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[RobertArmin] Good evening and welcome to the Fynsworth Alley chat room. [RobertArmin] One of my all-time favorite musicals, which I was lucky enough to see in its original Broadway production was [RobertArmin] The Grass Harp. [RobertArmin] Starring Barbara Cook, Karen Morrow and Carol Brice, it featured one of the finest scores ever to grace the Broadway stage. [RobertArmin] Although the show closed after only seven performances, fortunately an original cast album WAS released. [RobertArmin] And that recording has generated a generation of loyal fans. [RobertArmin] Tonight, my guest is the man who wrote the book and the lyrics to The Grass Harp... [RobertArmin] Mr. Kenward Elmslie. [RobertArmin] Good evening, Kenward. [KenwardElmslie] Hi [RobertArmin] I know that this form of communication is a bit difficult but I hope we can explore a little of the history of The Grass Harp [RobertArmin] and talk about some of your other great projects. [RobertArmin] You are, of course, a distinguished poet... [RobertArmin] and an opera librettist [RobertArmin] so there is plenty to talk about. [RobertArmin] When did you first become involved with adapting Truman Capote's novella, The Grass Harp? [KenwardElmslie] I remember first meeting Truman in Boston a play of his was trying out pre Broadway [KenwardElmslie] I was with my significant other, John Latouche, whose lyrics I idolized [KenwardElmslie] Truman's weirdo effeminacy terrified me [KenwardElmslie] He complained about Cecil Beaton's stunner of a tree which sabotaged his play [KenwardElmslie] I remember THE GRASS HARP was on John Latouche's list of possible musicals [KenwardElmslie] I remember suggesting the GRASS HARP, Truman's novel not his play, as a project to Claibe Richardson, the composer I worked with [KenwardElmslie] I remember tackling some songs to see if it was right for us. [KenwardElmslie] It was, so we played them for Truman. [RobertArmin] What year was this? [KenwardElmslie] He loved what we'd done and gave us the rights to make a musical of THE GRASS HARP. [KenwardElmslie] I'm trying to think. I think late 50's. After John Latouche died so maybe it was early 60's. The play was 1952 and John died in 1956 while he was writing Candide. [RobertArmin] Tell us about the first incarnation of the show. [KenwardElmslie] I remember it's first production in Providence, Rhode Island. [KenwardElmslie] Opening night was a marathon disaster [KenwardElmslie] Three and a half hours long. [RobertArmin] (We laugh) [KenwardElmslie] The critics panned the daylights out of our fledgling [KenwardElmslie] Elaine Stritch, a crowd pleaser as Babylove, was consistently crocked and nightly gave Claibe near heart failure [KenwardElmslie] Erratic tempi and pitch [KenwardElmslie] I remember Kermit Bloomgarten, a Broadway producer, optioned our musical for Broadway [RobertArmin] Why would he do it if it was in such terrible shape? [KenwardElmslie] Well, we did some rewriting and his girl friend at the time liked it. [RobertArmin] Smart lady. [RobertArmin] Very perceptive, I think. [KenwardElmslie] To raise the huge sum of 250,000 dollars, he needed a star [KenwardElmslie] I remember going to Brazil with Claibe to nab a star. We tracked down Mary Martin at her isolated Finca [KenwardElmslie] She turned us down, charmingly [KenwardElmslie] Showbiz shrewd, she knew, she needed to play both Dolly Hart and Babylove to fulfill her fans expectations. [RobertArmin] She was certainly right, I think. And she wouldn't have been quite right for either role. [KenwardElmslie] ok [KenwardElmslie] I remember Ann Arbor where the Grass Harp tried out pre-Broadway. At the Power Theatre on Campus. [KenwardElmslie] A theatre so brand new flies, secreted in cinder blocks, kamikaze-style dive-bombed open mouths [KenwardElmslie] which made singing hazardous. [RobertArmin] Who was in the cast in Ann Arbor? [KenwardElmslie] Let me answer that. I remember cast problems, Celeste Holm, our Babylove, wasn't right for the part. [KenwardElmslie] As Claibe was a close friend of Celeste's, he was given the task of telling her, tactfully, the part wasn't right for her [RobertArmin] She actually would have been very good as Verena [KenwardElmslie] Yes, she would have been wonderful in that part, but a much smaller