''Platinum'' is a stage
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
with a book by
Will Holt
Will Holt (April 30, 1929 – May 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, librettist and lyricist. He was known first and primarily as a folk performer during the 1950s, when he made early and influential recordings of such songs as " Sinn ...
and
Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Gerald Vilanch (born November 23, 1947) is an American comedy writer, songwriter, and actor. He is a two-time Emmy Award-winner. Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on ''Hollywood Squares'', as a celebrity participa ...
, music by
Gary William Friedman, and lyrics by Holt.
Set in a
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
recording studio, it centers on Lila Halliday, a star of 1940s and 1950s movie musicals who is attempting a comeback. In the process, she falls for a young rock star named Dan Danger.
Background
''Platinum'' was originally titled ''Sunset'' when it had its world premiere in 1977 at the
Studio Arena Theater in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. The production, with a book by Louis LaRusso II, was directed by
Tommy Tune
Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...
. When the musical evolved into ''Platinum'' and moved to
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
, only the songwriters,
Alexis Smith
Margaret Alexis Smith (June 8, 1921 – June 9, 1993) was a Canadian-born American actress, pin-up girl and singer. She appeared in several major Hollywood films in the 1940s and had a notable career on Broadway in the 1970s, winning a Tony Aw ...
,
Lisa Mordente, and ensemble member Christine Faith remained with the production.
Original cast and characters
Songs
*1977 world premiere production
* Sunset City
* Nothing But
* Back With a Beat
* Rock is My Way of Life
* Destiny
* Disco Destiny
* Waltz
* Retreat
* Moments
* Montage
* Trials and Tribulations/I Like You
* True Music
* Retreat (Reprise)
* Good Time Song
* Finale
*1978 Broadway production
;Act One
* Back With a Beat/Nothing But
* Sunset
* Ride Baby Ride
* Destiny
* Disco Destiny
* I Am the Light
* Movie Star Mansion
;Act Two
* Platinum Dreams
* Trials and Tribulations/I Like You
* 1945
* Too Many Mirrors
* Old Times, Good Times
*1984 Village Gate NYC production
* Living on Sunset
* Nothing But
* The Funky
* Destiny
* Back With a Beat
* Standing In Need
* Rock is My Way of Life
* Sunset Dreams
* Dan's Rap
* Cheap Chablis
* Bug On The Windshield Of Life
* 1945
* Retreat
* I Am The Light
* Moments
* Old Times, Good Times
* This One's for Me
Production history
Directed and choreographed by
Joe Layton
Joe Layton (May 3, 1931 – May 5, 1994) was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.Dunning, Jennifer. (9 May 1994). Page B7.'Joe Layton, Choreographer And Director, Is Dead at 64' Obituary. New York ...
, the Broadway production of ''Platinum'' opened on November 12, 1978, at the
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church building at 237 West 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which formerly operated as a cinema and Broadway th ...
, where it closed on December 10, 1978, after 33 performances and 12 previews. Despite its short run, it garnered
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
nominations for Smith and Richard Cox and
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...
nominations for Cox and Mordente. (A revised version of the original ''Sunset'' was presented
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the
Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Streets in Greenwich Village, New York. Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 160 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structu ...
in November 1983. Starring
Tammy Grimes
Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress and singer.
Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brow ...
and directed by Andre Ernotte it closed after one performance and 13 previews.)
In August 2010, a revised version of ''Platinum'' developed by UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc. played the
New York International Fringe Festival
The New York International Fringe Festival, or FringeNYC, was a fringe theater festival and one of the largest multi-arts events in North America. It took place over the course of a few weeks in October, spread on more than 20 stages across se ...
. It was directed by Ben West with choreography by Rommy Sandhu.
Critical reception
Douglas Watt, reviewing in the ''
New York Daily News
The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' said the musical was "full of electricity and sends you into the night charged up." ''Platinum'' was "the first big fat hit" of the Broadway season, and Smith was "vibrant and smashing looking." He singled out the songs "Destiny" and "Movie Star Mansion." In all, the show was "a triumphant piece of musical staging" that achieved "pure excitement."
Martin Gottfried
Martin Gottfried (October 9, 1933 – March 6, 2014) was an American critic, columnist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Biography
Early career
Gottfried was a 1959 graduate of Columbia College in New York City, and attended Columb ...
called Friedman's music, "excellent - melodic, ambitious, ingenious, and decidedly theatrical", and Holt's lyrics "clean and crafty."
On the flip side,
Walter Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, general ...
said, "I have a feeling that if ''Platinum'' could just get rid of its book, its songs, its microphones and its almost arrogantly messy setting, it would be light miles ahead."
In his 2015 reference compilation ''The Complete Book Of 1970's Broadway Musicals'', author Dan Dietz said that the lyrics by Will Holt and the Music by Gary William Friedman "offered an array of clever and melodic songs, and their ''Platinum'' score is one of the most underrated of the era."
[Dietz, Dan, ''The Complete Book of 1970's Broadway Musicals''. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2015. , p. 416]
Awards and nominations
;1978 Tony Award nominations
* Best Actress – Alexis Smith
* Best Featured Actor – Richard Cox
;1978 Drama Desk Award nominations
* Best Featured Actress – Lisa Mordente
* Best Featured Actor – Richard Cox
Notes
References
* Mandelbaum, Ken, ''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops''. St. Martin's Press 1991.
* Suskin, Steven, ''More Opening Nights on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook Of The Musical Theatre from 1965 Through 1981''. Schirmer Books 1997.
* Mordden, Ethan, ''One More Kiss: The Broadway Musical in the 1970s''. Palgrave Macmillan 2004.
* ''Sunset'' ''Playbill'', Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo, New York, 1977
External links
*
Gary William Friedman official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platinum
1978 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals set in Los Angeles