Contact (musical)

Contact is a musical "dance play" that was developed by Susan Stroman and John Weidman, with its "book" by Weidman and both choreography and direction by Stroman. It ran both off-Broadway and on Broadway in 1999–2002. It consists of three separate one-act dance plays.

Contact
Opening Night Playbill cover
MusicVarious
LyricsVarious
BookJohn Weidman
Productions1999 Off Broadway
2000 Broadway
2002 West End
2003 U.S. tour
AwardsTony Award for Best Musical

Productions

Contact premiered at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, on September 9, 1999 (after 1999 workshop productions of parts of the show),[1] then moved to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, on March 30, 2000 and played for 1,010 performances there.[2]

The show was received with critical acclaim[3] and won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical (among others).[2] The award was controversial because Contact contains no original music or live singing, and in response, a new award for Best Special Theatrical Event was introduced the following year.[4]

A West End production opened at the Queen's Theatre in October 2002, and closed on May 10, 2003.[5] The musical toured from May 2001 to June 2002, and started again in November 2002 in Toronto.[6]

The original cast album was released on March 6, 2001. PBS included the show's final performance in its program Live from Lincoln Center on September 1, 2002.[7] It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program.[8]

Regional productions

Among regional productions, the musical was presented by the Virginia Stage Company (Norfolk, Virginia) in April 2006. This was the first regional theater in the US to present Contact after the Broadway, national tour and London productions and was directed by Tome Cousin, an original cast member (who was chosen by Stroman to direct).[9]

The show was produced at the North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, Massachusetts) in June 2008, with Jarrod Emick and Naomi Hubert and directed by Tomé Cousin.[10] In conjunction with the Sarasota Ballet, the Asolo Repertory Theatre's October 23 – November 22, 2009 at the Mertz Theatre in Sarasota, Florida starred Shannon Lewis, Feltcher McTaggart, Sean Ewing, Nadine Isenegger, Ariel Shepley, Steven Sofia, and Wilson Mendieta. Directed by Tome' Cousin

The featured SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE section was presented February 28, 2011 during the Vineyard Theatre's Susan Stroman Gala "STRO" at the Hudson Theatre NYC. Directed / staged by Tome' Cousin

The featured SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE section was presented numerous times by the American Dance Machine For The 21st Century at New York City's City Center and also during its Joyce Theater November 11 – 16, 2014 engagement.

International productions

The musical was produced by Mupa Budapest at the Madách Theatre in Budapest, Hungary in 2009, with choreography by Tome Cousin, and featured leading ballet dancers of the Hungarian State Opera and members of KFKI Chamber Ballet.[11]

The show was produced in the West End at the Queen's Theatre starting on October 3, 2002 (previews) and officially on October 23.[12][13] It closed on May 10, 2003.[14]

The musical was produced in Lodz, Poland at the Opera Lodz in 2010. Directed / Choreographed by Tome' Cousin

The Musical Theater Academy of Shanghai, China presented the musical on December 19, 2014 and a revival in April 2015 Directed / Choreographed by Tome' Cousin

In 2010/2011 and again in 2017 the musical was produced in Seoul, Korea by the OD Musical Company. Both versions starred Joo Won Kim, Homin Kim, Kyoung Hoon Choi, Ji Sun Kim, Dong Ju Kang, and Sam Jin Lee. Directed by Tome' Cousin

Background

The idea that Contact was initially developed, researched, and written by Mike Ockrent's (Stroman's husband) development executive and assistants during his brief production deal at Warner Bros, is more than likely untrue. According to Playbill in a 1999 article, the musical was inspired by an experience that Stroman had "... when she visited a dance club in the Meat Market district. There she witnessed a fascinating woman in a yellow dress who took turns dancing with different partners throughout the night. Watching from the sidelines, Stroman thought, 'she's going to change someone's life tonight' ." [15][16]

Robin Pogrebin wrote in The New York Times in 1999 of Stroman visiting a swing club and noticing a dancer in a yellow dress. "The woman would step up to the dance floor as a song was beginning and nod or shake her head at the various men asking to be her partner. Then, after holding everyone's attention with her nervy grace, she would disappear into the crowd. What came out of this was Contact... "[17]

The same origin was related in an article in The New Yorker, written by John Lahr in 2014: “ 'Into this sea of dark fashion stepped a girl in a yellow dress,' Stroman recalled. 'You couldn’t help but notice her: it was a very bold color to wear at night—lemon yellow—the same color you find on a traffic light. When she wanted to dance, she would step away from the bar and some man would ask her to dance.'"[18]

Structure, music and story

Contact is made up of three separate dance pieces, each set to pre-recorded music, including from Tchaikovsky, Stéphane Grappelli, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue, and The Beach Boys. In each story, the central character expresses a longing to make a romantic connection.[19]

All three stories concern "contact", or its lack.[20]

  • Part One – "Swinging"
"Swinging", set in an 18th-century French forest clearing, can be described as a contact improvisation on Fragonard's The Swing[20] a print of which is displayed on an easel when the audience arrives. Sex and concealed identity are involved in this piece of amoral intrigue – a servant and his master each seeks the young lady's affection. Much of the action takes place on a moving swing.
  • Part Two – "Did You Move?"
"Did You Move?", set in circa 1954 in Queens, New York, takes place in an Italian restaurant, focusing on the empty marriage of a small-time gangster and his wife. The wife has extensive dance sequences as she fantasizes about escaping her verbally abusive spouse, but each time is returned rudely to reality. Set to recorded orchestral music of Tchaikovsky and Grieg.
  • Part Three – "Contact"
"Contact" is set in contemporary time, and explores the emptiness of the career-driven lives of Manhattan apartment dwellers. A lonely advertising executive on the brink of suicide is somehow transported to a bar, where he encounters a stunning woman in a yellow dress. To win her and take control of his life, he must gain the confidence to make contact with another human being.[21] It helped to create a surge of interest in acrobatic and rock and roll swing dancing.