role. [KenwardElmslie] Every night after the show, Claibe would procrastinate as Celeste, in a flurry of post performance euphoria, would preen how brilliantly she'd preformed that night. [KenwardElmslie] Richard Barr, our producer, came to Claibe's rescue. [KenwardElmslie] Our original choice, Karen Morrow, became our new Babylove [RobertArmin] So, was Karen not a big enough name to be your first choice at the time? [KenwardElmslie] Originally, Karen Morrow turned us down because she felt she couldn't play the part. Can you believe it? [RobertArmin] Amazing how actors can misjudge their own talents. Babylove may be her finest Broadway role. [RobertArmin] I'll never forget her performance at the Martin Beck Theatre. [KenwardElmslie] I remember final New York City rehearsals: Amsterdam roof where Ziegfeld once put on intimate revues. A theatre so derelict, [KenwardElmslie] it's lobby was used as a shooting gallery for itinerant dopers. [KenwardElmslie] dope fiends [KenwardElmslie] Nonplussed by such hallucinogenic perks as Karen singing the Babylove Show with her troupe of Pride 'n' Joy kiddies. [KenwardElmslie] I remember the first matinee at the Martin Beck Theatre, post-NYTIMES "mixed notice" [KenwardElmslie] Small audience. Cowed response. A dire contrast to the week of previews when audience response kept building. [KenwardElmslie] I remember Truman's fixit advice: MIKE IT [RobertArmin] As I’ve told you before, I cherish the memory of The Grass Harp as the LAST Broadway musical to be completely unamplified. [KenwardElmslie] I remember the final performance, the seventh, the audience went wild. [KenwardElmslie] Boffo laughs, endless Bravos and Curtain Calls. [RobertArmin] I was in college at the time and, fortunately, had the nerve to go backstage and greet Barbara Cook and several of the other cast members. [RobertArmin] It was a special evening. [RobertArmin] That same day, I remember, running into the young actress who played Maude across the street in a coffee shop. I had such a crush on her at the time [RobertArmin] And, of course, I remembered Russ Thacker from Your Own Thing, which I had seen in Los Angeles. [RobertArmin] We should also mention, I think some of the other great performers in the show, including Carol Brice, Ruth Ford and the amazing Max Showalter. [RobertArmin] Ellen asks: Wasn't this Barbara Cook's last Broadway show? [RobertArmin] Yes, her last book musical, although she did appear in a number of concerts -- Follies and her one-woman show. [RobertArmin] We don't count "Carrie" in Stratford. [RobertArmin] Let's talk about the cast album a bit. [RobertArmin] There are some conflicting stories about how that came about. [KenwardElmslie] So, I now I remember a recording studio in Cologne, Germany. Claibe and I were early [KenwardElmslie] Our mission: bring back orchestral tracks for an original cast album. [KenwardElmslie] Only the harpist was there. Blanche Birdsong was there, who hailed from Alabama [KenwardElmslie] She once played for Barbara Cook [KenwardElmslie] I remember hours went by and the assembled orchestra wasn’t together. [KenwardElmslie] Then, Karen Morrow, who wanted to spend Thanksgiving in Europe with Claibe and me stepped up to the mike and did Babylove proud. [KenwardElmslie] Galvanized, the orchestra kicked in. And we finished three days in the nick of... [RobertArmin] So Karen was the only performer who sang live with the orchestra? [KenwardElmslie] live in Cologne [KenwardElmslie] I remember bringing back our Grass Harp tapes. We assembled the New York cast in a dinky NYC studio. [KenwardElmslie] The Engineers weren't used to "real" voices, like Carol Brice, Barbara Cook, Russ Thacker... [KenwardElmslie] They took away their booster gismos [KenwardElmslie] I remember when the album came out listeners, including some critics [KenwardElmslie] couldn't figure out why on earth the show had flopped on Broadway [RobertArmin] The same thing, of course, happens when people listen to Candide and She Loves Me for the first time. [KenwardElmslie] I remember Andy Warhol telling me he listened to the album with Truman Capote again and again and again [RobertArmin] Now that's an interesting picture to imagine [KenwardElmslie] I remember attending a revival at a college in Manhattan. Sitting next to me was John Simon, [KenwardElmslie] Acerbic