Research Catalog

Title

[Interview with Jerry Orbach : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Publication

New York, 2003.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Orbach, Jerry
• Kantor, Michael, 1961-
• Squires, Buddy
• Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
• Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Description

2 videocassettes (VHS) (51 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

• Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Actor Jerry Orbach, known for his work in the musical theater as well as television and film, begins a discussion of his stage career by examining his role as the lawyer Billy Flynn in the 1975 musical Chicago. Orbach discusses the numbers All I care about is love and Razzle dazzle; Chicago's style of "world weary decadence"; its source material, the 1926 play which introduced the character Roxie Hart; and the objectives of its choreographer Bob Fosse. Orbach describes the "wonderful, seedy, crummy, glorious" Broadway of the mid-1950s through the 1970s, which began to change after that period. Orbach discusses the commentary on celebrity in Kander & Ebb's Chicago; the songwriting of John Kander and Fred Ebb, whose witty and stylish songs for musicals pushed the story along dramatically. Orbach goes on to discuss the 1980 musical 42nd Street in which he starred, and its producer David Merrick, a former lawyer from Saint Louis who became one of the most famous and prolific producers on Broadway. Orbach, who was close to Merrick personally, describes Merrick's commercial and artistic activities, his facility for knowing what works in the theater, and his ability to get those with whom he worked to do what he wanted. Orbach discusses the opening of 42nd Street, during which Merrick cancelled previews, changed the date of opening night, and finally, after the last curtain call on opening night, came onstage and announced that the show's director Gower Champion had died earlier that day. Merrick, Orbach says, "had a flair for the dramatic, a flair for the press." He describes 42nd Street as a classic backstage story, a love story and a story of the Depression. He also discusses its tunes, which refer back to Vaudeville and Burlesque. Orbach discusses the production on Broadway of large scale shows from England, beginning with the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Weber, which arrived on Broadway in 1982. These shows, Orbach feels, offer pageantry, high production values, and some wonderful performances, but do not live up to the standards of the musicals in which he performed. Orbach admires the current Broadway production The producers, as well as the work of choreographer Susan Stroman, and Twyla Tharp in Movin' out, but feels that there are very few "great," original musicals currently being produced on Broadway. Orbach discusses amplification in the theater, a "huge" change which affected the musical, which Orbach believes delivers an inauthentic experience to the audience, and dissuades performers from learning to project to the back of the theater. Orbach discusses his feelings as he hears the overture begin backstage as a performer, his enjoyment of communicating with the audience, and his inability to become bored with his role, even after several months of performing it. Orbach concludes discussion on tape one with his views on what the theater means for the audience, and the images Broadway conjures for him.
• Orbach resumes his discussion on tape two with an anecdote about producer David Merrick during his production of 42nd Street; Broadway as a distinctly American art form which evolved from the theatrical traditions of Vaudeville and minstrel shows, and which reflects America's diversity; the popularity of Broadway tunes; and Broadway as a reflection of popular American culture. Orbach compares the choreographic styles of Gower Champion, Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse; and lastly, discusses the two elements which in his view make for great theater.

Alternative Title

• Broadway, the American musical
• Broadway: the American musical

Subject

• Orbach, Jerry > Interviews
• Kander, John
• Warren, Harry, 1893-1981
• Merrick, David, 1911-2000
• Ebb, Fred
• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
• Musical theater > Production and direction
• Actors > Interviews
• Theater audiences
• Broadway (New York, N.Y.)

Genre/Form

• Documentaries and factual works.
• Musicals.
• Unedited footage.

Note

• This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
• Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
• Time code on frame.
• Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.

Credits (note)

• Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer (note)

• Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Jerry Orbach.

Event (note)

• Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on July 29, 2003.

Biography (note)

• Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Call Number

NCOX 2159

OCLC

144528327

Title

[Interview with Jerry Orbach : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

New York, 2003.

Credits

Cameraman: Buddy Squires.

Performer

Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Jerry Orbach.

Event

Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on July 29, 2003.

Biography

Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local Note

Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

Connect to:

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Added Author

Orbach, Jerry, interviewee.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.

Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.

Squires, Buddy, cameraman.

Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.

Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research Call Number

NCOX 2159