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| re: Hopefully Not Lost But Sad About Ray Errol Fox | |
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rockfenris2005 11:33 am UTC 03/10/11 |
| In reply to: | re: Hopefully Not Lost But Sad About Ray Errol Fox - rockfenris2005 07:22 am UTC 03/10/11 |
> > > > > So today I dug out my old CD of The Confidence Man. The > > > show is a constant delight and certainly, I feel, a lost > > > jewel in the history of American theatre. > > > > Its a shame if any Jim shows are indeed lost. Its great > > that a fan of Jim is bringing it up so that it is not > > forgotten. I would also like to see more board discussion > > about other Jim projects like "More Than You Deserve", > > "Rhinegold" and "Wuthering Heights" (even if the last one > > is not quite as good as "The Confidence Man".) I see that > > it was first produced in 1976 but that Steve Margoshes > > worked on a more elaborate version which was produced ten > > years later. Is the CD of the 1986 production? According > > to Amazon, people who buy "The Confidence Man" CD > > frequently buy the CD of "Whistle Down The Wind" at the > > same time. Obviously there are some people out there who > > are into Jim as a theatrical writer. Hopefully it is not a > > lost jewel but a jewel that should have more attention > > paid to it. Perhaps more and more people will discover it > > in time. I was sad to read on one webpage that Ray Errol > > Fox, who wrote the lyrics, is very sick with cancer. I > > love the lyrics that you quoted. 'On a wave of tender > > power we'll be carried through the night, > > Spending hour after hour 'til forever is in sight, > > Oh think of what we have — what we have and all I'm > > feeling > > Isn't as revealing as when night comes stealing in...' Ray > > is very talented. What other shows has he done? I wonder > > if he minded that one of the show's tunes ended up in > > "Tanz" ("Milady" became "For Sarah"). I have to hope that > > Ray gets better. Maybe Ryan knows how he is. > > There have been three productions: > > • Manhattan Theatre Club in 1976 or 1977. This was a > cabaret version and Mary Steenburgen, the famous actress > who was married to Malcolm McDowell, worked as a waitress > on this production. > • Queen's College in December 1986. This was the first > full production and the only way you'll ever hear the > complete score. This is where the VHS comes from. > • Beechmont Players in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2004. Smeghead > and his wife were behind this production and I thought > they did a brilliant job. > > And of course there's the CD from 2003 with all proceeds > going toward Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Sorry! A PORTION of the proceeds! > > According to the liner notes of the album, it was > originally supposed to be produced at the New York > Shakespeare Festival by Joseph Papp who, of course, did > "Hair" and "A Chorus Line", and "More than you deserve" > with Jim. But it was cancelled. > > There were other attempts at mounting the production with > Len Cariou (the original Sweeney Todd) and Howard Da Silva > (the original Jud Fry). > > Also, "Nocturnally yours" was the first song they ever > wrote together, and it was then interpolated into the > score. "Something of this masquerade may follow", which > was written for the 1986 production, was the last song. > They haven’t written together since. > > As far as I know, he's still working on revisions to "The > Confidence Man" but I don't know if there will ever be a > major production in his lifetime. I sure hope so. Ray is, > in my opinion, a very talented lyricist and writer and a > very generous person. I'd be thrilled if it did. > > I really wanted to see it done in Australia. I thought it > would be something that one of the local theatre groups > would have been interested in doing, because of how famous > Jim’s music is, and it presented them with a rare > opportunity, producing something that had rarely if ever > been produced, composed by the writer of the third > greatest selling rock album of all time. But, as usual, it > was the same old, "Oklahoma!" next season, "My Fair Lady" > the season after that and if they were lucky the fourth > revival of "Les Misérables". > > Ray and I speak from time to time, I am HONOURED that he > wants to hear about my progress, and you can read his blog > at the link. He has recently posted an update. > > If you want to know more about his work, check out his bio > on Wikipedia. That is based on a document that he wrote. > > PS. I wonder what the posters for "Rhinegold", "More than > you deserve" and "Kid champion" were like. Has anybody > ever seen them? > > PPS. Ray doesn't like the recycling but he never mentions > anything about it in the liner notes. But this shouldn't > be surprising. Tim Rice was very unhappy when Andrew Lloyd > Webber recycled the score for "Cricket" into "Aspects of > Love" and "Sunset Boulevard". > | |
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