BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
"The four of us bought a dress -- 'a' dress," Carol Burnett explains about how she and her roommates shared their meager savings by going in on the purchase of an audition outfit. They were struggling actors trying to make their mark on Broadway. Carol explains that when she first arrived in Times Square -- which was and is the stage actor's Mecca -- she was surprised to see that it wasn't black and white as she had always seen it on film.
Rick McKay's fascinating film, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE, is full of stories from the actors who were there at the time. When he came to Manhattan in the early 1980s, he realized that he had missed Broadway's Golden Age, when dozens and dozens of plays and musicals with great actors were all playing simultaneously and when the cheap seats were cheap enough -- just fifty cents -- so that everyone could afford a ticket. In contrast, Broadway today has special effects laden productions with tickets that start north of fifty dollars, not cents.
McKay's idea for the documentary, which was a solo journey that took five years to complete, was to interview the great old Broadway stars while they were still alive. To augment the wonderful stories the stars tell, he worked hard to discover old footage of the plays, the musicals and the area.
Unless you're a real theatrical history buff, you'll probably be quite surprised by much of the movie. Perhaps the most unexpected answer comes when he asks his interviewees who was the most influential stage actor for them. Almost unanimously, they pick Laurette Taylor for all of her performances, but most especially for her work in "The Glass Menagerie." Personally, I had never even heard of her. McKay includes a clip of her from a screen test, which she failed because Hollywood found her style "too natural" so that she didn't appear to be acting.
The golden age actors tell some of the tricks of their trade, including catching plays for free by walking in at the start of the second act and sitting in an empty seat and by working hard as understudies in the hopes of getting their big break. Shirley MacLaine, for example, who was in the chorus of "Pajama Game," cut her hair to look exactly like that of the lead. And when something suddenly happened to the star, the producer naturally turned to the look-a-like.
So when did Broadway's demise start? The film convincingly argues that it occurred with "Hair" and the subsequent extravaganza productions which relied less on stars than on dramatic staging and effects. But McKay, who in person is such a charmer that you understand why the stars gave him such great access, hasn't given up on the future. His next movie is BROADWAY: THE NEXT GENERATION, and I, for one, can't wait.
BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE runs 1:51. It is not rated but would be a G and would be acceptable for all ages.
The film is playing in limited release now in the United States. The movie was shown recently at the Camera Cinema Club (http://www.cameracinemas.com) of Campbell and San Jose.
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