THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALSTHE MUSICAL!Music by Eric RockwellLyrics by Joanne BogartBook by Eric Rockwell and Joanne BogartDirected by Pamela Hunt

MAJOR SPONSOR: BUDWEISER SELECTCONTENTS2 The 4113 A/S/L4 FYI5 HTH, RMAI6 B4U7 IRL8 F2F

12 SWDYT?

STUDY GUIDES ARESUPPORTED BY A GENEROUS GRANTFROM CITIGROUP

2006—2007 SEASON

MISSOURI ARTS COUNCIL�

10. TBA Ushers will seat your school or class as a group,so even if you are dying to mingle with the group from theall girls school that just walked in the door, stick with yourfriends until you have been shown your section in thetheatre.

9. SITD The house lights will dim immediately before theperformance begins and then go dark. Fight off that oh-so-immature urge to whisper, giggle like a grade schooler, oryell at this time and during any other blackouts in the show.

8. SED Before the performance begins, turn off all cellphones, pagers, beepers and watch alarms. If you need totext, talk, or dial back during intermission, please make sureto click off before the show resumes.

7. TMI Not to sound like your mom, but “if you need togo now, you needed to go then.” Leaving the theatre duringthe performance is disruptive, so take care of any personalneeds before the show starts.

6. RTM When you arrive at the theatre, read theproduction program. It’s like a deluxe version of liner notesand a free souvenir, all in one.

5. P-ZA? NW! Though your ability to eat ten slices at onesitting may impress your friends, no one wants to listen toyou chew, slurp, or smack, so please leave all food, drink,and gum outside the theatre.

4. TLK-2-U-L-8-R We know that you will be dying todiscuss what you see onstage with your friends, but pleasewait until intermission. Any talking—even whispering— isvery distracting for both the actors onstage and the audienceseated around you.

3. LOL Without you, we really wouldn’t have a show. It’syour job to laugh when a scene is funny or maybe even sheda tear or two in a tender moment. However, since you arenot the audience at The Jerry Springer Show please refrainfrom inappropriate responses such as talking, whistling,making catcalls or singing along with the performers.

2. SOP While it’s great that you want a celeb picture ofyour day at The Rep, the theatre is off-limits to thepaparazzi. Flash photography interrupts the performance andalong with videorecording is prohibited by Actors Equityrules. You can sneak a peek at production photos on ourwebsite, www.repstl.org.

1. LLTA Let the actors know that you respect their workby remaining for the curtain call at the end of theperformance. Show your appreciation through applause.

MIHYAP: TOP TEN WAYS TOSTAY CONNECTED AT THE REP

The Teacher’sLoungeIn an effort to make our educational materials more accessible tostudents and easier for educators to incorporate into the classroom, we have adopted a new, more student-oriented format. We hope that you will circulate thisguide among your students in the weeks preceding yourvisit to The Rep, encouraging them to browse it beforeand after class and as time allows, using it as a launchpoint for both pre- and post-performance discussions.You may also want to visit our website, www.repstl.orgfor additional information regarding the production elements, such as scenery, costumes, and lighting. Any materials, either from this guide, or from our

website may be reproduced for use in the class-room. As always, we appreciate yourmaking live theatre a part of your class-

room experience and welcome yourfeedback and questions.

Show Me Standards: CA 2, 5, 6, 7; FA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; SS 2, 6 and Illinois Learning Standards: 1, 2, 4, 5, 25, 26, 27.

At The Rep, we knowthat life moves fast—okay, really fast.But we also knowthat some things

are worth slowing down for. We believe that live theatre is one of those pit stops worth making and are excited thatyou are going to stop by for a show. To help you get themost bang for your buck, we have put together WU? @ THE REP—an IM guide that will give youeverything you need to know to get at the top of yourtheatergoing game—fast. You’ll find character descriptions(A/S/L), a plot summary (FYI), biographical informationon the playwright (F2F), historical context (B4U), andother bits and pieces (HTH). Most importantly, we’ll havesome ideas about what this all means IRL, anyway.

