Favorite Flops: GRIND (1985), Part II (The Design)

The blog is the second of four about this notorious flop musical from 1985.  To see part one, click HERE.

Director Harold Prince and the producers of Grind were able to get some of the best artists on Broadway to design this new show.  Set in depression-era Chicago, the sets, costumes and lighting needed to evoke the world of burlesque as well as the backstage life of the by-law segregated house, often simultaneously.  Budgeted at $4.75 million dollars, it was to be an extravaganza by every measure.

The facade of the burlesque house in Grind. 
The large cast was costumed by Florence Klotz.

Costumes: Florence Klotz

Ms. Klotz had a long, distinguished career in film and theatre, including a long association with Mr. Prince.  In fact, all six of the Tony Awards she won were for shows directed and/or produced by him, including Grind:

1995: Show Boat

1993: Kiss of the Spider Woman: The Musical

1985: Grind

1976: Pacific Overtures

1973: A Little Night Music

1972: Follies

Other shows she designed include City of Angels, On the Twentieth Century, Carousel and Side By Side By Sondheim.  She also designed the costumes for the film version of A Little Night Music.

In addition to her six Tony Awards, she was honored with an Oscar nomination for A Little Night Music, five Drama Desk Awards, and three Outer Critics Circle Awards.  In 2002, she was awarded the Patricia Zipprodt Award from the Fashion Institute of Technology, and in 2005, the Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 1951, Ms. Klotz began her career as Ms. Sharaff's assistant on the original production of The King and I.

Florence Klotz passed away in 2006 at the age of 86.

The show curtain and proscenium,
as well as the runway were lit by Ken Billington.

Lighting: Ken Billington

Like Ms. Klotz, Ken Billington has had a long career in theatre, with over 70 productions to his credit.  Among the shows he designed are: Sweeney Todd, Side By Side By Sondheim, On the Twentieth Century, and recently, The Drowsy Chaperone, and The Scottsboro Boys.  Over his 40+ year career, he has been nominated for 9 Tony Awards, winning one for his design of the revival of Chicago.

As much as this photo shows all the levels of the set,
it doesn't really do justice to the enormity
of the set designed by Clarke Dunham.

Scenic Design: Clarke Dunham

Mr. Dunham's design for Grind was history in the making.  With three independent turntables able to work alone or together, the set for the show was actually a theatre unto itself, with its own lighting, drop and scenery rigs, so that as the audience watched "the show," they could see Harry Earle's Burleske House working as it would.  And depending upon the scene, the whole set could be turned so the audience could see all three floors of the "backstage" as well.  This was crucial to this story which pitted blacks against whites on and off stage and performers against city dwellers outside of the theatre.

What made this so important in the history of scenic design was that this was the very first Broadway musical to be run ENTIRELY by computer, and at this scale it was an enormous and dangerous undertaking.  (Later, such shows as Cats and La Cage aux Folles were retrofitted to become more dependent upon computerized stage design.)  Before the show even previewed out of town in Baltimore, all eyes were on this show.  A producer's worst nightmare happened at the very first preview at Baltimore's Lyric Opera House when the set stopped working mid-performance, as the computers sensed a problem and locked it down tight.  The SRO crowd was treated to a lengthy curtain speech by Prince and some entertainment by star Ben Vereen.  Unfortunately, the show could not go on without more risk to the set, computers and, of course, the company.  As fate would have it, local news stations were there to cover the star-studded try out, and sent to story out nation-wide (Call this Spider-Man lite!)  The next morning, the papers carried stories with headlines like "New Broadway Show 'Grind's to a Halt" and the like.  Eventually, everything was corrected and the set elicited gasps at the preview I attended.  It really was something.

Mr. Dunham's career, like his fellow designers, had much to do with Harold Prince.  His design career on Broadway spanned 30 years.  He last designed the 1997 revival of Candide.  He has been nominated for two Tonys (including for Grind) and three Drama Desk Awards.  According to his website, he still continues to do stage design.

As it turns out, the problems with the set out of town were insignificant compared to the troubles that lay ahead for Grind. 


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Jeff
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Favorite Flops: GRIND (1985), Part I (Who, What and When)

* - This is the first in a series of blog series that will focus on various Broadway flops that, despite its flop status, I thoroughly enjoyed and/or have come to appreciate.

Grind a musical

The Team:

• Book: Fay Kanin
• Music: Larry Grossman
• Lyrics: Ellen Fitzhugh
• Set Design: Clarke Dunham
• Light Design: Ken Billington
• Costume Design: Florence Klotz
• Hair and Make Up Design: Richard Allen
• Sound Design: Otts Munderloh
• Orchestrations: Bill Byers
• Additional Orchestrations: Jim Tyler and Harold Wheeler
• Dance Music Arrangements: Tom Fay ("New Man" by Gordon Harrell)
• Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
• Assistant Choreography: Larry Vickers
• Choreography: Lester Wilson
• Direction: Harold Prince

The Opening Night Company:

Ben Vereen

Leilani Jones (left), Timothy Nolen

Stubby Kaye

• Leroy: Ben Vereen
• Gus: Stubby Kaye
• Satin: Leilani Jones
• Doyle: Timothy Nolen
• Romaine: Sharon Murray
• Solly: Joey Faye
• Maybelle: Carol Woods
• Grover: Donald Acree
• Mrs. Faye: Ruth Brisbane
• Harry: Lee Wallace
• The Mechanical Man: Jackie Jay Patterson
• Earle's Pearls: Candy, Brown, Hope Clarke, Valarie Pettiford, Marion Ramsey, Wynonna Smith
• Earle's Staff: Brian McKay, Oscar Stokes
• Earle's Stooges, Knockabouts and Toughs: Leonard John Crofoot, Steve Owsley, Malcolm Perry, Ray Roderick, Kelly Walters

