The Fix (musical)
| The Fix | |
|---|---|
| File:The Fix (musical).jpg Original London Cast Recording Album Cover | |
| Music | Dana P. Rowe |
| Lyrics | John Dempsey |
| Book | John Dempsey |
| Productions | 1997 West End 1998, 2015 Arlington, Virginia 2016 Off-West End |
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The Fix is a musical with book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe. It concerns the career of a fictional U.S. politician who gets mixed up with the Mafia.
It premiered at London's Donmar Warehouse in 1997.
Production history
The Fix was originally developed in association with Cameron Mackintosh under the working title Cal: A Musical Tale of Relative Insanity. It premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London, running from 29 April 1997 through 14 June 1997, directed by Sam Mendes and starring John Barrowman, Kathryn Evans and Philip Quast.[1] Quast won the 1998 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role in The Fix. The musical was also nominated for Olivier Awards for Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (for Barrowman), and Best Lighting Designer (for Howard Harrison).[2] Colin Welford conducted the production.[3]
The Fix was produced by the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia, in August to September 2015, directed by Eric D. Schaeffer.[4] The musical made its US premiere at the Signature Theatre in 1998.[5]
A new production opened on 13 July 2016, at the Union Theatre in London. Starring Fra Fee as Cal Chandler, Lucy Williamson as Violet Chandler, Madalena Alberto as Tina McCoy, Peter Saul Blewdon as Reed Chandler and Anthony Gilardi, and as Peter, Sam Barrett. The production is due to close on 6 August 2016. In his review of the 2016 production at the Union Theatre, theatre critic Darren Luke Mawdsley described the show as a "conglomeration of past and present political biographies" and said "it could not be more current." He noted that "Director and choreographer, Michael Strassen, does a great job at making the production work in the empty space, managing to keep the action fluid, communicative and interesting to watch."[6]
Plot
Days before a United States presidential election, shoo-in candidate Reed Chandler suffers a fatal coronary between the thighs of his mistress. Before the body has turned cold, the dead man's widow, Violet, and brother, Grahame (a speechwriter and spin doctor crippled from birth by polio and jealous of his brother's public success) - not keen to see their patience and preparation go to waste - are conspiring to replace him with his own son, an unambitious drifter, Calvin. Cal is enlisted in the army and married off to a perky debutante before developing a hard drug problem and being photographed during sex with his mistress, a nightclub singer named Tina McCoy. To cover up Cal's indiscretion, Grahame is forced to call upon the services of the city's criminal underworld, headed by Anthony Gliardi, who we are told is a "friend of the family". The years pass; Cal is elected governor and his wife bears a son. The list of favours owed to Gliardi grows longer, Cal's addiction deepens and Grahame's legs finally give way and he is condemned to life in a wheelchair. After a drying out period, Cal rediscovers his sense of self. He confronts the press, coming clean about his misgivings and the Chandler's relationship with Gliardi. Cal becomes the media darling once again, however on the eve of the United States Senate nominations, Gliardi uses Tina to lure Cal away from his family, then shoots them both. The play comes full circle as at Cal's funeral, Violet and Grahame move in on Cal's young son. And suddenly the future doesn't look so dim after all.
Musical numbers
At Donmar Warehouse, 1997
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Characters and original cast
The characters and original cast:
| Character | Donmar Warehouse 1997 |
Signature Theatre 2015 |
Union Theatre 2016 |
Feinstein's/54 Below In Concert 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Chandler | John Barrowman | Mark Evans | Fra Fee | Mark Evans |
| Reed Chandler | David Firth | Bobby Smith | Peter Saul Blewden | Gary Milner |
| Donna | Christina Fry | Jamie Eacker | — | |
| Peter Hale | David Bardsley | Stephen Gregory Smith | Sam Barrett | Justin Randolph |
| Grahame Chandler | Philip Quast | Lawrence Redmond | Ken Christiansen | David Cantor |
| Violet Chandler | Kathryn Evans | Christine Sherrill | Lucy Williamson | Sally Ann Triplett |
| Danielle | Hannah Tollman | Caroline Wolfson | — | |
| Bobby “Cracker” Barrel | Bogdan Kominowski | Will Gartshore | Alistair Hill | Patrick K. Walsh |
| Deborah Pullman | Gael Johnson | Jessica Lauren Ball | Kate Parr | Suzanne Dressler |
| Sheila | Christina Fry | Jamie Eacker | — | Arianna Armon |
| Leslie Pynchon | Carrie Ellis | Tracy Lynn Olivera | — | Val Moranto |
| Tina McCoy | Krysten Cummings | Rachel Zampelli | Madalena Alberto | Kristen Gehling |
| Anthony Gliardi | Nicholas Pound | Dan Manning | Peter Saul Blewden | Paul Thomas Ryan |
| Frankie Diamanti | Mark Frendo | Matt Conner | Daryl Armstrong | Thomas Dieter |
| Cardinal O’Hare | Christopher Holt | Christopher Mueller | — | |
| Young Bobby “Cracker” Barrel | John Partridge | — | ||
| Calvin Chandler, Jr. | Thomas Hawes, Thomas Moll, Archie Preston | — | ||
| Newscaster | Rebecca Front | — | ||
| Richard | — | Mark Chandler | — | |
| Leroy | — | Jordan DeBona | — | |
| Maria | — | Mark Egler | — | |
| Carl Moreland | — | Nick Lehan | — | |
References
- ^ "The Fix production information", empirenet.com, accessed December 7, 2008
- ^ "1998 Olivier Awards winners and nominations". Albermarle of London. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
- ^ Cast Albums, 21 July 2008
- ^ Katz, Alan. "Signature’s revisit of musical 'The Fix' (review)" dctheatrescene.com, August 21, 2015
- ^ Simonson, Robert. "Signature's 'The Fix' May Be in for New York" Playbill, April 25, 1998
- ^ Mawdsley, Darren Luke. " 'The Fix', New Union Theatre – Review" everything-theatre.co.uk, 18 July 2016
External links
- The Fix at the Music Theatre International website
- Listing at NODANW