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Here's another of those quite-wonderful songs you've never heard of from a Broadway musical. Despite its obscurity, it comes with impeccable pedigree. This is from the show, Rex, the second-to-last show written by Richard Rodgers, and for the lyrics he teamed up with Sheldon Harnick, who wrote Fiddler on the Roof and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiorello! The 1976 show about King Henry VIII was not successful, running only 48 performances, despite starring Nicol Williamson. By some accounts, Williamson was very difficult and part of the problem. The production also was very grand, something that was never the original intent, rather meant to be a much smaller, intimate and personal show. However, only last year, Harnick and, I believe, book writer Sherman Yellen, reworked the show to its original vision, and Rex got re-mounted in Toronto to a positive response. After a bit more work, the Richard Rodgers organization, which oversees and licenses his shows and had never included Rex, finally included it in the official portfolio. 
The score is inconsistent, but has a lot of very good material in it. And this is one of my unknown favorites. It's a beautiful ballad sung by Penny Fuller (seen above with Rodgers, WIlliamson and Harnick in rehearsals), who played Anne Bolelyn. "So Much You Loved Me."
3 Comments
Arlene Paige
12/5/2013 08:57:06 pm
I saw REX in it's New York run and knew one of the actresses who played one of the wives. We had studied directing at the New School in the same class. I went on to stage manage for the teacher with a production that won him an OBIE award for best direction, and April eventually found her way to a beheading by Nicol Williamson. In the performance that I saw, Nicol managed to flip off one of his shoes and not too charmingly danced all around, in a seemingly never-ending wider circle, without it. He chose not to ad lib or stop the orchestra. So everyone danced all around looking pretty miserable and at the exit one game actor walked back across the stage and got the shoe off. I went backstage and saw my friend, April, coming down the stairs. I asked her if could visit with Nicol. So she went all the way up the stairs again to get permission and came back down with no information about why not. She actually looked hurt and I have no idea what he said. At the very last curtain call at the end of the run, he slapped one of the actors standing near him fully across the face and the actor took him up on union charges. I don't think that Nicol's worked in NY since, and not much anywhere. At the time it was considered alcoholism and he was said to be a mean drunk. Nevertheless, when I first came out to Los Angeles I was waiting for a bus on Sunset Blvd. and he came along with a plain, much younger girl, and made an obvious attempt at flirtation. He said he was going to a party and I told him that I was busy writing. I believe he was involved in some tentative attempts at British Intelligence use of odd and sundry organized gossip to connect to moneyed deals in the USA. Tony Hopkins always seemed to warmly speak of him. How much do you fancy you know about these things, Robert? You seem to be devoted to the current President. Hope you don't mind my asking?
Robert Elisberg
12/6/2013 01:48:48 am
As I noted, Nicol Williamson was considered difficult and part of the problem... I don't quite follow the connection between all that and your question at the end, but no, I don't know anything about such British Intelligence intrigues.
Arlene Paige
12/6/2013 06:03:54 am
No particular logical connection. Gestalt. Just is intriguing for real. Leave a Reply. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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