago that I can't recall the set well and whether it included elevators or not,, but do recall that the set was reminiscent of the pictures from the Broadway show. Company is not one of my favorite shows. I've seen several productions over the years, and while I have great appreciation for it, parts of the show bore me, and as a whole, Company leaves me empty. I can vividly recall the night I saw the tour, it was the only time in my theatre going experience that I saw numbers of people walk out of a "marquee name show" before the show ended. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | Whistler 04:24 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AnObserver 03:28 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| As I've mentioned here before, I saw the tour of COMPANY in Topeka in probably February of 1972. I'd seen the show twice in New York, soon after opening and then on closing night. I liked the show a lot, but the closing night cast in New York seemed pale compared to the original cast, and the touring cast seemed the weakest of the 3. The set was limited, the theater was way too big for the show, and the audience seemed uninvolved. But the actors were probably doing their best. Also, as a side note, I recall that Allen Case was given a costume design credit for his clothes. I don't know if that's the direction he eventually took his career. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | tmdonahue (tmdonahue@yahoo.com) 08:49 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - Whistler 04:24 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw it in Ann Arbor, MI. Of course, my memory is cloudy. I knew the cast album and the singing and comedy on the tour were fine. The set, as I remember, seemed like a flat rendering of the New York set, at least judging from photos of the NYC set, as I did not see that production. | |
| Link | Stage Money |
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| Photo comparisons link. | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 02:32 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - tmdonahue 08:49 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| I'm linking the New York Public Library's digital gallery. If you do a search on Company Swope, many color photos of the original production (with both the original cast and with replacements) can be seen, and you can also see some photos of the tour (ditto, both original cast and replacements). Some photos of other shows will also come up but in the first 100 photographs on the page, it will be mostly Company Then it switches to being mostly Annie. If you keep scrolling all the way down, you get to a link to page 2, which also does have some Company photographs, but most of those are repeats of what's on page 1 (though I think there are two or three that aren't on page 1). Some of the photos of the original cast document staging and set pieces that were gone by opening night on Broadway. | |
| Link | Digital gallery |
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| re: Photo comparisons link. | |
| Posted by: | Singapore/Fling 03:50 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | Photo comparisons link. - AlanScott 02:32 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
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| That was wonderful! Thanks for the link and instructions. | |
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| re: Photo comparisons link. | |
| Posted by: | pierce 09:38 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Photo comparisons link. - Singapore/Fling 03:50 pm EDT 08/10/14 |
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| I agree! Thanks for the link, Alan. Interesting to see the three different costumes Stritch wore playing "Joanne." Never realized Priscilla Lopez played Kathy; I saw Donna McKechnie when the show opened in LA, and Carolyn Kirsch during the last week. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AnObserver 05:00 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - Whistler 04:24 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| The Wilson/Case tour was a second tier tour, wasn't it? Was there a first tier tour that played bigger cities for longer runs? | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 05:26 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AnObserver 05:00 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| The original tour turned into the bus-and-truck tour in December 1971 or January 1972. Chakiris and Stritch were replaced by Case and WIlson. Some of the other cast had already been replaced, and some of those replacements stayed through the change. At the end of the tour, it played a three-week run in D.C., where it was filmed for TOFT at the closing matinee. Up till then, I think that TOFT had only filmed Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows. By that point, Gary Krawford, who had played Robert for the final week on Broadway (after having played Peter on the tour and understudying Robert), had taken over as Robert on the tour. McKechnie rejoined the tour for those final weeks in D.C., possibly knowing that the filming was in the works. Perhaps it had also played some other longer engagements since switching to bus and truck. The video, in black and white and with no closeups though with some medium shots, is still in the TOFT archive. The tour does not seem to have had the elevators at any point, and I think the projections were much simplified from what was seen in the Broadway production. Nonetheless, the video at TOFT is a pretty fantastic document. Overall, I think that the closing tour cast was excellent, and they were clearly giving their all at that performance. Krawford is very good, especially in "Being Alive." Tandy Cronyn is the best Amy I've ever seen (including, forgive me, Beth Howland, whom I loved, but Cronyn is more moving). Husband and wife George Wallace and Jane Johnston make a very creepy pair as David and Jane. Julie Wilson is interestingly different as Joanne, nothing like Stritch at all. At the link you can find much info on the tour. To see the complete credits, you can click on either "click here for more credits" at the top or on "See more" under the list of Top Cast Members. On the page with the complete cast list, if a character name is in red, you can click on the name to see info on replacements. | |