Ben Vereen and his wife and children

on Opening Night, April 16, 1985

The Statistics:

• Theatre: Mark Hellinger Theatre
• First Preview: March 25, 1985
• Total Previews: 25
• Opening Night: April 16, 1985
• Closing Night: June 22, 1985
• Total Performances: 71
• Capitalization: $4.75M
• Out of Town Tryout: Winter 1985, The Lyric Opera House, Baltimore, MD (32 performances)

The Story:

It is 1933 in Depression-era Chicago.  Burlesque is about the only relief the patrons of Earle's get from their every day lives.  As was the norm, the theatre was segregated, with blacks and whites forbidden to share the stage.  Backstage, the lines were still drawn, but as a close-knit group of performers, one paycheck away from poverty, they were a family.  The song-and-dance man, Leroy has his eye on one of Earle's Pearls, Satin, a stripper.  The white performers include the sobrette, Romaine, her straight man, Solly, and comic headliner, Gus.  Gus harbors a secret, as does his new partner, Doyle, a talented, but alcoholic man.  Despite the crudity and sexuality of their daily work, the theatre environment has provided a sort of cocoon for these people.  The outside world makes its presence known with a beating death, and several threats to the other performers.  Tensions come to an explosive head when it becomes apparent that Doyle and Satin have feelings for each other and are caught in a compromising position.  But, in the end, necessity wins out over tragedy as the performers of Earle's Burlesque pick up the pieces, and continue their literal and figurative daily grind.

Coming Soon: A review of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Grind.

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Jeff
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LEGEND: Harold Prince

This time next year, if all goes according to plan, we'll be looking forward to Prince of Broadway, a musical revue celebrating the hits (and maybe a few flops, too) of legendary producer/ director Harold Prince.  The 21 time Tony-winner is preparing to direct the revue with the help of no less than Susan Stroman (Prince collaborator on Show Boat) and Jason Robert Brown (Prince collaborator on Parade).

He has done it all his 60+ year career: assistant stage manager, stage manager, producer, director, and, briefly, even a performer!  Prince has worked with all of Broadway's best, including a legendary apprenticeship with the great George Abbott.  Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kander and Ebb, Bock and Harnick are all among his collaborators.  He has directed such Broadway acting legends as Angela Lansbury, Zero Mostel, Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera, Joel Grey, Ben Vereen, Michael Crawford, Liza Minelli, Barbara Cook, Glynnis Johns, Lem Cariou, Donna Murphy and Alexis Smith.  And though the revue will feature material from his musicals, Prince has also directed plays, most recently the short-lived, but critically acclaimed Hollywood Arms.

Even his flops have proven to be a part of the enduring American Theatre canon:  Merrily We Roll Along, Baker Street and Flora, the Red Menace among them.  But it is his hits that have changed the face of musical theatre: Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd and the longest-running musical in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.

Below is a survey of his musicals.  A "hit" means either long-running and/or critically acclaimed.  ASM - Assistant Stage Manager; PSM - Production Stage Manager; PRO - Producer; DIR - Director; CON - Conception; ** - Prince, himself, a Tony-winner.

A Scene from Grind and the Playbill from Parade

FLOPS

• Debut - Tickets, Please  ASM
• A Family Affair - DIR
• Flora, the Red Menace - PRO
• "It's a Bird!... It's a Plane!...It's Superman!" - PRO, DIR
• Merrily We Roll Along - PRO, DIR
• A Doll's Life - PRO, DIR
• Grind - PRO, DIR
• Roza - DIR
• Candide (1997 Revival) - DIR
• Parade - DIR, CON
• LoveMusik - DIR

MODERATE SUCCESS

• Tenderloin - PRO
• She Loves Me - PRO, DIR
• Baker Street - DIR
• Zorba - PRO, DIR
• Pacific Overtures - PRO, DIR
• On the Twentieth Century - DIR
• Cabaret (1987 Revival) - DIR

Joel Grey in the 1987 revival of Cabaret;

Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in The Phantom of the Opera

HIT SHOW

• Call Me Madam - ASM
• Wonderful Town - PSM
• The Pajama Game - PRO **
• Damn Yankees - PRO **
• New Girl in Town - PRO
• West Side Story - PRO
• Fiorello! - PRO  **
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - PRO **
• Fiddler on the Roof - PRO ** + Special Tony
• Cabaret - PRO **, DIR **
• Company - PRO **, DIR **
• Follies - PRO, DIR **
• A Little Night Music - PRO **, DIR
• Candide (1974 Revival) - PRO, DIR ** +Special Tony
• Side by Side by Sondheim - PRO
• Sweeney Todd - DIR**
• Evita - DIR**
• The Phantom of the Opera - DIR **
• Kiss of the Spider Woman - DIR
• Show Boat (1994 Revival) - DIR **

Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence in

West Side Story

Show Boat and Sweeney Tood

No matter how you look at it - hits, flops, ground-breaking productions, working with the very best in Broadway history - Harold Prince is a legend.

(Source: Broadway Internet Database)
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Jeff
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