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CORN!JUNE is behind on the rent and may loseher chance at true love with Big Willy if shecan’t find a way to pay.

BIG WILLY loves the fields of corn onKansas farms but isn’t sure he’s ready tomarry and leave his exciting life as acarnival barker.

JIDDER, the evil landlord, will either collecthis rent money or make June his wife aspayment.

MOTHER ABBY urges her daughter not togive in to Jidder, but to follow her dreams.

A LITTLE COMPLEXJEUNE is a somewhat ditzy young womanwho has fallen behind on her rent and isclose to falling prey to Jitter.

BILLY spends his time writing songs inspiredby his girlfriend Jeune, until he must springinto action to defend her.

JITTER fancies himself an artist, and swearsvengeance on his tenants when they areless than respectful of his “talent.”

ABBY’S advice to her neighbor, Jeune,reflects her odd and abrasivepersonality.

DEAR ABBYJUNIE FAYE is a lovelygirl who seems to be aperfect match forWilliam, but has fallenbehind on her rent.

WILLIAM lives for his Auntie Abby andenjoys the comforts of her luxuriouslifestyle.

MR. JITTERS is the landlord who needs toget his tenant’s rent, but has other thingson his mind.

AUNTIE ABBY, an aging former star,encourages others to live by her philosophy,“Live! Live! Live!”

ASPECTS OF JUNITAJUNITA has fallen behind on her rent, butwith her status as a rock opera star, feelsshe is above such things.

BILL wants to help his girlfriend Junita, butis unsure of their relationship.

PHANTOM JITTER leads a double life asJunita’s landlord and an opera writer inhiding.

ABIGAIL VON SCHTARR is unwilling toallow Junita to upstage her as the premieropera star.

SPEAKEASYJUNY works in the speakeasy and musttry to find a way to afford her rent.

VILLY was Juny’s boyfriend, but theirrelationship has changed during histime in prison.

JUTTER runs the speakeasy and ispressuring Juny so he can get rentfrom at least one of his deadbeattenants.

FRAULEIN ABBY gives Juny somequestionable advice in her attempt to

find rent money.

THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS, The Musical!is a fun, hilarious spoof of some of Broadway’sbest and most beloved musical styles. Onestandard storyline becomes quite differentwhen told in the style of five different musicaltheatre masters. In the first production, Corn!,we meet young June, a fresh-faced farm girlfrom Kansas. June is in terrible trouble—shecan’t pay her rent and in lieu of payment, herevil landlord, Jidder, is going to marry her.June’s sometimes boyfriend, Big Willy, can’tdecide if he wants to marry June or continuehis life of adventure as a carnival barker andMiss Abby, June’s Mother, is left urging theboy to save her daughter. The day of thewedding, Big Willy has wrestled with hisfeelings and finally made his choice to staywith June, but as he arrives to claim his lovehe finds her already married to Jidder. Howwill the lovers get out of this predicament?

SCENE II brings us to the New York Cityapartment complex, The Woods, in A LittleComplex. Down-on-her-luck Jeune hasn’t paidher rent and is wondering when she’ll beevicted. Jitter, the slightly crazylandlord/artist, is on a rampage becausesomeone has thrown his “Art” in thedumpster. To exact his revenge on his tenants,Jitter decides to offer Jeune the opportunityto pose for him as back payment for her laterent. However, it is soon clear that he hasmore up his sleeve, and that he intends to killJeune and make her body his newest artisticendeavor. Just in the nick of time, Jeune’sstruggling songwriter boyfriend, Billy, stops by to check on his girl and play her the newsong that she has inspired. Jeune must choosebetween eviction and love, or Jitter and ahome. Will some timely advice from anotherneighbor, Abby, be what she needs to makethe right choice?

