By Michael Buckley
Considered by many to be one of the nicest people in show business, Bakula stars in the world-premiere engagement (March 4-April 13) of Dancing in the Dark at San Diego's Old Globe. Might the show transfer to New York? Says Bakula, "That's what they've talked about since day one."
Douglas Carter Beane has adapted Betty Comden and Adolph Green's Oscar-nominated screenplay for "The Band Wagon" (1953). The popular M-G-M movie starred Fred Astaire as dancer Tony Hunter who, because of his fading film career, agrees to co-star with a ballerina (Cyd Charisse) in a Broadway musical.
Writers of the show are two of his friends (Nanette Fabray, Oscar Levant) — a team not unlike Comden and Green — and the director's a theatrical Renaissance man (Jack Buchanan). Playing those respective roles at the Old Globe are Bakula, Mara Davi, Beth Leavel, Adam Heller, and Patrick Page. Among those also in the cast are Sebastian LaCause, Benjamin Howes and Jacob Ben Widmar.
"Elements of the story are the same, but it's deeper. It has a new creative energy. Douglas has had the freedom to go in and, with Gary [Griffin, who's directing], flesh out the story, especially in the second act, so that it isn't just number after number [as might be said of the film]."
Featured in "The Band Wagon" score, by Howard Dietz (lyrics) and Arthur Schwartz (music), are songs first written for eight of their Broadway revues. Two songs deleted from the movie ("Bran' New Suit," "Sweet Music") have been reinstated. Numbers from Dietz and Schwartz shows were added: "Something You Never Had Before" (from The Gay Life) and "Rhode Island Is Famous for You" (Inside USA). "The Girl Hunt" ballet, danced by Astaire and Charisse in the movie, has been eliminated.
Due to his TV exposure, one could count Bakula among the most readily recognized actors. With which character do most people associate him — Sam Beckett, the "Quantum Leap" scientist (1989-93), or Jonathan Archer, the "Star Trek: Enterprise" captain (2001-05)? "Both," he replies, "but 'Quantum Leap' probably carries the day."
Each week, time-traveler Beckett leaped year to year, into the body of a different person, in order to improve matters. His guide was Al, a hologram, played by Dean Stockwell, with whom Bakula remains friends: "He's a good man."
"Quantum Leap" earned Bakula four Emmy nominations, and as many Golden Globe nods (winning the latter award in 1992). The actor directed three of the 96 episodes, and sometimes sang on the series. A 1989 show had him performing songs from Man of La Mancha. "That one had John Cullum and Janine Turner — before they did 'Northern Exposure' [their 1990-95 series] — and Michele Pawk was in it, too."
"Boston Legal" (in February) featured Bakula singing "Once Upon a Time" and playing piano. It reunited him with Candice Bergen, with whom he did 13 "Murphy Brown" episodes (1993-96). "Candice is a love, and great to work with." Will he appear again on "Legal"? "You never know. [Laughs] I didn't die at the end."
Shenandoah, "with John Cullum as the star, was the first Broadway show I ever saw." A few years later, Bakula made his professional stage debut in the musical "at a North Carolina dinner theatre. I've appeared in the show several times, playing various roles. I did it on the old straw-hat circuit, with John Raitt one year, and Ed Ames, another; a couple of national tours; twice at Paper Mill Playhouse." In 2006, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., Bakula graduated to "the lead role of Charlie."
Following a turn as an understudy in Is There Life After High School?, Bakula's Broadway debut occurred as baseball's Joe DiMaggio in 1983's short-lived Marilyn: An American Fable. Does it bring back any memories? He laughs. "Many, but they're way too long."
On April 8, 1995, Bakula appeared as J. Bowden Hapgood, opposite Madeline Kahn (Cora Hoover Hooper) and Bernadette Peters (Fay Apple), in a Carnegie Hall benefit concert of the Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents musical Anyone Can Whistle. Angela Lansbury, who had originated the Hooper role, narrated.
Recalls Bakula, "It was extraordinary! It was almost impossible to step back and appreciate what was going on. I knew Bernadette, and had met Angela a few times, but I didn't know Madeline. She's greatly missed. It was wonderful to share that rare and magical night with her."
Born in St. Louis, MO, Bakula's the father of four. Daughter Chelsy and son Cody are the children of his marriage to Krista Neumann; Wil and Owen are his sons with actress Chelsea Field. Do any of them plan to follow in Dad's footsteps? "They all love [the business] in different ways, but I don't know what they'll end up doing."
His most recent musical theatre experiences include a May 2007 engagement of the Richard Rodgers-Samuel Taylor musical No Strings at UCLA's Reprise!, and An Evening with Scott Bakula, a January 2008 benefit concert for the restoration of Ford's Theatre.
