Did any US PnP readers see the disastrous stage musical of of ''The Red
Shoes'' that briefly played in NY some years ago?
Here is a review I found on the www. The musical is referred to in the
BBC2 Arena TV doc on PnP produced in the early 1980s, when the interviewer,
Gavin Millar asks EP if it could ever come near to the movie, and after
an incredibly long pause which goes on forever, EP wistfully
says ...................................... "No"
- Roger
The Red Shoes (Gershwin Theatre NY, December 17) was a sad, unneeded, Monarch's
Notes version of the classic 1948 Powell-Pressburger film. Much has been
written about the differences of artistic vision during the show's lenghty
gestation period, and the result proved that too many cooks can indeed spoil
the soup. Nearly everything the film did vividly, in Technicolor, was watered
down. The gorgeous original locations and intense studio sets were reduced
to pretty, pastelly drops of European opera houses, superimposed by flimsy,
mobile window panes. The film's important secondary parts became tiny walk-ons,
and its carefully delineated and motivated leading characters were given
only key lines in the musical. Unfortunately, the dismal songs by Jule Styne
and Iyricist Bob Merrill (using the pseudonym Paul Stryker) gave no further
insight into these puppets. George la Pena's Grisha came off best, with
the showiest part, and Margaret Illmann's Vicky danced well. The titular
ballet was given a Russian setting, so it was disconcerting to hear themes
from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (!!!!!!!) accompanying it! Nothing was as
memorable musically as Brian Easdale's film score, or the Tchaikovsky intrusions,
which only made things worse. Did its FIVE performances prove the project
was mistaken from the start? I'm not sure: look what happened to the perfect
1938 film of Pygmalion.
From American Record Guide 13th March 1994 v57:n2. p31(2)
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