In the next story, Dear Abby, we find ourselvesat a party in the swanky penthouse apartmentof Abby, a former actress still living out thesuccess of earlier years. Encouraging herphilosophy of “live, live, live,” Abby introduces

her nephew William to the lovely young JunieFaye, who is confronted about her back rentby the landlord, Mr. Jitters. Frightened of theconsequences, Junie begins to cry and Mr.Jitters unhappily complains about the party.Hearing this, Abby wonders if she has doneenough to ensure the success of her party. CanAbby mend the situation between June andMr. Jitters?

ACT II OPENS with Aspects of Junita, inwhich we find young rock opera star Junita isbehind in her rent. The landlord, Jitter,demands payment from Junita who assureshim that she’ll pay it as soon as she can. AsJunita exits, we discover the landlord’s trueidentity—he is none other than themysterious opera impresario, Sir PhantomJitter! The Phantom is desperate for Junita tosing for him in his brand new opera. Junita isunsure if she can sing real opera, and she alsohas another problem on her mind. Herrelationship with her boyfriend Bill is injeopardy and he refuses to pay her rent.Desperate for help, Junita goes to thePhantom who assures her that with his newopera, she will be a star. At this moment,former opera star Abigail Von Schtarr enterswith some advice for Junita and Bill comesrunning to win back his love. Don’t miss thefinal five minutes as someone won’t make itout alive in the stunning conclusion of thistwisted tale.

THE FINAL SCENE gives us Speakeasy, set ina 1930s Chicago cabaret. Jutter, the landlord,demands rent from his delinquent speakeasygirl Juny, who spends much of her timecorrecting others’ pronunciation of her name.Juny rushes to the prison, where herboyfriend, Villy, is serving time. To her dismay,Juny finds Villy a changed man—he’s gay andrefuses to pay her rent! Back at the speakeasy,Fraulein Abby advises Juny to sell herself forrent money. Reluctantly, Juny offers herself toJutter, but he is uninterested. Trying to help,Fraulein Abby offers herself to Jutter, butagain he turns the women down. Who willrescue Juny this time?

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POINT OF VIEW: amanner of viewing things;a perspective

BARKER: an employeewho stands before theentrance to a show, as at a carnival, and solicitscustomers with a loud sales spiel

SOLILOQUY: a dramaticor literary form ofdiscourse in which acharacter talks to himselfor herself to reveal his orher thoughts withoutaddressing a listener

LEASE: a contract grantinguse or occupation ofproperty during a specified

period in exchange for aspecified rent

ABSTRUSE: difficult tounderstand; recondite

ABYSMAL: resembling anabyss in depth;unfathomable; very bad

OBJETS D’ART: (French)an object of artistic merit

PLATITUDE: trite or banalremark or statement,especially one expressed asif it were original orsignificant

DÉJÀ VU: the illusion ofhaving already experiencedsomething actually beingexperienced for the firsttime

SPEAKEASY: a place for the illegal sale andconsumption of alcoholic drinks, as during Prohibition in the United States

CABARET: a restaurant or nightclub providingshort programs of liveentertainment; also thefloor show presented bysuch a restaurant ornightclub

CABERNET: superiorBordeaux type of red wine

COGNOSCENTI: a personwith superior, usuallyspecialized knowledge orhighly refined taste; aconnoisseur

READ MORE ABOUT ITWe encourage you to explore the following websites for more information.For show synopses, song lists, discussion forums, links and Broadway news, visit www.musicals.net.

You’ll find individual histories for musicals on stage, screen, television and cabaret as well as artist bios and current and demolished Broadway theatre histories at www.musicals101.com.

Bloom, Ken and Frank Vlastnik. Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. New York, NY: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2004.

Jackson, Arthur. The Best Musicals from Show Boat to Sweeny Todd. New York, NY: Crown, 1979.

Secrest, Meryle. Stephen Sondheim: A Life. Delta, 1999.

Prince, Harold. Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz.Faber & Faber, 2003.

Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music : The Story of Rodgers and Hammerstein Revised and Updated. Applause, 2002.

Citron, Stephen. Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune. Yale University Press, 2004.

Walsh, Michael. Andrew Lloyd Webber. Harry N. Abrams, 1989.

