| In The Boom Boom Room | |
| Posted by: Whistler 02:23 am EST 02/28/19 | |
| In reply to: Ellen Greene (nm) - AlanScott 12:27 am EST 02/28/19 | |
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| There was a lot of fighting on the original production, for all kinds of reasons: political, personal, theatrical. Joseph Papp needed a strong production because this was his opening production at Lincoln Center. It was a very long script, which isn't to say that long scripts don't make for strong productions. But before Papp replaced the original director, Julie Bovasso, there was a very up-tempo dance, about three hours in, to "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and the preview audiences started applauding because they thought the production was over. When it went on for another half-hour, they sat there, unresponsive and unhappy. Which isn't to say they were happy and responsive before that. In an interview, Papp said he took Bovasso's sweetness out of the production and made it raw. But this was a largely uptown audience that didn't want raw. And they didn't want what Papp viewed as Bovasso's "sweet," either. It took a while for Papp to find his footing at Lincoln Center, with productions like Andrei Serban's production of "The Cherry Orchard," and Papp only found it occasionally. But perhaps if the inventive, elegant "Cherry Orchard," been Papp's opening production, and if he'd been able to build from there, he would have been successful with this particular audience. And if he'd gained its trust, maybe he could have tested new, raw scripts with them. But this production was largely raw because the script still needed revisions, the production needed a better director than Joe Papp, especially nine days before a huge press opening, and the casting and design needed to be better thought out, too. |
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