Film appearances include 1999's Oscar-winning Best Picture, "American Beauty," in which Bakula and Sam Robards played Kevin Spacey's neighbors, a gay couple named Jim and Jim.
His next TV stint is five episodes of "State of the Union," a sketch-comedy series, co-starring Tracey Ullman, that starts March 30 on Showtime.
Claims Bakula, "The Old Globe engagement [of Dancing in the Dark] gives us a great opportunity. It's a very big show, with a lot of numbers, and really great actors." Saying that it would be great to have him back on Broadway, Bakula laughs, and responds, "I hope to get there."
*
About the Movie: Hugh Fordin's book "M-G-M's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit" devotes a chapter to "The Band Wagon." The author writes that it was producer Freed's idea to create a picture (scheduled to be called "I Love Louisa") around the Dietz and Schwartz catalogue, and that he hired Comden and Green to do so.
Freed assigned Vincente Minnelli to direct. He and Minnelli subsequently asked Alan Jay Lerner to supply (sans credit) the narration for "The Girl Hunt" (a Mickey Spillane-spoof) detective ballet. Jose Ferrer inspired the director's role, which was declined by Clifton Webb. Though Webb sang and danced on Broadway (including three Dietz and Schwartz revues), he never did either on the screen.
Edward G. Robinson and Vincent Price were considered, but on Webb's recommendation the part went to Britain's Jack Buchanan. Fordin also states that when Freed wanted a new song for the finale, Dietz and Schwartz took only a half-hour to write "That's Entertainment!"
*
Set your alarms and tune in to Disney Channel's "Johnny and the Sprites" March 15 (7:30 AM ET), and see Broadway royalty — the indefatigable, two-time Tony winner Chita Rivera — playing the Queen of All Magical Beings.
How did the gig come about? "I just got a call. I'm a great fan of Johnny's [Avenue Q Tony nominee John Tartaglia], so I said 'absolutely!' I've got a grandniece, you know. Everything worked out perfectly.
"Have you ever been on that set? If things get rough and tough, and you hate everybody, go to that set. They are the most talented, gifted, magical people. They've built a beautiful world. It makes you smile; it cleans you out."
Daryl Watson wrote the episode, "Johnny's Not Invited," directed by Richard A. Fernandes. The sprites (Ginger, Basil, Lily, and Root) are excited because "a special visitor" is due to arrive "to throw a royal party."
Enter Chita: "Welcome everyone. It is I, the queen of all the sprites, and fuzzies, and other magical beings." Since she doesn't mention humans, the sprites believe that Johnny ("the greatest human in the whole world") can't attend — and they're afraid to question Her Majesty. (The morale: "You should never be afraid to ask questions," advises Tartaglia. "After all, that's how you learn.")
Rivera sings ("Welcome to Grotto's Grove"), very briefly trips the light fantastic, and spouts a little "sprite" jargon. "When I left, one of the girls gave me a tiny, beautiful queen, made from bits of material from the dress and crown. It went on my Christmas tree. It's not really an ornament, but her thoughtfulness was lovely."
Included among Chita's previous children's fare are appearances on "Captain Kangaroo" and "Dora the Explorer: Dora's Fairytale Adventure." Admits Chita, "I saw part of [the 'Dora' DVD, in which she's the voice of the evil witch] a few days ago. The [grandniece] was watching it. She refuses to believe that it's me. [Laughs] I'm grateful."
Extensive television credits include "all the variety shows — Ed Sullivan, Sid Caesar, Judy Garland — and the second 'Dick Van Dyke Show.' I've done 'Will and Grace' [she and Michele Lee played a lesbian couple], and so many others."
Confides Chita, "TV's enjoyable, but it's too instant. Now you see it, now you don't. I'm used to beginnings, middles and ends — rehearsals, the whole process. That's what I love, that's what I prefer doing. I still think theatre is it for me." (Lucky for her legion of fans.)
To date, she's appeared in 15 Broadway musicals, received nine Tony nominations, and won twice (The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman). Tours include Call Me Madam (starring Elaine Stritch), Kiss Me, Kate, Zorba (opposite John Raitt) and Can-Can.
Regionally, Rivera's non-musical performances range from Born Yesterday (1972, at Philadelphia's Walnut Theatre, playing Billie Dawn to John Randolph's Harry Brock) to The House of Bernarda Alba (2002, at L.A.'s Mark Taper Forum, as the domineering matriarch.)
Anita (Debbie Allen's favorite character) was, of course, originated by Chita. However, librettist Arthur Laurents has written that he meant the part for singer Anita Ellis (sister of the original Tony, Larry Kert). But when Ellis couldn't dance, Rivera nabbed the star-making role.