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SONGS, DANCES AND musical numbershave been a part of entertainment since thetime of ancient Greek theatre, exhibiting amusical tradition that dates back over 2000years. Storytelling ballads, stories in songform passed down orally through generations,also contributed to the development ofmusical theatre. A direct descendent of theseforms, Opera also told stories through musicbut furthered the form by writing down thescript and moving to a stage setting. In 1597,Dafne emerged as the first recognized opera,and from opera came operetta, literallymeaning “little opera.” It was not until TheBlack Crook, which premiered in 1866, thatwe find the first theatre piece that resemblesthe modern definition of a musical.

THE FIRST MUSICALS ignored plot in favorof a focus on star actors, big dance routinesand popular songs. In fact, throughout thefirst half of the 20th century, popular musicwas dominated by theatre writers.Lighthearted fare such as No, No, Nanette andFunny Face may have had forgettable plots,but they produced standards from GeorgeGershwin, Cole Porter, and Rogers and Hart.The first major revolution in musical theatrecame with the complete integration of bookand score in Show Boat. This show featuredpopular jazz and gospel music, a consistentplot line and well developed characters, allaspects that separated it from both operettaand musicals that had come before.Premiering in 1927, this stunning productionimmediately thrilled audiences with a newconcept and ran a total of 572 shows.

AFTER THE SUCCESS of Show Boat, creativeteams began following the new format of ahit. In 1931, Of Thee I Sing, a political satirewith music by Gershwin, became the firstmusical to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Thefirst of the Rodgers and Hammerstein hits,Oklahoma!, earned musical theatre the statusof a significant American art form and afteropening in 1943, began a national tour that

would last ten years. The work that wasproduced in the years following Oklahoma! isgenerally considered to be the “golden age”of the Broadway musical. Inspired by thesuccess of Rodgers and Hammerstein’sblockbuster, Irving Berlin developed Annie GetYour Gun and Cole Porter used Shakespeare’sThe Taming of the Shrew as inspiration for hisown Kiss Me, Kate.

THE 1950S and ‘60s saw another evolutionin musical form. As popular music began tochange with rock ‘n’ roll becomingmainstream, musicals began to feature thenew style. West Side Story, Jesus ChristSuperstar, The Wiz and Hair embraced thismovement, tailoring their music andstorylines to the younger generation. Anotherground-breaking change came when Catspremiered in 1982, showcasing opulent sets,extravagant costumes, fantastic makeup andthrilling special effects. Influenced by theEuropean trend of “mega-musicals” whichfeatured a pop-influenced score and specialeffects, many notable works such as ThePhantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast,The Lion King and Sunset Boulevard, enjoyedhuge popularity when adapted to the stage.

CURRENTLY, musical theatre is being pulledin many different directions. With theenormous cost of a Broadway show, manyproducers are joining forces and remountingprevious productions to secure a hit. Thereare some, however, who are still willing totake a chance, as evidenced in the new andunusual Avenue Q (which uses puppets) orBombay Dreams (based on the Indian cinema“Bollywood” creations). Some shows, like thepopular Wicked which first opened in SanFrancisco, are even taking their productionsoutside the traditional home of New York totake a chance at success. The next bigmusical change may even incorporate epicspectacles, as seen in The Lord of the Rings,billed as “the biggest stage production inmusical theatre history.”

“You walk into a show and find you’re watching the same plot a lot.So many points of view, though…”

IMAGINE A MINOR automobile accidentoccurs. Two drivers are involved and eachhas a passenger. Two women are walkingdown the sidewalk; one of them is a policeofficer. A television traffic helicopter iscircling overhead with a pilot andcameraman on board. In this situationalone, we have eight different points ofview, and most likely, eight differentdescriptions of the accident.