Musical numbers

Sources:Amazon.com;[22] Internet Broadway Database[23]

Casts

Original Broadway cast and replacements

Source: Internet Broadway Database[24][25]

Mary Ann Lamb (replacement)

West End cast

Critical response

Ben Brantley, in his review in The New York Times of the production at the Newhouse, wrote: "...Stroman... aided by the dramatist John Weidman and a dream ensemble of dancing actors and acting dancers, has created the unthinkable: a new musical throbbing with wit, sex appeal and a perfectionist's polish. Brimming with a sophistication that is untainted by the usual fin-de-siecle cynicism, Contact restores the pleasure principle to the American musical. It's the kinetic equivalent of Rodgers and Hart."[26]

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production
Year Award ceremony Category Nominee Result
2000 Tony Award Best Musical Won
Best Book of a Musical John Weidman Nominated
Best Performance by Featured Actor in a Musical Boyd Gaines Won
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Karen Ziemba Won
Deborah Yates Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical Susan Stroman Nominated
Best Choreography Won
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Musical Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical Boyd Gaines Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Jason Antoon Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Karen Ziemba Won
Outstanding Director of a Musical Susan Stroman Nominated
Outstanding Choreography Won
Outstanding Scenic Design of a Musical Thomas Lynch Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design Peter Kaczorowski Won
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Broadway Musical Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Boyd Gaines Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Karen Ziemba Won
Deborah Yates Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical Susan Stroman Won
Outstanding Choreography Won
Outstanding Lighting Design Peter Kaczorowski Won
Drama League Award Outstanding New Broadway Musical Won
Distinguished Production of a Musical Won
New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Musical John Weidman Nominated
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See also

References
  1. McGrath, Sean "Stroman & Weidman to Contact Lincoln Center; Previews Sept. 9, Opens Oct. 7" Playbill, May 25, 1999
  2. "'Contact' on Broadway, Production and Awards" Archived 2015-10-20 at the Wayback Machine playbillvault.com, accessed October 17, 2015
  3. See, for example: Curtain Up review
  4. Hofler, Robert. "Legit lightning strikes twice". Variety.com, May 1, 2006, accessed April 27, 2011
  5. Gans, Andrew. "London to Make Contact Oct. 23 at Queens Theatre" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, October 23, 2002, accessed April 12, 2014.
  6. Simonson, Robert. "Next Leg of Leggy 'Contact' Tour Starts Nov. 5 in Toronto, Continues to April 2003" Playbill, July 16, 2002
  7. Simonson, Robert. "Sept. 1' Contact' Broadcast to Be "Live from Lincoln Center" Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill.com, July 29, 2002, accessed April 12, 2014
  8. "Contact (Live from Lincoln Center)". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  9. Nicholson, David. "A Stretch For Actors And Dancers" Daily Press, April 7, 2006
  10. Gans, Andrew. "Making Contact: North Shore Presents Stroman-Weidman Musical Beginning June 10" Playbill, June 2, 2008
  11. "'Contact'" mupa.hu, accessed October 18, 2015
  12. "Casting Announced for London 'Contact'" Playbill, August 5, 2002
  13. "Stroman's 'Contact' Dances Into London's Queen's Theatre" Playbill, October 3, 2002
  14. "West End Contact to Close Early". Playbill. April 23, 2003. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  15. Simonson, Robert. The American Theatre Wing"Stroman and Weidman Make Contact at Lincoln Center Theater, Oct. 7" Playbill, October 7, 1999
  16. "Production: Contact (Working In The Theatre #283) – interview session with the production team" American Theatre Wing on November 6, 2013
  17. Pogrebin, Robin. "Making 'Contact' Without Conflict; How a Hit Dance Play Evolved, Cordially" The New York Times, October 18, 1999
  18. Lahr, John. "Joy Ride" The New Yorker, March 31, 2014 Issue
  19. Contact Synopsis geocities.com. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  20. Suskin, Steven. "Contact", Broadway Yearbook, 1999–2000 : A Relevant and Irreverent Record, Oxford University Press, 2001, SBN 0195349970, pp.202, 204–207
  21. Review curtainup.com
  22. Contact listing amazon.com. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  23. "'Contact' Songs" ibdb.com, accessed October 17, 2015
  24. " 'Contact' Broadway" ibdb.com, accessed October 17, 2015
  25. " 'Contact' Replacements" ibdb.com, accessed October 17, 2015
  26. Brantley, Ben. "Theater review. Musical Elixir Afoot" New York Times, October 8, 1999
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