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| re: 1776 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 08:18 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 - Delvino 05:47 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| Last year when we discussed this, I see now that I typo'd in my post, saying that the intermission went into the Broadway production on July 23, 1969, when I should have said 1970. Here's some of what I posted last time: Well, 1776 did open in New Haven with an intermission. At that point, it came after "Cool, Cool Considerate Men," but "Momma Look Sharp" was sung in the New Brunswick sequence, which opened Act Two. First, there was a scene in an inn, where the cut song "Encrease and Multiply" — yes, it was spelled "Encrease" — was sung, although it seems to have been cut immediately after opening night. This led Howard Da Silva to quit (it was not a solo but it was mostly sung by him), but he then changed his mind, apparently after Alfred Drake told him he'd be a fool to quit, it was the best role of his life and the show was going to be a hit. Then there was the scene on the field, which is where "Momma Look Sharp" was performed. At least in the pre-rehearsal script I've read, it was sung at the very top of this scene, with no dialogue introduction or explanation and sung primarily by a character we had not seen previously and did not see again. Peter Hunt remembers the New Haven intermission being at the end of the New Brunswick sequence, but not only the playbill for New Haven but also accounts at the time confirm that it was after "Cool, Cool." By the D.C. run, the New Brunswick sequence was gone, "The Egg" had been written and put in the show, and "Momma Look Sharp" was repositioned. Fast work. I don't know if there was no intermission at that point. Since I did see it early in the Broadway run, with no intermission, it makes sense to me without one. One problem is that, as with Follies, La Mancha and A Chorus Line, there really isn't a very good place for one. Placing it after "Momma Looks Sharp" gives you a very long first act and a decidedly short second act. Second acts of musicals are usually shorter, but this is an unusually lopsided pair of timings. But without an intermission, you've got a show that, if played very quickly, is still at least 140 minutes, a long time for a show without an intermission. I do think that after "Momma" is the best place, but even though the best place, it's still not a very good place for an intermission. One thing I remember from seeing 1776 on July 3, 1969, is that there was a pre-show announcement about 10 minutes before curtain time to the effect that there would be no intermission and so if there was anything you wanted to do that you might normally do during intermission, you'd better do it now, which got a small laugh but not many people got up. I know there was no such announcement at Follies, and I don't recall one at La Mancha or A Chorus Line, but I guess because 1776 had the longest running time of all those shows, they decided to do one. And then in reply to a post of yours, I posted this: The day of the D.C. opening — February 20, 1969 (following a few previews there) — Richard Coe wrote in the Washinton Post that it would be played without intermission, a change from New Haven that the creative team had decided on. Of course, we know the major changes that were made very quickly between opening night in New Haven and the opening in D.C. It's always possible that during the run in D.C., they decided to try putting in an intermission, and then they took it out again. Tryout playbills often have misleading info, although I would think that if there was no intermission in the playbill but they had temporarily added one, there might have been an insert in the playbill. But inserts fall out, and perhaps there wasn't one but just a sign in the lobby or an announcement before the show (as I well recall an announcement before the performance I saw on July 3, 1969, that there would not be an intermission). Or nothing. So you might have seen it with an intermission, and it would be hard if not impossible to be sure that you didn't. |
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| re: 1776 | |
| Posted by: StageDoorJohnny 11:22 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 - AlanScott 08:18 pm EDT 07/04/20 | |
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| I saw the show in DC (all the original cast) and again later in the year in NY, both with no intermission. My Understanding is that when the show played London the concessionaire's union forced the intermission, and when the production team saw it worked, they added it to the Broadway production. The first production I did, the intermission was after the 'He Plays the Violin' reprise, so that Act II opened with the top of scene five (Thomson's listing of the various committees of Cingress). That balanced the playing time of the acts better. Re: intermission info announcements -- La Mancha's was "Ladies and gentlemen, Man of La Mancha is performed without intermission. If you need to speak to your babysitter, you should do it now. The telephones are located in the lower lobby, next to the restrooms" |
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| re: 1776 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 01:14 am EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 - StageDoorJohnny 11:22 am EDT 07/05/20 | |
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| Reports at the time suggested that it was believed that the London theatregoing public would demand an intermission, although it may be that the union was part of it and they just didn't want to report that. But bolstering the idea that the public was unhappy is that when La Mancha first played in London in 1968, it opened with no intermission but one was added during the run. When it came back in 1969 with Kiley, there was an intermission. Thanks for the La Mancha announcement info. I don't remember hearing it, which makes me wonder if perhaps it wasn't done at matinees but only at evening performances (more likely perhaps to have attendees with babysitters at home). But I know you saw La Mancha many times, including (I would imagine) at matinees. |
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| 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 04:08 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 - AlanScott 01:14 am EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| I have often wondered if after the scene outside Jefferson's rooms might be a better place for the intermission than after "Momma Looks Sharp." There just really isn't a great place for an intermission no matter where you put it, which is usually the case for plays and musicals that were originally performed without intermissions (or they would have been originally performed with intermissions). I did a bit of searching in the ProQuest database and I found this from the Daily News of November 28, 1967. It appeared in Robert Sylvester's "Dream Street" column: "The most tactful management in town must be at the ANTA Theatre, where 'Man of La Mancha' plays. Each night before the curtain time the following announcement is made: 'The show will be performed without intermission. Telephones are available in the rest rooms if you wish to call your baby sitter now." |
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| re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:03 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement - AlanScott 04:08 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| I actually like the intermission after "Momma" - in a show that's often very entertaining, ending the act with that song really brings us back to the seriousness of the moment. I like that. Ending with the "Violin" tag (or even "The Egg") might have that more traditional "end the act upbeat" feeling, but I don't know if this show has to have that. I like the sobering feel to "Momma" being the last thing we take in before intermission. I've never seen a production done without intermission (same with Follies) and I'd love to see it done that way sometime. I've done La Mancha twice - once with a break after "Golden Helmet" and once with no intermission (with the only cut being the Moorish dance scene). I have to say I really liked it much much better without the intermission. ;-) |
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| re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:57 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement - Chromolume 10:03 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| I feel that neither break particularly makes for the audience to feel that they must come back. Of course, everyone does know the end. The acts are just so lopsided if the intermission comes after "Momma." It's 95-100 minutes, and then 40-45 minutes. But it probably is a better spot. |
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| re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement | |
| Posted by: StageDoorJohnny 07:05 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement - AlanScott 04:08 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| well, I was close :) | |
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| re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:54 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
| In reply to: re: 1776 intermission placement and La Mancha announcement - StageDoorJohnny 07:05 pm EDT 07/06/20 | |
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| Oh, you may have been closer than Sylvester, who may well have been doing it from memory, too. And if you're remembering what was said at the Martin Beck, it may be that there was no lower lobby at the ANTA Washington Square, which he calls just the ANTA, which of course was on 52nd (and still is on 52nd just with a different name now). So they may have changed it a bit at the Martin Beck, which would be fresher in your memory. I wonder why I don't remember it. I wonder if I got to the theatre a bit last minute when I saw it at the Martin Beck, but in those days I usually got to the theatre well before curtain. And then I saw it again at the Eden, where I suppose it's possible they didn't make the announcement. Did you ever see it at the Eden? Or at the very end, at the Hellinger? |
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