NO MATTER WHETHER you’re discussing aromantic breakup, a play at the plate in theWorld Series or who’s responsible for afender bender, point of view plays a crucialrole in how people make decisions. Just aseach person is different, each person learns,observes, processes and discovers thingsdifferently. Perhaps one driver believes theaccident is his fault because he was swervingto avoid a dog in the road. Maybe the

woman on the sidewalk is worried that shecaused the accident by walking her dogwithout a leash. The police officer mightplace blame on the second driver, forfollowing too close and not leaving time tostop when the first car was forced to brakefor the dog. Who is correct? And how didthese people each come to differentconclusions?

MANY VARIABLES influence anindividual’s perspective. A person’spersonality, his or her upbringing,education, family life, preferences,friendships, career—all of these factorscreate biases and tendencies which peopleuse to create judgments. Since no one’s life can be exactly the same as another’s, no one’s point of view will be exactly thesame as someone else’s. Even children raisedin the same household, who attend the sameschool, will have different points of viewthat they develop based on the individualway they look at the world.

Different points of view can definitely have a largeeffect on the outcome of a situation.

➤ Have you ever been in a position where point ofview influenced your decision?

➤ Can you see a situation in a different light onceyou hear another person’s version of events?

➤ Create an imaginary situation, like the car accidentabove, and ask several classmates for theirpersonal evaluation. How do their answers differ?What circumstances do you think contribute tothese different perspectives?

JOHN KANDER & FRED EBBWITH A PARTNERSHIP that has yieldedthe likes of Chicago and Cabaret, Kander andEbb are well known as one of the greatestsongwriting teams on Broadway. In fact,Kander and Ebb are currently the longest-running music and lyrics partnership inBroadway musical history.

BORN IN 1927, in Kansas City, Missouri,John Kander studied music as a child,continued in college and after graduationbegan working in the musical theatrebusiness. In 1956, he started his musicalcareer as a pianist, but it wasn’t long beforehe was preparing his own arrangements.Kander had some success with various otherpartners before meeting Fred Ebb in 1962.Ebb already had some experience in lyric

writing, having previously written fornightclubs and television shows, but whenthe two met their experience and abilitiesinstantly complemented each other andcreated an artistic powerhouse. The newteam made their Broadway debut with thescore for Flora, the Red Menace, whichincluded a Tony-Award winning performanceby Liza Minnelli. After this great success,Kander and Ebb went on to write fornumerous Broadway musicals includingZorba, The Happy Time, Girls and 70, but alsofound success in writing for television andmotion pictures. In 1975 the pair wrotesongs for Barbara Steisand’s Funny Lady andfollowed this with Liza Minnelli’s New York,New York which would produce the enduringhit of the same name.

IN ADDITION to numerous Tony Award-winning productions, Kander and Ebb havebeen honored with the Stage Directors &Choreographers Foundations Mr. AbbottAward. The two men were also recipients ofKennedy Center Honors andwere inducted into the NewYork Theatre Hall of Fame in1991.

GERALD“JERRY”HERMANONE OF THELEADINGcomposers and

lyricists for American musical theatre of thepast 40 years, Jerry Herman began hismusical career under the tuition of hismother, a professional piano teacher. Afterworking on several Off-Broadway musicals,including I Feel Wonderful, which wascomposed of music he had written while incollege, Herman found his first real successin 1961 with the score for the Broadwaymusical Milk and Honey which ran for 543performances. Three years later Hermanproduced his biggest triumph, Hello, Dolly!,which garnered a Grammy for its titlenumber and gave Carol Channing hergreatest role. In 1966, he had another smashhit with Mame, the production manyconsider to be his best.

IN ADDITION to Grammy awards for theHello, Dolly! and Mame cast albums, Hermanreceived Tony Awards for his work on Hello,Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. He has beeninducted into the New York Theatre Hall ofFame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame andwas awarded a lifetime achievement awardfrom the Hollywood Press Club in 1996.

