NOTE:
The first part of this article is unrelated to Swing!,
but I wanted to present this article as it originally appeared
BACK WHERE
SHE BELONGS
The
Record - Bergen County, NJ
By ROBERT FELDBERG
Date: 12-05-1999,
Sunday
"I'm a specialist,
honey," Elizabeth Ashley said in that warm, husky voice that's been catnip to
theatergoers for almost 40 years now.
"I've only done one TV
series -- and that was a hit, 'Evening Shade.' Theater is what I do."
There have been films also
-- "The Carpetbaggers," "Ship of Fools" -- and many TV guest
appearances, but the stage is where Ashley has made her mark, beginning with a
star-making, Tony-winning role as Art Carney's daughter in the 1961 comedy "Take Her,
She's Mine." There was also a Tony nomination two years later for Neil Simon's
"Barefoot in the Park," opposite Robert Redford, and "Agnes of God,"
and many Tennessee Williams plays.
And now Ashley is back,
starring at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater in "If Memory Serves," a play by
Jonathan Tolins ("The Twilight of the Golds"). It's about an actress, played by
Ashley, who was once America's favorite TV mother, but has fallen on hard career times.
The play is in previews, with the opening Wednesday night.
"I'd been sort of
looking for a new play, a new American play," said Ashley, who's been more closely
identified with revivals in recent years. "And after I read five or 10 pages, I
decided I wanted to do it."
The play's story spins into
motion when the actress' son reveals disturbing memories about his childhood, creating a
media frenzy that puts the actress back into the spotlight.
"It's about the
relationship of celebrities to the public, about someone trapped into a misstatement, and
the part played by the tabloid press," said Ashley.
The play has been described
as a comedy, but Ashley said that it has a quite serious side. "I'd call it a
point-of-view play," she said. "It's not `King Lear.'"
***
"Swing" may be
the only Broadway show that got its start in a Westchester County restaurant.
Paul Kelly, aspiring actor,
was working in his brother's dining spot. "There were a lot of weddings," he
recalled, "and week after week, I noticed that the only music that got everybody
going was swing. When they played 'In the Mood,' people from 8 to 80 got up to
dance."
He filed the information
away, and then, 2 1/2 years ago, when he had the chance to pitch some ideas to producer
Marc Routh, he mentioned a revue of swing music, "something with competitive swing
dancers, a really hot band, and a couple of singers."
Routh, who's had success
with his producing partners doing such revues as "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and
"Stomp," liked the concept, and asked Kelly to put together a 30-minute
presentation, which he did after touring swing clubs and competitions.
"I finally chose
dancers from London, Stockholm, and California," said Kelly, "and we had a local
band. It went very well."
It led to a full-fledged
workshop, and now to Broadway, where "Swing," with its dance teams, singers, and
swing tunes old and new is in previews, with an opening Thursday night at the St. James
Theater.
After the experienced Lynne
Taylor-Corbett was brought in as director and choreographer, Kelly, who lives in Hoboken,
became the show's dance researcher and adviser. He gets a "based on an original idea
by Paul Kelly" credit.
"It hasn't been a bad
way to make a living," said the 37-year-old Kelly, who's worked as an actor, writer,
director, and producer. "The experience has been amazingly joyful."
