Shenandoah

[LittleEdieFan]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 4:39am

Have just been listening to the OBC recording again and am impressed at how strong the music and lyrics are. Do you think this show will ever be revived on Broadway?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 4:29pm

Shenandoah will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first Broadway show I ever saw.

I think the problem with Shenandoah is that it would have trouble finding an audience. It was never an A-Level show and the productions costs would probably outweigh ticket sales.

It needs to be done by either Encores or Roundabout in a production that doesn't rely heavily on profit margins.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 4:32pm

Saw the original as well

Other than John Cullum, no one in the cast had any kind of career.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 4:37pm

Yeah, Joel Higgins and chorus boy Craig Lucas were never heard from again. _____ probably thought the ant-slavery message was created by racial arsonists.

Updated On: 12/21/14 at 04:37 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 6:25pm

SHENANDOAH has a special place in my heart, too. I worked on a winter stock production starring Howard Keel. And being a diehard John Cullum fan, I saw the show on Broadway many times.

That said, the music and lyrics are NOT that great. Nor the book. (Watch the Jimmy Stewart film for comparison.) The music is catchy in a TV-commercial sort of way, at least until the lead has to wrestle with those soliloquies. (Callum made them work because he is just that talented; Keel not so much.)

"Next to lovin'
I like fightin'.
I like fightin',
It's excitin'!
Next to lovin' I like fightin' best."

Really? Particularly when there's nothing to suggest the brothers (except the married eldest) are anything but virgins?

PURLIE (by the same team) is a much better score, but even it is hardly "A level".

Despite the above, I still burst into tears every time Boy, who is believed to have died in the Civil War, turns up to meet the family at church, calling softly, "Pa! Pa!" But I cry when the Von Trapps start up the Alps, too, and not because TSOM is a good show.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 6:35pm

Other than John Cullum, no one in the cast had any kind of career.

Look up Joel Higgins on IMDB. He went from SHENANDOAH to the TV series, SILVER SPOONS, and spent most of the 1980s on that show. He's been working on TV ever since.

Donna Theodore was a regular on THE TONIGHT SHOW for years; she happens to live in my area (Palm Springs) and still has a busy cabaret career.

Craig Lucas became a well-known playwright.

I do see your point, however. In general, SHENANDOAH is a country-western musical and there haven't been too many of those on Broadway. Much of the cast may not have been suited for most Broadway musicals (though Craig Lucas did go on to SWEENEY TODD).


Updated On: 12/21/14 at 06:35 PM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 6:37pm

Sorry, Namo, to echo your remarks on Lucas and Higgins. We were posting at the same time.

Posted: 12/21/14 at 7:07pm

I worked on a production of this in the 80s and i don't think I've ever seen a musical get a stronger audience reaction. Perhaps because it wasn't that well-known it caught them by surprise?

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 7:09pm

Joe, I don't know where your production was done, but I knew the film from when I was a kid. It was a staple on TV.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/21/14 at 11:34pm

Jesus Christ, Gaveston. You actually don't read the threads you post in. That really does explain a LOT. In what world are 4:37 and 6:25 "the same time"?

Updated On: 12/21/14 at 11:34 PM

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 12:02am

This show has a special place in my heart as well but for a different reason. Saw it twice and many years later can see how-with the right production team-a revival could be incredible. The potential for 'star turns' and exceptional dance number makes the thought of a really well thought out revival something I wish would happen

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 8:15am

Unfortunately, it has a very 1970s feel to it. For example in the song "Freedom" they sing the lyric "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." You can't get anymore 70s than that.

Also, in today's politically correct world, I think the black community may have problems with Gabriel the happy singing, dancing boy slave.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 8:20am

"Really? Particularly when there's nothing to suggest the brothers (except the married eldest) are anything but virgins?"

I can look past that lyric because "lovin'" doesn't necessarily mean sex in the time period that the musical is set in.

Plus, there's only so much time allowed for this musical and whether the brothers are going to Belle Watling's place or not isn't the focus of the musical.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 9:58am

Shenandoah has the dubious distinction of being the first Broadway show to run over 1000 performances and not make back its production costs. The last year of the run it broke even give or take every week but didn't make a dime. I believe the capitalization was finally returned when the production went out on the road.

Audiences however loved the show.

And there was a revival seen briefly at what is now the August Wilson Theatre which starred John Cullum. The rest of the company was Canadian where the production originated. I think it ran 6 weeks. I cannot remember the season.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 10:51am

The 1989 revival was a big flop, running only a month, so that fact may make most investors unlikely to have any interest.

I'm not sure what the cast becoming famous has to do with anything about the show it's self. You can say that about a lot of successful shows. Not everyone ended up on Hollywood Squares. BTW, Penelope Milford was nominated for an oscar a few years later.

I remember the tour coming through Philadelphia a lot because you couldn't turn on the tv without Donna singing "FREEDOM, FREEEEDOM!"

I got to play Charlie in high school and had a great time. The score is good, if not great. I just don't think the story could sell tickets anymore.

[Esther]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 11:21am

It started previews late July 1989 & closed Labor Day weekend, IIRC. Made way for City Of Angels which won the Tony later that season.


The son-in-law was played by future Urinetown replacement (and frequent TV actor) Tom Cavanagh.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 11:40am

I realize that the Broadway production was trying to use John Cullum as the draw, but their tv commercials decided to push the ballads rather than the uptempo songs. They could have replaced "Papa's Gonna Make It Alright" with "Next To Lovin'" and possibly drawn in more of an audience.
Link

[Esther]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 1:26pm

The spot at the 1:00 mark is the only one I remember, "Freedom". My 8-9 year old self wanted to see the show so badly, but my parents weren't theater people, so I didn't get to see the original production.


I did however see the first Saturday matinee of the very short-lived 1989 revival because even 14 years later, that commercial had stayed with me.

[Tom 2]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 4:17pm

It is time to revive this musical. People must be reminded of what is important in this world and freedom is our most cherish commodity. As Benjamin Franklin stated in 1776 "... perhaps [some] have forgotten that fact but I have not."

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/22/14 at 4:34pm

Actually, Shenandoah is an anti-war musical. If you want a freedom musical, revive 1776.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/23/14 at 2:15pm

Exactly, Goth. Not really about freedom, but that's the big song, nonetheless.

***

Sorry, Namo. I must have lost my place in the thread while responding to Goth the other day and missed your post. Sorry to cause yet another aneurism by merely trying to be polite.