SIRANDREW LLOYDWEBBERBORN IN 1948

in London, Andrew Lloyd Webber is knownas one of the most commercially successfulcomposers of musical theatre today. LloydWebber first appeared on the musical theatrescene at the tender age of 19 with Josephand the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, acollaboration with Tim Rice. The pair wenton to create Jesus Christ Superstar, a “rock opera” that began as an album,became a concert tour and later a full stageproduction, and also the popular Evita. Afterparting ways with Rice, Lloyd Webber tried anew style of writing, composing music forexisting lyrics, rather than writing with apartner. In 1981 Lloyd Webber wrote one ofhis biggest hits, Cats, based on T.S. Eliot’sOld Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Thisproduction would become the longestrunning Broadway musical, spanning a time of more than 20 years, until it wasovertaken by another Lloyd Webber megahit, The Phantom of the Opera.

MANY OF Lloyd Webber’s musicals havebeen taken to the big screen, with greatsuccess as motion pictures. Jesus ChristSuperstar became a film in 1973; the filmversion of Evita starred the likes of Madonnaand Antonio Banderas and earned LloydWebber an Academy Award for the new song,“You Must Love Me.” In addition to producing16 musicals and several film scores, LloydWebber has accumulated a number of awardsincluding seven Tony Awards, three GrammyAwards, an Oscar, an International Emmy, sixOlivier Awards and a Golden Globe.

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STEPHENSONDHEIMSTEPHENSONDHEIM wasborn in 1930 andgrew up on theUpper West Side of

Manhattan. When he was about 10 years old,his mother moved with him to Doylestown,Pennsylvania, very near the residence ofwell-known librettist Oscar Hammerstein II.Sondheim quickly became like an apprenticeto the famous lyricist and soon gainedentrance to the professional world of NewYork musical theatre.

SONDHEIM’S BIG BREAK came at the ageof 25, when he wrote the lyrics to thehugely successful West Side Story. Soon after,he found himself in a fortunate partnershipwith Jule Styne and Arthur Laurents as hewrote the lyrics for the hit, Gypsy. Finally in1962, Sondheim found a project for which hecould write both music and lyrics, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to theForum. This bawdy musical ran for almost1,000 performances and earned a Tony Awardfor Best Musical. After a few attempts thatproved to be less than successful, Sondheimagain found himself at the top of his gamewith Company, a production which won theDrama Critics and Tony Awards for BestMusical and earnedSondheim awards for bestcomposer and bestlyricist. Other musicalsfor which Sondheim isfamous include A Little NightMusic, which showcased hisknowledge of classical music,and Sweeny Todd, a comiccommentary on the dark side of the 19th-centurysocial system.

RICHARD ROGERS ANDOSCAR HAMMERSTEIN IIMUCH OF THIS famous duo’s popularity wasderived from a string of successes during the1940s and ‘50s, a time generally considered tobe the “golden age” of the Broadway musical.The pair collaborated on stage musicals andmusical films, and also produced the IrvingBerlin classic, Annie Get Your Gun.

RICHARD RODGERS was born in New Yorkin 1902. Beginning in 1920, his professionalcareer began including a series of musicalsfor Broadway, London and Hollywood writtenwith songwriting partner, Lorenz Hart. Inthe first decade of their collaboration,Rodgers and Hart wrote a great number ofshows but their partnership was cut shortwith the death of Hart in 1943. That sameyear, Rodgers joined forces with lyricist andauthor Oscar Hammerstein II, whose work inoperetta was as well known as Rodgers’ ownin musical comedy. The new duo’s firstcreation, Oklahoma!, was considered the firstof the musical play genre, and marked thebeginning of a new wave in Broadwayhistory. Following the great success of thisfirst offering, Rodgers and Hammersteinbrought to the stage a string of mega hitsincluding Carousel, South Pacific, The Kingand I and The Sound of Music. Over thecourse of their long partnership, the pairearned 34 Tony Awards, 15 AcademyAwards, two Pulitzer Prizes, two Grammy

Awards, and two Emmy Awards.

Joanne: Jerry Herman shows are life-affirming.The stars of Jerry Herman shows are usuallymiddle-aged women. If not, they are middle-aged men dressed up as women. In any case,they are life-affirming. They are surrounded bychorus people who affirm life to the point ofhysteria.

