The company of Kiss Me, Kate
TS: How different is it to music direct a revival like Kiss Me, Kate as opposed to a new show? PG: With a new show, you don’t know what’s going to work. You know “So in Love” is going to work. You know “Too Darn Hot” is going to work. All you have to do is do a fantastic job of putting it together. At the first preview of Sweeney Todd, we had no clue. We did the first act of Sweeney Todd, and when I came back at intermission, half the audience had gone away. When we did the first preview of Sunday in the Park with George, we sang “Sunday” at the end of the first act, and when we came back after intermission, there was no audience there because they thought the show was over. With a revival, all you need to do is a superior job of putting this score together. You use everything you’ve learned about the score since that show’s original production.
TS: What are the challenges for performers singing a Cole Porter score like this one? Is there part of the show that you especially love? PG: Well, I think “So in Love” is fantastic. I think all of Porter’s songs are extraordinary. The challenge in this score becomes working with somebody for whom the whole world portrayed on stage is different from what they know and understand. They need to explore the style of this music to the point where they can do it justice. Not for the audience, but for them, for their characters. To hold on to the beauty of the period and the Shakespearean language can be difficult for some people. It is sometimes a challenge for actors who were born long after the show was first written, because nobody hears music like that on a daily basis anymore. Which is, in my mind, all the more reason to do it.
TS: Why do you think Cole Porter’s work has staying power? PG: I think he is a complete artist like Steve [Sondheim] is. I’m not comparing Porter to Sondheim, but he did write both music and lyrics. And when anybody writes both, their material is unmistakably intertwined. Kander and Ebb sounds like Kander and Ebb; it sounds like two people. With Cole Porter, the tune and lyrics come from the same soul and passion. I think Porter’s work has longevity because it wasn’t just frivolous. Yes, he’s funny and witty, but he also wrote a lot of poetry that has lasting power. If you read the lyrics to “Were Thine that Special Face (available HERE),” you’ll understand what I am saying.
TS: You have been working with Warren Carlyle, the choreographer, and Scott Ellis, the director, for years now, and I’m wondering what you think makes this a successful collaboration? PG: Scott and I have been working together since he was a performer in The Rink. Ever since he became a director, we’ve collaborated. We’ve done a lot of television together, we’ve done two productions of A Little Night Music at City Opera when it was going. He understands collaboration. I mean, when the choreographer can stand up and say to the director, “What would happen if we did it this way?” without getting his head bitten off or fired— that’s true collaboration. Warren and Scott take it one step further. Anyone sitting in that room can suggest things. It’s what makes their work great. It is why I’m here. It’s why I keep coming back.
TS: Scott says that you are absolutely the best at working with actors. PG: The three of us care about each other and what we’re doing. Everyone working on a show of ours has a voice, which is what it’s always been about for me. That’s how I was trained by Hal Prince for 12 years in his office with Sondheim and other artists. I learned that collaboration means “speak up!” The ironic thing is that it doesn’t happen very often. I can count on my left hand the times Scott and Warren and I have disagreed, and we have, heatedly, but it is because we don’t want the audience to see a mediocre production. We want them to leave the theatre thrilled.
TS: You and your son Alex are going to be music directors on Roundabout’s two musicals this season. Kiss Me, Kate and Merrily We Roll Along will be running simultaneously. What did you teach him? PG: He’s got many talents, and I always say to him, “You can do all these amazing creative things, and I can only do this one damn thing.” But, it’s true. Alex can do anything. He’s orchestrating Merrily, too. I taught him nothing. He learned by example. He was in the theatre with me a lot. I always answered the questions he asked about the theatre. When he was at Michigan and decided he wanted to be a performer and not a musician, I simply said, “Do what you want. Follow your heart.”
TS: Are there any musicals that you’d like to music direct or conduct that haven’t been revived lately? PG: I would have liked to conduct Carousel. And funnily enough, I wouldn’t mind doing A Little Night Music again. Anything Steve Sondheim writes, I will do.•
KISS ME, KATE UPSTAGE GUIDE 17
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