The following precedes each entry,
"In Lieu of Reviews"
Around 40 years ago, I
began a major project that eventuated in the publication of my multivolume
series, The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage, each volume
covering a decade. For some reason now lost to the sands of time, I chose to
start with the 1970s. After writing all the entries through 1975 and producing
a typed manuscript of 1,038 pages my publisher (Greenwood) and I decided it
would be best to commence with the 1920s. So the 1970-1975 material was put
aside as I produced volumes for 1920-1930, 1930-1940, and 1940-1950. With those
concluded, Greenwood decided it was all too expensive and not sufficiently
profitable, so the remaining volumes were cancelled, leaving my 1970s entries
in limbo.
To compensate, I used the
research I’d done on the 1970s to write a book for Greenwood called Ten
Seasons: New York Theatre in the Seventies, which described all aspects of
that era’s theatre, onstage and off. Many years later, in 2012, I began a
postretirement “career” as a theatre reviewer, which led to my creating this
blog as an outlet for my reviews. Over the past eight years or so I’ve posted
nearly 1,600 reviews, a substantial number having first appeared on other
websites: Theater Pizzazz, The Broadway Blog, and Theater Life.
Now, however, with the New
York theatre in suspension, and my reviewing completely halted, is probably the
perfect time to post as many as possible of the entries I prepared for the
never-published 1970-1975 book. The entries that follow are in alphabetical
order. Each entry has a heading listing the subject categories of the work
described: the author (A), the director (D), additional staging (ADD ST), when
credited; the producer (P), the set designer (S), the costume designer (C), the
lighting designer (L), the source (SC), the theatre (T), the dates of the run,
and, in parentheses, the length of the run. The original entries also contained
the names of all the actors but I’ve omitted those here.
I will try to post at
least one entry daily. When time allows, I’ll provide more. The manuscript
exists on fading, fragile paper and, because no digital files exist, must be
retyped. Hopefully, the tragic health situation we’re all enduring will abate
before I get too far into posting these entries but, for the time being,
devoted theatre lovers may find reading these materials informative.
 |
| Bill Williams and company. |
AESOP’S FABLES
[Musical/Youth/Fantasy/Animals] B/LY: Jon Swan: M: William Russo; SC: Aesop’s Fables; D: William Russo (“staged
by Don Sanders); DS: Vanessa James; P: William Russo; T: Mercer Arts Center
(OB); 8/17/72-9/19/72 (58)
The Performing Ensemble of the Free Theatre was the group
responsible for bringing this rock musical to New York, where Howard Thompson
enjoyed it—although he could barely hear the words over the band’s heavy
pounding—and John Simon hated it.
The show was based on 11 animal fables of Aesop, and
included “The Lion and the Mouse,” “The Mice in Council,” “The Donkey and the
Grasshopper,” and “The Crow and the Fox” among its scenes. The players wore
animal costumes, and many lighting effects accompanied the action.
Thompson thought the music “imaginative . . . , thoughtful,
melodic, often striking.” Simon thought it “highly pretentious” and leading to “crashing
boredom.” The directorial credits confusingly listed one person for directing
and another (Don Sanders, sometimes credited as Donald L. Sanders) for staging.
“How a show that has been both staged and directed can still seem sloppily
improvised,” wrote Simon, “I leave to others to puzzle out.”
Previous entries:
Abelard and Heloise
AC/DC
"Acrobats" and "Line"
The Advertisement
Previous entries:
Abelard and Heloise
AC/DC
"Acrobats" and "Line"
The Advertisement