My Musical Theater Voyage of Discovery; The Kander and Ebb Files -- The Rink
I was in college when THE RINK opened on Broadway. I remember seeing the clips on Entertainment Tonight and, then, reading wherever one found news about Broadway, to find out more. I was mesmerized by anything regarding Liza, Chita and Kander and Ebb. So I rushed out and got the cast album and played it into oblivion. Then I watched it on the Tony awards and watched Chita get her first Tony ( to this day, when I am happy about something, I turn to Pat and say “I’m very glad that I bought the bottom of the dress” ). The thing about The Rink is that I didn’t really like all of the score. I listened to it out of devotion to the artists – but I didn’t like it as much as I did, say, Chicago or Woman of the Year. It would be a couple of years before I discovered the Broadway cast album of Cabaret (as opposed to the movie soundtrack, which I played ad nauseum). I thought some of the songs were a little doofy – a little under the standards I had come to expect of Kander and Ebb. But I played them. And I never told anyone that I didn’t think they were all very good. The good ones, though, remain among my favourite recordings.
To start with, Liza beginning that album with Colored Lights is how you start a musical, how you start a cast album. It got my attention right off; and if Colored Lights got my attention, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer kept it. I drove everyone crazy by walking around singing Don’t Ah Ma Me (still do) for WEEKS. After that, on the song list, it gets a little tricky. Between the tracks Don’t Ah Ma Me and The Apple Doesn’t Fall, it’s a crap shoot. I don’t see the point (really) in Under the Roller Coaster, Not Enough Magic and Angel’s Rink and Social Center. But I LOVE We Can Make It and After All These Years. Mildly listen-able are Blue Crystal What Happened to the Old Days – based on some tuneful melody schemes. Then, as the album passes beyond The Apple Doesn’t Fall (classic Kander and Ebb), the listener gets that early-in-act-two traditional ballad (and they are always beautiful). In Woman of the Year it is Sometimes a Day Goes By. In Zorba it is Woman. In Steel Pier it is Somebody Older. In Kiss of the Spider Woman it is Mama It’s Me. It’s a pattern and one I love. In this musical it is Marry Me and, like all the eary-in-Act-Two ballads, I think it is just beautiful. From there it seems like smooth sailing again with the dramatic Mrs A (love it) and The Rink (very fun) and Wallflower (I don’t really GET it, in the confines of the story, but I love the song). Then we get the unfortunate All The Children In a Row – not a song I love but I understand the point of it because we have to be told Angel’s story. And then, the Coda wraps up the story for the benefit of the listener, who doesn’t have the opportunity to see the story unfold on the stage and who, desperately, needs some kind of pay off. I like the coda – it’s nice. But let me tell you, as a young student of musical theater, I couldn’t figure out WHAT the heck was going on in this musical. Imagine my surprise, years later, when reading what theatrical historians and chatteratti have to say about The Rink; turns out other people don’t like The Rink at all, while some call it mediocre, at best. I can’t say I think it is mediocre – there are parts of the show that are beautiful and that I still listen to. I will admit (to my dismay) that I deleted some of the tracks from the cast album to make room in my Ipod for other music. I just won’t listen to Blue Crystal or Angel’s Rink and Social Center, not to mention Under the Roller Coaster and Not Enough Magic. I don’t care for them. And it isn’t a reflection on Kander and Ebb – not everyone gets it right every time. This IS the only Kander and Ebb original score that isn’t in my Ipod in its’ entirety.
Right after moving to New York, I saw a reading, a small production, of this play at Music Theater Works with Julie Johnson playing Angel (I don’t remember who played Anna) and I thought it was WONDERFUL. They HAD cut some songs. I think that’s because the creators realized that not all the songs in The Rink need to be heard, in the play, though they probably fit very well on a Bruce Kimmel cd, probably being performed by some great Broadway diva like Felicia Finlay or Carolee Carmello. I am sure that the fact that The Rink isn’t as good as Cabaret or even Woman of the Year causes them to love it any less. We artists love all our children .. even the bastards.
To start with, Liza beginning that album with Colored Lights is how you start a musical, how you start a cast album. It got my attention right off; and if Colored Lights got my attention, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer kept it. I drove everyone crazy by walking around singing Don’t Ah Ma Me (still do) for WEEKS. After that, on the song list, it gets a little tricky. Between the tracks Don’t Ah Ma Me and The Apple Doesn’t Fall, it’s a crap shoot. I don’t see the point (really) in Under the Roller Coaster, Not Enough Magic and Angel’s Rink and Social Center. But I LOVE We Can Make It and After All These Years. Mildly listen-able are Blue Crystal What Happened to the Old Days – based on some tuneful melody schemes. Then, as the album passes beyond The Apple Doesn’t Fall (classic Kander and Ebb), the listener gets that early-in-act-two traditional ballad (and they are always beautiful). In Woman of the Year it is Sometimes a Day Goes By. In Zorba it is Woman. In Steel Pier it is Somebody Older. In Kiss of the Spider Woman it is Mama It’s Me. It’s a pattern and one I love. In this musical it is Marry Me and, like all the eary-in-Act-Two ballads, I think it is just beautiful. From there it seems like smooth sailing again with the dramatic Mrs A (love it) and The Rink (very fun) and Wallflower (I don’t really GET it, in the confines of the story, but I love the song). Then we get the unfortunate All The Children In a Row – not a song I love but I understand the point of it because we have to be told Angel’s story. And then, the Coda wraps up the story for the benefit of the listener, who doesn’t have the opportunity to see the story unfold on the stage and who, desperately, needs some kind of pay off. I like the coda – it’s nice. But let me tell you, as a young student of musical theater, I couldn’t figure out WHAT the heck was going on in this musical. Imagine my surprise, years later, when reading what theatrical historians and chatteratti have to say about The Rink; turns out other people don’t like The Rink at all, while some call it mediocre, at best. I can’t say I think it is mediocre – there are parts of the show that are beautiful and that I still listen to. I will admit (to my dismay) that I deleted some of the tracks from the cast album to make room in my Ipod for other music. I just won’t listen to Blue Crystal or Angel’s Rink and Social Center, not to mention Under the Roller Coaster and Not Enough Magic. I don’t care for them. And it isn’t a reflection on Kander and Ebb – not everyone gets it right every time. This IS the only Kander and Ebb original score that isn’t in my Ipod in its’ entirety.
Right after moving to New York, I saw a reading, a small production, of this play at Music Theater Works with Julie Johnson playing Angel (I don’t remember who played Anna) and I thought it was WONDERFUL. They HAD cut some songs. I think that’s because the creators realized that not all the songs in The Rink need to be heard, in the play, though they probably fit very well on a Bruce Kimmel cd, probably being performed by some great Broadway diva like Felicia Finlay or Carolee Carmello. I am sure that the fact that The Rink isn’t as good as Cabaret or even Woman of the Year causes them to love it any less. We artists love all our children .. even the bastards.
posted by StephenMosher at 6:13 AM
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