New York Magazine drama critic, the Enemy. [KenwardElmslie] He nudged me mid-song (If There's Love Enough). "Great Song" he whispered. [RobertArmin] John Simon is a very honest man, so that was some compliment [KenwardElmslie] Well, actually, Claibe ran into him in a cafe nearby after the show and Simon said "It's the only score I know where every song is perfect." [RobertArmin] Well, he was absolutely right about that. [KenwardElmslie] I remember the director of a book-in-hand production at the York Theatre (NYC) asking me if I had any old unrevised scripts tucked away [KenwardElmslie] He found the published "acting" version lacking. [KenwardElmslie] I dug through a morass of scripts and to my horror, realized I'd cut, cut, cut the dialogue mercilessly [KenwardElmslie] The "Book" is always the culprit when musicals fail. [KenwardElmslie] Everybody likes our songs. Go with the songs. [RobertArmin] Sandy Duncan has logged on and wants to say: "hi and tell Kenward that we're having lunch when I get back from our concert tour April 15th. Can't wait!! [KenwardElmslie] See you at lunch! [KenwardElmslie] so, I put back whole pages of dialogue [KenwardElmslie] Wantonly savaged, and the book-in-hand production, with the brilliant ensemble cast, just spun. [RobertArmin] So glad that Sandy has joined us. Because she was a part of the recent Mufti performance of The Grass Harp at the York Theatre. [RobertArmin] And we all got to hear the many changes to the script, which I must say is now ready to go out into the world and be cherished. [RobertArmin] Sandy brought a new sense of comedy to the role of Verena who, as I remember, was quite serious as portrayed by Ruth Ford. [RobertArmin] It was a nice addition to the show and I hope other actresses can follow her performance with the same gusto. [KenwardElmslie] Great, that's a good word. [RobertArmin] Alleyfan writes: I recently got to see a production of the Grass Harp at the York, after years of adoring the cast album. Was the York production recorded? Are there any recordings of any of the songs besides the original cast album? [RobertArmin] Well, as you probably know, the reissue of the cast album (available here) has several of the cut songs included. [RobertArmin] Although Max Showalter's character didn't sing the song in the show, he sings "You Are The One and Only Person in the World" and George Rose sings "Brazil" on the album. [KenwardElmslie] Right [RobertArmin] Most of the songs have been included on that album. There is, however, one brand new song in the new version. Do you want to talk about that? [KenwardElmslie] So, I remember my last collaboration with Claibe was a song for Judge Cool in the treehouse [KenwardElmslie] He recalls a night spent long ago when he was young in the treehouse with Irene, his wife, long since deceased [KenwardElmslie] Our song's title is "Long Dark Night Of My Soul" and it affirms how, even though Judge Cool is the only survivor to recall that night with Irene… [KenwardElmslie] he is a Survivor, [KenwardElmslie] And the memory of their shared love sustains him through all his dark nights. [RobertArmin] It's a beautiful song. [KenwardElmslie] I remember I recently lost my life partner Joe Brainard and so the lyric came out of my own grief. [KenwardElmslie] In several productions of my final revised versions, this song, as it jinxed, kept being cut [KenwardElmslie] Sometimes because judge Cool has primarily a speaking part and the performer couldn't meet the music's vocal demand. [KenwardElmslie] I remember last year in a production in Stratford, Conn., Claibe and I heard this, our final collaboration, sung beautifully. [KenwardElmslie] Brenda Lewis, the original Lizzie Borden, was my guest. [KenwardElmslie] She whispered, as only a diva can whisper. "That's a song of character." [RobertArmin] I should mention that the Lizzie Borden here is the character in the opera that you wrote with Jack Beeson. [KenwardElmslie] Which was recently televised Live from Lincoln Center [KenwardElmslie] Claibe Richardson recently passed away-not long after bowing to an accolade at Carnegie Hall where his GRASS HARP SUITE [KenwardElmslie] was premiered by Skitch Henderson, conducting the NY Philharmonic [KenwardElmslie] which rendered Claibe’s suite as orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick [KenwardElmslie] most lovingly and capably [KenwardElmslie] The Judge's song "Long Dark Night of My Soul" resonates particularly now -- how Claibe's wondrous collaborations with me survive now that he's gone. [RobertArmin] Has that piece been recorded yet? Or will it be? [KenwardElmslie] It hasn't been recorded yet and I don't know if it will be. [RobertArmin] Your mention of Jonathan Tunick reminds me of the little known fact that he conducted the original cast album in Cologne. [KenwardElmslie] It was one of the first he ever orchestrated [KenwardElmslie] I'd like to wind up with the lyric of the last collaboration with Claibe. [KenwardElmslie] Here is the lyric of "The Long Dark Night of My Soul." [KenwardElmslie] Irene, dear heart. What we shared is dead and gone. [KenwardElmslie] Your shadow slithers over cracked concrete. [KenwardElmslie] Me? Afraid of the dark? [KenwardElmslie] Afraid of the dark. [KenwardElmslie] How I long for the deliverance of dawn, [KenwardElmslie] When dreaded monsters fold their wings, retreat. [KenwardElmslie] Shriek bye-bye. Disembark. [KenwardElmslie] Who's that clawing at my sleeve? [KenwardElmslie] Where to turn? What to believe? [KenwardElmslie] No, not at my best. [KenwardElmslie] Still, I count myself blest. [KenwardElmslie] Alive. [KenwardElmslie] Alive. [KenwardElmslie] Survivor of the night. [KenwardElmslie] Another dark night. [KenwardElmslie] Another dark night of my soul. [KenwardElmslie] How it eases my heart to recall [KenwardElmslie] (Was it late summer? Or fall?) [KenwardElmslie] Our night in River Woods. [KenwardElmslie] Our night full of love [KenwardElmslie] I'm the sole survivor of. [KenwardElmslie] Feel your breath. A tingle in my ear. [KenwardElmslie] Wake up. A snort. Must be, it's a deer. [KenwardElmslie] Our last hug. You fall asleep so quick. [KenwardElmslie] I move. You mutter. "Charlie, don't kick." [KenwardElmslie] Why are you giggling? Ooga-Ooga. Far-off cars. [KenwardElmslie] Deliriously happy, we stare up at countless stars. [KenwardElmslie] Captivates our eyes [KenwardElmslie] To see Gemini rise. [KenwardElmslie] Hound dog yowl. [KenwardElmslie] The hoot of an owl. [KenwardElmslie] Skeeter bite stung. [KenwardElmslie] So young. So young. [KenwardElmslie] Who can I tell it to? [KenwardElmslie] Our night in River Woods? [KenwardElmslie] Who'd bother listening [KenwardElmslie] To the reminiscing [KenwardElmslie] Of an old fool? [KenwardElmslie] Our night in River Woods. [KenwardElmslie] Our night full of love [KenwardElmslie] I'm the sole survivor of. [KenwardElmslie] Alive. [KenwardElmslie] Alive. [KenwardElmslie] Survivor of the night. [KenwardElmslie] Another dark night. [KenwardElmslie] Another dark night. [KenwardElmslie] And another dark night [KenwardElmslie] Of my soul. [RobertArmin] A wonderful lyric. Thank you for sharing it with us. [RobertArmin] We have a few minutes left, so let me ask you how you first met John Latouche. [KenwardElmslie] I grew up in Colorado Springs, and my father was British. And in 1939 when war broke out, we moved to Washington DC where he worked as a decoder [KenwardElmslie] And then we moved to New York and I went to Harvard. And then, after college, I didn't know what to do [KenwardElmslie] cause I wanted to write musicals [KenwardElmslie] My sister Cynthia found me a position as gopher at an interracial theatre in Cleveland, Karamu Theatre. I prevailed on the director [KenwardElmslie] to play Ballet Ballads by John Latouche, music by Jerome Moross, and that's how I met John and got to New York. [RobertArmin] If anyone has a chance to see the musical revue, Taking A Chance On Love, it is the story of Latouche's life and music and Kenward is a major part of that story. [KenwardElmslie] It's going to be done in May, I think, at the 42nd Street Moon Theatre in San Francisco. [RobertArmin] Thank you so much for giving your time this evening to talk about one of my most favorite musicals, The Grass Harp. [RobertArmin] I wish we had time to talk more about your other shows, but maybe next time. [RobertArmin] Just a reminder to those reading along, my guest next week will be Susan Egan. [RobertArmin] Good night, Kenward. [KenwardElmslie] Thanks you so much. See ya! "Don't take any wooden nickels."
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