Episode 83: Inside The Creation of FOLLIES

10/20/22 • 48 min

My guest this week is Ted Chapin who’s captivating 2003 book Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical “Follies,” has recently been reissued in a revised and updated edition.

As you may know, this book is based on Ted’s first-hand experience as the production assistant on the original Broadway production of the Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, & James Goldman landmark musical Follies.

Of course, the expression, “I just couldn’t put that book down” is a cliché – but in this case, it has been absolutely true – twice! -- both when I read this book when it was originally released, and again just a few weeks ago when I had the great pleasure of diving into it all over again.

On last week’s episode, Peter Filichia, talked about wanting to be able to go back in time and be a “fly on the wall” to witness the inner workings of legendary musicals as they were being put together. Ted’s book allows all of us to do exactly that. This book makes you feel as it you are right there in the thick of it during Follies rehearsal period in New York, and in Boston during its out-of-town tryout’s many trials and tribulations.

For 40 years Ted served as the President of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization a role that he was personally chosen by the Rodgers and Hammerstein families to take on. On his watch there were eight Tony Award winning Best Revivals of musicals in the R&H catalogue -- On Your Toes, Carousel, Show Boat, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific, The King And I – twice! – and Oklahoma! He also supervised major R&H productions In London, on television, and around the world.

And Ted is the co-founder of the acclaimed City Center Encores! series, and he currently serves on the boards of City Center, The Kurt Weil Foundation, and the American Theatre Wing.

It is always a delight to speak with him – especially in regard to his one-of-a-kind experience of being in the rooms where Follies happened.

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My guest this week is Ted Chapin who’s captivating 2003 book Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical “Follies,” has recently been reissued in a revised and updated edition.

And Ted is the co-founder of the acclaimed City Center Encores! series, and he currently serves on the boards of City Center, The Kurt Weil Foundation, and the American Theatre Wing.

It is always a delight to speak with him – especially in regard to his one-of-a-kind experience of being in the rooms where Follies happened.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

Episode 82: Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, & Disagreements

My guest today is Peter Filichia who is the author of the new book that he calls The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements.

As a prolific theater journalist and critic Peter has written for Playbill, Theatermania, Broadway Select, Encore, and if you are in my age range you may even remember a magazine namedTheater Week! You can hear him every week on the Broadway Radio podcast This Week On Broadway.

Most significantly he is the author of five previous books about Broadway including: The Great Parade: Broadway’s Astonishing Never To Be Forgotten 1963-1964 Season; Strippers, Showgirls And Sharks: A Very Opinionated History of Broadway Musicals That Did Not Win The Tony Award; Broadway Musicals MVPs: The Most Valuable Players of The Past 50 Seasons; Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit & the Biggest Flop of the Season, 1959 to 2009; and Let’s Put On A Musical.

I’ve known Peter for many years, and it is always a delight to talk with him. As you will hear – much like me – Peter has never been shy about sharing his often very passionate opinions about all things Broadway, both past and present. We don’t always agree, but I'm always fascinated to hear what he has to say.

This is a fun one that I feel certain you will enjoy!

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Next Episode

Episode 84: Attack Of The Monster Musical, part 1

This special Halloween edition of Broadway Nation!

This is the first part of my conversation with Adam Abraham, author of Attack of the Monster Musical – A Cultural History of Little Shop Of Horrors.

In this terrific new book Adam relates the unlikely story of how Roger Corman’s schlocky, low budget, 1960’s monster movie was transformed 20 years later into a smash hit, long-running, Off-Broadway musical that became an international sensation and spawned a hit film musical adaptation as well. And of course, today Little Shop Of Horrors is a hit all over again and can currently be seen in another long running off-Broadway production.

Adam Abraham is a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at Auburn University, and he also has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, NYU, and Harvard. His previous books include When Magoo Flew: The Rise And Fall of Animation Studio UPA, and Plagiarizing The Victorian Novel: Imitation, Parody, Aftertext. He has also written for film, television, and theater.

Attack of the Monster Musical provides us with a fascinating, in depth, look into the dynamic partnership of Howard Ashman & Alan Mencken and their creation of what I believe is one of the best and most perfectly crafted musicals of all time.

Topics discussed in this episode include: How Howard Ashman was influenced by the cast album of GYPSY; how he discovered Roger Corman’s film in the first place; his first musical The Candy Shop;

the truth behind the legend that Corman shot the original movie in just two days; NYC’s Off Broadway scene during the late 1970s and early 80s; the WPA Theater; how an early version of Little Shop bombed at the BMI Workshop; the casting of Ellen Greene & Lee Wilcoff (and how Nathan Lane & Faith Prince were almost in the original cast); why the show never moved to Broadway; what Cameron Mackintosh, David Geffin & the Shubert Organization have to do with the show; how the dream team of Ashman & Menken worked together; and the tragic loss of Howard Ashman.

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