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| David Margulies, Christopher Walken. |
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| Christopher Walken, Anna Levine, Matthew Cowles. |
This was the first play by Thomas Babe, who soon became one
of New York’s most promising young playwrights before his output fizzled. It
was an “honorable failure,” thought John Simon, which “presented in melodrama,
comedy, drama, soliloquy, ;projected slides, movie clips, and blaring rock
music the anatomy of a present-day rock singer,” as Edith Oliver described it.
Kid Champion (Christopher Walken) represents the
quintessential rock star. He moves in a frantic world of groupies, drugs, booze,
reporters, and musicians, all of which was precisely captured by the
writing, acting, and direction. The play chronicles the Kid’s decline from the
top of the charts to the bottom of his personal hell; every opportunity is
given to display his manic, ever-changing behavior—his anguish and his fun, his
selfishness and his cruelty.
The major weakness arose from the play’s lack of proper
motivation for the Kid’s actions. His frequent shifts of personality needed
explanation, but Babe was content merely to depict them, thus leading Walter
Kerr to describe the effect as “a long haul to nowhere.” Kerr admitted that
Babe had “a marvelous ear and a far from unobservant eye.” To Clive Barnes, the
events were too “predictable and fundamentally uninteresting.” Although the
writing was rarely banal, he noted, there were “maudlin moments.” John Simon observed
that the staging displayed an “uncanny skill,” being “extraordinary in its
minute attention to detail without the slightest sacrifice in panoramic sweep.”
The supporting company received excellent notices. Kenneth
McMillan was very fine as a sociology professor who interviews the Kid for a
book, only to be jeered at by the rocker’s entourage of hangers-on. Anna Levine
showed great promise as a disillusioned groupie. Future Broadway director Jerry
Zaks was excellent as a hack writer, and Sasha von Scherler did well in her
small role as the singer’s mother. Other significant cast names included David Margulies and Don Scardino.
As Kid Champion, Christopher Walken gave an admirable
demonstration of the talents that would lead him to stardom, though Simon
claimed it was too much like the acting he’d done in other roles. Barnes,
however, called him “brilliant.” “With a scorpion whim, petulant good looks,
and lazily arrogant manner, Mr. Walken comes as close as the play will permit
to the pop star who is all hollow inside and all bluster outside.” Walken received
an OBIE for Distinguished Performance.