| Link | Company tour on ovrtur |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | castro 06:25 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AlanScott 05:26 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I agree about Tandy Cronyn. I saw many productions of Company including the original production and she was perfection. I saw this in Ann Arbor. I thought George Chakiris was in that production but I know I saw Chakiris and George Maharis, don't remember Allen Case, but maybe I did. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | pookndale 09:57 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - castro 06:25 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| We saw the tour in Ann Arbor at the Power Center in October 71 with Allen Case. I remember Sir Harry was off pitch a lot. No elevators. Marijuana scene was funny, the only time (in the 4 mountings I've seen) that it made me laugh. I was bored, Side by Side was more electric on the album, and the ending didn't do anything for me. Most interesting (and problematic) production was Doyle's in Cincinnati, early in the run - Esparza's Being Alive knocked it out of the park. Boyd Gaines didn't do much for me. Don't remember anything about the other mounting at the Birmingham Theater in the 80's, other than pastels in the set. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 10:08 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - pookndale 09:57 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| So it sounds like Case played it at least briefly in the fall of 1971 before taking over in January 1972. Chakiris definitely was playing it in December 1971 and early January 1972. You can find reviews of him online from back then. If Chakiris needed a break, I'm surprised that Krawford, who was the understudy, didn't do it. Unless they were sort of trying out Case for an eventual takeover (and at the time preferred a semi-name in there rather than Krawford). | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 06:55 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - castro 06:25 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Do you know the date it played in Ann Arbor, or at least the approximate date? Case took over in January 1972 (according to Best Plays, on January 10, and that seems to be right as Chakiris was still playing the week before that). Gary Krawford took over some time in April. Every review I've found of Case has mentioned him having pitch problems in the role so perhaps that's why he left (or was asked to leave). Yeah, Tandy Cronyn very effectively conveyed that the problem was that Amy just didn't think she was good enough for Paul. Lots of Amys have been funny. Really good Amys, like Howland, have been funny and touching. But only Cronyn in my experience has been funny and deeply moving. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | castro 07:49 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AlanScott 06:55 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| It was in October of '71 that I saw Company in Ann Arbor. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 09:38 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - castro 07:49 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Ah, then you must have seen Chakiris. Maharis did a stock tour with Vivian Blaine that played a number of the in-the-round venues on the East Coast. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | garyd 09:57 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AlanScott 09:38 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| And, of course, Vivian also participated in the stock tour of "Follies" which played similar, if not the same, in-the-round venues including Houston's Sharpstown Arena Theatre. oh dear. Some memories will simply not go away. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | Erik_Haagensen 07:04 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - AlanScott 06:55 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw the tour with Stritch at a Saturday matinee at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland. I'm afraid she kind of walked through it, but I didn't care. It was still Stritch. There were no elevators; too difficult to tour them. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | tandelor 07:33 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - Erik_Haagensen 07:04 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| Don't think it was this one, but I remember seeing a bus and truck Company at Shea's Buffalo and it being a big deal there because it was the first of Michael's successes to come on tour to Buffalo. Little Mickey DiFiglia had done pretty well for himself. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | Thom915 (thom915@aol.com) 12:26 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - tandelor 07:33 pm EDT 08/09/14 |
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| I saw this tour in Syracuse, NY and thought Julie Wilson was great. I hadn't realized Allan Case (whom I knew only from some television show) could sing.I thought the pot scene was funny, the homosexual inference shocking and the music was fine but otherwise the show was too sophisticated for me at the time. | |
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| re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? | |
| Posted by: | TheOtherOne 09:22 am EDT 08/10/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - Thom915 12:26 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| I caught an episode of "Perry Mason" on MeTV not too long ago and was surprised that one of the guest stars was Allan Case. I had only known of him through the "Hallelujah, Baby!" cast album, but for a while there he was a bona fide TV star. He was excellent on the episode and quite attractive. It's a shame we did not get to see more of him on Broadway. He died awfully young of a heart attack. I had no idea this tour had been filmed for TOFT! I am sorry Case is not in it, and sorrier Chakiris is not the filmed Robert, but I will try to see it. | |
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| Tandy Cronyn | |
| Posted by: | StageDoorJohnny 12:23 am EDT 08/11/14 |
| In reply to: | re: COMPANY bus and truck tour in 1971? - TheOtherOne 09:22 am EDT 08/10/14 |
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| was also a terrific Sally in the B&T Cabaret | |
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