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| re: New Jim Interview | |
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Willis 12:45 am UTC 10/06/07 |
| In reply to: | New Jim Interview - Jacqueline 11:15 pm UTC 10/05/07 |
| Hey, that's my city's paper... Probably time to get tix... To JD: Any word if Jim's attending any shows? I'm betting not. > http://www.startribune.com/onstage/story/1465418.html > > OnStage: Lyricist out of 'Hell' > > Jim Steinman worked with Meat Loaf and Celine Dion on > records -- and with Andrew Lloyd Webber on "Whistle Down > the Wind." Ahead of an Ordway run, Steinman recalls the > musical's legendary stops and starts. > > By Rohan Preston, Star Tribune > > Last update: October 05, 2007 – 3:13 PM > Rock lyricist, songwriter and record producer Jim Steinman > is perhaps best known for his work with such artists as > Meat Loaf ("Bat Out of Hell") and Celine Dion ("Falling > Into You"). But Steinman also writes for theater. The > musical "Whistle Down the Wind," his 1996 collaboration > with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, died en route to New > York but was successfully revived for a long run in > London. It opens Tuesday at the Ordway Center. > > Based on the Mary Hayley Bell novel of the same name and > set in the South in the 1950s, "Whistle" is a story of > youthful faith and innocence. Three orphaned children, > living by themselves, discover a bearded man hiding in a > barn and become convinced that he is Jesus. Eventually, > word of the kids' secret savior gets out. "Whistle" was > made into a 1961 movie before being adapted for the > stage. > > Q How did you first become involved with this project? > > A It started in 1995. At first, the idea was to do it as a > film. Patricia Knop ["9½ Weeks"] wrote the most brilliant > screenplay. And Andrew and I thought that [Steven] > Spielberg was going to direct it. But, in the end, > [Spielberg] got scared because he'd never done a musical. > > Q So theater was the fallback option? > > A Well, at the same time that all of that Spielberg stuff > wasn't happening, we did it as a condensed theater piece > at Andrew's summer festival in England. The audience loved > it. The question everyone had was, 'Why aren't you doing > this bloody thing onstage?' Switch to the Peninsula Hotel > in L.A. not long after. We are there, I don't remember > why, and Hal Prince, whom Andrew just revered, calls and > asks why he hasn't been contacted about it. It was decided > that it would be a play, with Hal directing. It would try > out in Washington, then go to New York. > > Q Prince and Lloyd Webber had worked together on "Phantom" > and "Evita." What were the rehearsals like for "Whistle"? > > A Well, Hal only directs from 10 to 2. Then he has to get > home to see the soaps. > > Q Was that enough time? > > A Well, I assumed the main work would go on after it > began, that this would be perfected that way. I had this > great vision of a '30s movie musical being worked on out > of town, with me doing rewrites and all of us making it > perfect. > > Q Did you have a gut feeling about how it was going? > > A I remember meeting with Andrew at Trump Tower later and > he was indecisive about the whole thing. One week he would > say, 'Jim, I just don't know, should Hal Prince direct > this or not? He's getting on in years.' Hal was in his 50s > then. The next week, he would say the same thing, only Hal > is now in his 60s. In three weeks or so, Hal had aged > three decades in that conversation. > > Q When the show opened, was it ready? > > A No. But everyone knew it. I wanted to work on it. > > Q And after the Washington Post review came out, what was > that like? > > A I get tons of bad reviews. They don't bother me. But > Andrew was stung by it. The [reviewer] did a hatchet job > on Andrew, sending him into the deepest depression. He > felt shattered. You would think that he would be immune to > it with all of his $850 million, but he was almost in > tears. The next day I woke up, went to the theater, ready > to start the rewriting. The stage manager said that Andrew > was gone and Hal's off skiing. I stayed in Washington for > two weeks, hoping to get cracking on it. But they were > gone. > > Q "Whistle" is legendary for failing before Broadway. You > also wrote "Dance of the Vampires," which wasn't exactly > well-received in New York. > > A Well, the critics were right about that one. The New > York production was totally ruined. I didn't go to the > opening. [Star] Michael Crawford was awful. He played the > vampire as a clown, with a horrible Italian accent. > > Q You seem to have better luck abroad. > > A In Austria, that show is called "Tanz der Vampire." It > was staged brilliantly by Roman Polanski in Vienna, where > it's been running for 10 years. > > Q What was it like to see this new version of "Whistle" > onstage? Is it still your work? > > A Disorienting. So much of the script has changed. And > they have taken out many of the great effects. But the two > leads were brilliant, which is the key to the show. The > heart of the show was intact. > > Q Will this new production get to New York after all? > > A That's up to [director/producer] Bill [Kenright]. I have > no idea. I think his attitude is to do it over a period of > years, to build an audience for it regionally, then > perhaps take it to New York. It's an amazingly daring > thing to finance a touring production of a musical no one > knows. > > Q What made it work in Britain but not in the U.S.? > > A I love the premise, but generally, it's been > misunderstood here. People have a hard time dealing with > the idea [in the show] that Jesus is outside in the barn. > But you have to remember that the kids' mother has just > died, why wouldn't you want Jesus around, since he can > raise the dead? It ran for 5½ years in England. They got > it. | |
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