Chita once told me that, prior to its premiere, she was skeptical about the success of West Side Story. "There were dead bodies [at the end]. I asked: 'Do you think it will work?' [Laughs] That's why I'm still dancing and not directing."
Opening the 10th anniversary celebration (November 2006) of the Chicago revival, Chita performed "All That Jazz," which she introduced in the original production. "That song is the best," she insists. "To be able to do it at the 10th anniversary was just marvelous! The Kander and Ebb score is breathtaking. It's really what the theatre is all about."
When the Chicago revival began, Rivera appeared in London and Las Vegas productions, but she wouldn't do it on Broadway. I once asked her why, and she said, "Because the 'Technicolor' was gone" — referring to Gwen Verdon, whom she adored.
It was a mutual feeling. In my last interview with Verdon, I checked a quote she had made: "I have no desire to go down in 'The Guinness Book of Records' as the oldest dancing star." Gwen confirmed it. She then laughed loudly, and told me, "Chita's going to do that!"
Come April, Rivera, a 2002 Kennedy Center honoree (in her native Washington, D.C.), co-stars with George Hearn, at Virginia's Signature Theatre, in John Kander and Fred Ebb's The Visit. Based on the 1958 Friedrich Duerrenment drama of the same name (which marked the Lunts' final Broadway appearance), it concerns the world's richest woman, seeking revenge on a town's mayor, for a transgression.
At Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where she co-starred with John McMartin (in 2001), Rivera won accolades for the "Peg-Leg Tango" (her character has a wooden limb). Are there plans to bring the show to Broadway? "Yes, there are." I say that's where she belongs. Chita concurs: "It feels good there."
One of Rivera's legs contains nuts and bolts, due to a 1986 taxi cab accident. At a Tony nominees luncheon, when she was up for Nine, I jokingly asked: "Do the nuts and bolts make it easier to place your leg on Antonio Banderas' shoulder?" Without missing a beat, she purred, "No. Antonio makes it easier to do that."
Concludes Chita, "We need stuff like 'Johnny and the Sprites' to make our hearts happy. I can't tell you how much fun I had working with Johnny. I truly respect him — and everyone
involved with the show."
*
VARIOUS AND SUNDRY
Last month I wrote about the TV-movie of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun", which Craig Zadan and Neil Meron produced. It deservedly got great reviews and ratings (ABC, Feb. 25)...To save time come awards season, Emmys and Golden Globes should be engraved starting now...The DVD release (May 6) has audio commentary by director Kenny Leon, and a featurette: "Dreams Worthwhile: The Journey of 'A Raisin in the Sun'."
Exquisite Barbara Cook just began a six-week engagement at the Café Carlyle. Highlights include Peter Allen's "Harbour," Irving Berlin's "I Got Lost in His Arms" and a song introduced by Fanny Brice: "Cookin' Breakfast for the One I Love"...I'd loved to have seen the 1967 summer tour of Funny Girl, in which Cook portrayed Brice, opposite the Nicky Arnstein of George Hamilton (who, Cook told me, "was very good").
Isn't it great that the May 8 performance of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, directed by Lonny Price, will be telecast "Live from Lincoln Center"? It plays five performances, with the New York Philharmonic, at Avery Fisher Hall. "In short, there's simply not/ A more congenial spot/ For happily-ever-aftering than here/ In Camelot."
Alex Hurt (son of William) and Raul S. Julia (the late actor's son) — two second-generation actors — have formed a theatre company (Half Assiduity Arts), and are starring in The Gay Barber's Apartment, for a limited engagement (that began March 5) at Manhattan's Sanford Meisner Theatre.
Fred Allen, the vaudeville-radio-TV-movie comedian (1894-1956), once observed: "You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood — stuff it in a flea's navel, and still have room for three caraway seeds, and an agent's heart."
*
Stage to Screens is Playbill.com's monthly column that connects the dots between artists who cross freely between theatre, film and television. Michael Buckley has written this column since 2002. He may be contacted at stagetoscreens@aol.com.
11 Mar 2008
Two decades after his most recent Broadway appearance (in Romance/Romance, for which he received a 1988 Tony nomination), Scott Bakula is taking a not-quite-"Quantum Leap" back to musical theatre.
Mara Davi with Scott Bakula in rehearsal. photo by Sandy Huffaker
STAGE TO SCREENS: Chats with Debbie Allen, Scott Bakula and Chita Rivera
Has Bakula seen the movie? "Yes, but not for a long time." I'd read that Bakula plays more a singing, rather than dancing, Tony Hunter, but he tells me: "I'm Tony Hunter, the singer and the dancer. I do a fair amount of dancing, but no one's Fred Astaire.
