[Dixielandjazz] Harry Connick Jr. interviewed - Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2011

[Robert Ringwald]

Wading in the Talent Pool
Connick talks about what lured him back to Broadway
by Will Friedwald
Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2011
For Harry Connick Jr., who is about to open in "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,"
Broadway is a something of a paradox.
Sitting in the St. James Theater, where the musical is in previews leading up to
a Dec. 11 opening, the 44-year-old entertainer recently spoke about the Broadway
to which he's returning -- this will be his third appearance on the Great White Way
-- as one that no longer produces its own star talent.
"Broadway has become such a big business and there are so many producers involved,
that unless you come here with your own game, they command you and it squelches personality,"
he said. "Which is why there is such a common way of performing on Broadway now.
That's why all the singers sing the same way, and act the same way."
The irony, of course, is that "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" is presenting
one of the most singularly talented performers of the last few generations. About
20 years ago, Mr. Connick became the first jazz musician since Nat King Cole to become
a certified pop star. Then he became the first singer since the glory days of Frank
Sinatra and Elvis Presley to grow into a Hollywood leading man. And in the last decade,
he has become the first recording star, at least since Sammy Davis Jr,. to headline
on Broadway.
Mr. Connick wasn't necessarily looking for another stage role following his successful
run in "The Pajama Game" in 2006, but his admiration for some of the artists involved
in "On a Clear Day" spurred his interest.
"I really liked the way [director] Michael Mayer and [book writer] Peter Parnell
had reimagined the show," he said. "They had been developing it at least since the
mid-'90s. They kept hammering at it and trying to find an appropriate way to tell
the story."
In the original production, which opened in 1965 (two years before Mr. Connick was
born), a psychiatrist falls in love with a woman he meets in a "past-life regression"
of one of his female patients. In the current version, the doctor becomes obsessed
with a woman who represents a previous incarnation of a gay male patient. Mr. Connick
described it as an "impossible love story." It's essentially a love triangle involving
a straight man, a gay man and a woman who may or may not actually exist -- in effect,
the show about reincarnation has itself been reincarnated into something much more
contemporary.
"I think that they did a pretty brilliant job of making the new story work," he said.
He was also excited about his castmates, particularly David Turner and Broadway newcomer
Jessie Mueller, who play his conjoined "love interest," describing them as possessing,
respectively, "off-the-charts talent" and "freak-show talent."
Talent is still out there waiting to be discovered, which brought him back to how
the economics of contemporary Broadway are preventing the medium from giving them
their due.
Producers, he said, are putting millions of dollars behind shows designed to run
for years no matter who's in them, making it impractical to back a production dependent
on the star power and personality of a particular leading man or lady. And that's
why we're going to see fewer shows like "The Producers" -- which requires two brilliant
singing comics in the lead roles -- and more like "Book of Mormon" or "Wicked," which
can work almost regardless of who is in them. They can run on Broadway for years
and travel to the hinterlands even with anonymous casts.
"Broadway is not a breeding ground for new talent anymore," he said. "But that's
not to denigrate it. This is still the greatest performing venue in the world! The
most talented people in the whole world are within 10 blocks. Unquestionably!"


--Bob Ringwald
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