| re: MTYD; Little known fact?????? | |
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Posted by: |
steven_stuart 11:56 pm UTC 02/24/10 |
| In reply to: | MTYD; Little known fact?????? - junior 06:45 pm UTC 02/24/10 |
| Thanks for posting that. I found it very interesting. I used to love Paul Shaffer and The Letterman Show when I lived in New York and I still watch the show on CNBC now that I live in London. I had no idea that Jim and Joseph Papp gave him one of his first breaks. Of course I am also interested in learning more about MTYD. Ever since Dave pointed it out to me. In my opinion, it could be a cult Off-Broadway show. This is what Meat Loaf wrote about MTYD in his book: "Besides my character, there was another maniac involved in the production: Jim Stienman. "More Than You Deserve" began as a play with a bit of music in it. One or two songs in both acts. Jim talked Michael Weller into turning it into a full-blown musical. It's not that the music wasn't any good, but Jim was trying to make it into something bigger than it was. They tried to make this weird black comedy into a big Broadway musical. The first time we performed it, we did it with some wooden boxes and a table and an upright piano. Then they brought in all these people, black gospel singers, dancers, a choreographer. It was insane. They put snow flock on the Christmas tree, and you know how tacky that is. Then they hung red balls on it - and strings of popcorn. They totally ruined the play." > I just finished Paul Saffer's bio "We'll Be Here For The > Rest Of Our Lives" He writes: > > "I learned that a show at Manhattan's Public Theater was > looking for a rehearsal pianist and jumped at the chance. > I was told that if rehearsals went well, I'd have a shot > at being the musical director. The production was called > More That You Deserve. > > Joe Papp, who ran the Public Theater, had hired Jim > Steinman to write a rock score for More Than You Deserve. > It was an unsettling parody of South Pacific set in the > troubled times of the Vietnam War. > > I gave it me all, but halfway through the rehearsals, > Steinman fired me. He didn't think I had the right feel > for the music. I was bummed, but what could I do? It was > back to Toronto. > > I wasn't encouraged about my prospects. How could I be? > I'd just been fired as a lowly rehearsal pianist. While > at a party the phone rang. It was Jim Steinman from More > Than You Deserve. > > "I was wrong to let you go," he said. "We need you." > I was in New York the next day. > > The show itself had been a nightmare. In attempting to > update South Pacific; the creators of More Than You > Deserve did it in the grossest way possible. The > production was replete with graphic gore and bloody > decapitations. One song asked, "How'd You Like To Marry a > Man Without A Face?" > Bloody Mary was raped in her wheelchair by a soldier using > a bayonet. (Years later when I met Papp, I told him, "I > was once musical director of More Than You Deserve, and > every night when I left the theater I was...." "Sick," > Papp completed the sentence for me. "Yes," I said. "Me > too," he confessed.) > > In spite of its unredeemable flaws, the show had an > interesting cast. Fred Gwynne was the star. Mary Beth > Hurt was the much abused Bloody Mary. A young Meat Loaf > sang his ass off. After four months of previews, though, > even Meat Loaf's rare vocal talents couldn't save the > show. > The damn thing opened and closed in one week. I had no > regrets." > > | |
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