Interviewer: What about Andrew LloydWebber?

Eric: Andrew Lloyd Webber has three names,which is more than I can say for any of theseother writers.

Joanne: The Queen loves him so much, sheknighted him. Now he has three names plus atitle. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Or is it Lord SirAndrew Lloyd Webber? Sir, Lord, whatever.Who am I to criticize? I don’t have any title.Why, the Queen of England doesn’t even knowI exist! She doesn’t call, she doesn’t write.Don’t get me started.

Interviewer: And Kander and Ebb?

Eric: Well, for starters, we knew we needed agood setting for all that jazz, booze and sex,so we decided to have the action take place ina Cabaret in Chicago. Although for somereason, they have German accents.

Joanne: But who cares? So what? It’s aMusical!

Interviewer: Could you tell us aboutThe Musical of Musicals?

Joanne: What we’ve written is actually is fivemusicals, each with the same plot but done ina different style.

Interviewer: You begin in the style of Rodgersand Hammerstein…

Eric: A very good place to start.

Interviewer: How did you go about capturingtheir sensibility?

Joanne: How do you hold a moonbeam inyour hand? They live in a world where horseswink at them, rivers whisper songs and larkslearn to pray. It would be downright spooky, ifit weren’t so wholesome. But it is.

Interviewer: Speaking of downright spooky,that leads us to your next mini-musical, in thestyle of Stephen Sondheim. How does theSondheim style differ from Rodgers andHammerstein?

Joanne: Forget wholesome. Forget optimistic.Forget that you came to the theatre to beentertained.

Eric: In this version, the landlord is ademented artist intent on savagely murderinghis tenants in order to use their corpses asmaterial for his conceptual art. It’s the perfectsubject for a musical comedy!

Interviewer: Musical Comedy! Thatimmediately brings to mind your Jerry Hermanstyle musical, Dear Abby.

Eric: An aging star. An adoring chorus.Hummable melodies. A staircase.

AN INTERVIEW WITHTHE WRITERS

“…consider the story of JitterSome had mistaken his art for litter.He left it out in the hall one dayand when he returned they had thrown

it away.They thought his art was a piece of

junk…”

➤ Clearly Jitter thinks of his creations as art,but the other tenants seem to have a verydifferent opinion. How do you define “real”art? Is some art more valuable or worthythan other types? Who do you feel canmake that decision?

“What would be the matter with the murder of a model?If the model were a moronin the middle of a muddle?”

➤ Jitter seems to be justifying the murder ofJeune because she is a bit simple and hasgotten herself into a bad situation. How doyou measure the importance of a person? Iseveryone’s life of equal value? Why or whynot? Who is qualified to make that choice?

“Tell me what to dobecause I don’t know what to do.I really think I’m going crazylike that woman in the shoe…”

➤ Jeune cannot seem to find her way out ofher problem, so she turns to Abby foradvice. Do you think this is a wise choice?What are the criteria you use whenchoosing who to ask for help?

“It’s so unfair that I should have to paymy rent like everybody else. Don’t theyknow who I am?”

➤ With past legal controversies surroundingMichael Jackson and Winona Ryder, it isclear that many people think celebrities feelthey are above the same rules andregulations as other citizens. Who do youfeel is to blame for this standard? Doessociety place unreasonable expectations onthose in the public eye? Do celebrities takeadvantage of their star status?

“Did I have genius? Never.Did I have greatness? Never.Was I a commercial success?Yes—now and forever!”

➤ In this statement, Junita gives voice to manypeople’s complaints about the current stateof music, movies and television. Is ourstandard for art and entertainment goingdown hill? Is the quality of the art beingproduced today the same as it was in thepast? Aside from the work they produce,what other factors might be contributing tomaking people famous?

“Take your hopes and dreams, crush them in the gound.The world is a dark and evil placethat keeps spinning round and round.”

➤ Juny’s outlook on life certainly is a bleakone. What might lead someone to this darkview of existence? How can you helpencourage someone who feels this wayabout life?