Showstopper by Pogrebin Abigail

Author:Pogrebin, Abigail [Pogrebin, Abigail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-05-31T07:00:00+00:00

“How can you get so far off the track?”

In hindsight, it’s hard to believe we remained entirely optimistic, but we did. These guys were too big to fail.

We were happily ensconced in the Alvin Theatre on West 52nd Street, where Annie had played four years earlier. My dressing-room mirror was alongside Tonya Pinkins’ and Donna Marie Elio’s (now Asbury)– two of my greatest pals in the troupe.

The first preview, October 8, 1981, was charged; Merrily’s overture is one of the most rousing and gorgeous ever written, and we were all trembling backstage as we listened to it, poised in our red graduation robes. (There was a lot of playful groping under those things.)

But as the evening evolved, seats began to empty.

By the second act, we were singing to people’s backs walking up the aisles to the exits.

Previews got extended.

My father used to pick me up at the stage door. Often he would stand in the wings, watching us sing the penultimate number: “Our Time.” We were all positioned on the scaffolding set, looking out at the starry sky, vowing to be “the names in tomorrow’s papers.”

There were fifty-two preview performances until the moment of truth: opening night, November 16.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.