Song and Dance
OPENING: September 18, 1985
CLOSING: November 8, 1986
Seen: April 1986
LOCATION: Royale Theatre
Buckle Up, Theatre Kids, this one’s going to be fun.
It’s very appropriate that this next show posted on the day it did. It’s a show that in some ways, shaped my young theater kid mind and it was one of the first ones that gave me the title “Walking Theater Encyclopedia.” So it’s very appropriate that’s it’s being posted on my birthday.
The next show on our journey was, by definition, a flop. Despite being written by a legend, and despite being headlined by one of the biggest Broadway stars of the 1980s (And beyond) and giving her a gorgeous signature diva number that I have never heard anyone else ever attempt, it has mostly fallen into oblivion.
The show in question was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song & Dance, led by the incomparable Bernadette Peters.
When I was a kid, Ms. Peters was my first Broadway idol. I absolutely adored her, to the point that I was bullied over it. Looking back, I can’t blame my classmates; the kid who tried to get her friends to listen to the Broadway legend who the age of (Or in some cases, older than) their parents instead of Britney Spears was going to get pummeled. But she inspired me to be a performer. So when I was going through the Playbill box and I found the Song & Dance Playbill, it hurt and confused me when neither of my parents could remember it at all.
As an adult, it completely makes sense why they wouldn’t. With all my love to Mr. Webber, some of his early shows scream to me that there were some kind of substances used to aid in the writing of them (Mr. Webber – on the off chance you ever read this – this is my speculation as a writer and I have complete and utter respect for your work). This was one of those shows.
The concept was ambitious – what if the same story was first told through song and then through dance? One singer to tell the story in Act I, and then tell it again through dance without the singer in Act II?
It’s daring. It’s a thrilling idea. And the critics hated it.
To be fair to Mr. Webber – it was an experimental piece, wedged in the dead center of what is undoubtably Webber’s strongest ten years of writing.
The idea came about when two of Webber’s lesser known pieces – Variations, which he wrote for his brother, and Tell Me On A Sunday, which he wrote with Don Black – didn’t succeed on their own. Webber, ever the problem solver, decided that since they were both shorter concert pieces, that he should combine the two. He wrote a few extra pieces, turned the second act into a dance extravaganza and voila – Song&Dance was born.
When it came time to transfer the show across the pond, the decision was made not to take the London leading lady with it. But who would lead it? Many of Webber’s contemporaries made the assumption that he would cast his wife, Sarah Brightman, in the role. Webber was adamant; the role was not written for a soprano and there was no denying that Ms. Brightman is the definition of a soprano. Webber was worried that she would not be able to pull off the low and soulful tones required for Emma. He declared he would give her another role down the line.
Theater Kids: We all know he did. Non theater kids: Remember her name.
But who would play Emma? Surprisingly, there wasn’t much discussion. Bernadette Peters was making waves in her movie career and Webber admired that she had transitioned into movies after her starlet days to maintain her career. Once her name came up she was approached and she readily agreed.
And the theater world was better for it. I mentioned the Sarah Brightman fact to my friend while I was writing this article. She just scoffed and said “Please. That role had Bernadette written all over it.” I quite have to agree.
Song & Dance is almost never produced. I have been following the theater scene for over twenty years at this point and I have never seen or heard of anyone doing a production of it. But if you have not listened to the album, I implore you to do so. Ms. Peters is a tour de force on the album, despite having the flu at the time of the recording. If I had not read that tidbit in my research, I would have never believed it.
Perhaps the most memorable part of the show is Ms. Peter’s Diva Number. It’s a ballad called “Unexpected Song” and it is one of the most haunting pieces of music I have ever heard. Now, as a professional singer myself, the lyrics are not the most original but again, Webber’s composition and Ms. Peter’s interpretation have seared it into many a brain. I have considered working on it many times but the fact remains that I am not Bernadette – and the piece is sacred. It’s a line I won’t cross.
I desperately wish I could have seen this production. Ms. Peters took home her first Tony for the role. Twelve year old Morgana would say that she deserves many more than the two she has, but XX year old Morgana must admit that Song & Dance is the show for which she deserved it. She stayed in the role until October of 1986, when she was replaced by Betty Buckley. It then became obvious that she was single handedly carrying the show; it closed a month later, despite the star power of Buckley.
It breaks my heart that my dad can’t remember this one. I look at the playbill and in addition to Ms. Peters, the dance ensemble included Charlotte D’Amboise, her brother Christopher D’Amboise, Denise Faye (Who later would create a name for herself in the dance world and was one of the Cell Block Tango girls in the 1996 Chicago revival), and Scott Wise. Another find? Mary Ann Lamb, another Cell Block Tango girl, was one of the understudies. The level of talent on that stage must have been absolutely insane. I knew it as a twelve year old; this one, more than any in the box, I harassed for details about as a child. But he has none.
Maybe some day there will be a second coming of Bernadette Peters. I’m not sure how I would feel about that; she truly is one in a million. But maybe someday there will be someone who can deliver Unexpected Song with the same star power that she can.
CAST: Original
EMMA: Bernadette Peters
JOE: Christopher D’Amboise
THE WOMEN: Charlotte D’Amboise, Denise Faye, Cynthia Onrubia, Mary Ellen Stuart
THE MEN: Gregg Burge, Buddy Balou, Gregory Mitchell, Scott Wise
A MAN FROM THE STREETS: Gregg Burge
WOMAN IN GOLD: Mary Ellen Stuart
HER TWO ESCORTS: Scott Wise, Gregory Mitchell
WOMAN IN BLUE: Charlotte D’Amboise
A CUSTOMER: Buddy Balou
TWO SINGLES: Cynthia Onrubia, Denise Faye
WOMAN IN GREY FLANNEL: Cynthia Onrubia
STANDBY FOR EMMA: Maureen Moore
STANDBY FOR JOE: Bruce Falco
UNDERSTUDIES: Buddy Balou (Joe); Scott Wise (Joe); Valerie Wright (All Female Dancer Tracks); Mary Ann Lamb (All Female Dancer Tracks), Denise Faye (Cynthia Onrubia Track); Jackie Jay Patterson (Gregg Burge Track, Buddy Balou Track); Kenneth Ard (Scott Wise Track, Gregory Mitchell Track); and Bruce Falco (Buddy Balou Track)
Andrew Lloyd Webber. “Song and Dance.” https://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/shows/song-and-dance/
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Internet Broadway Database. “Song And Dance.” Accessed April 2024. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/song-and-dance-4377
Internet Movie Database. “Jacques D’Amboise)”. Accessed April 2024. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0195073/.
Lloyd Webber, Andrew. “Unmasked: A Memoir.” New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2018.
Rich, Frank. “Stage: ‘Song and Dance’, with Bernadette Peters.” New York Times, April 26, 1985. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/19/arts/stage-song-dance-with-bernadette-peters.html?searchResultPosition=7
