The Subject: Cameo Appearance
At 15:00:39 on 08/15/01, MikeSmith wrote:
Dear Stephen,
A few months ago, there was a post here on the forum indicating
that you were going to make a cameo appearance in a musical comedy
in the Los Angeles area.
As described, the plot of the show seemed funny. Something about the
Creator in the hereafter judging Broadway shows that flopped?
Thanks,
Mike Smith
The Subject: Re: Cameo Appearance
At 10:41:23 on 08/21/01, Stephen Schwartz wrote:
Dear Mike: I did make a cameo appearance in the show, which
is called THE GRAVE WHITE WAY. It's actually a very clever and
funny show featuring take-offs of familiar musical theatre
composers and genres. There is a spot in the second-act for a
guest appearance of someone in musical theatre who "happens
to be" in the audience. I got to sing a spoof of a kind of Cole
Porter "Don't Fence Me In" type song called "Darlin' Sally from
Death Valley", which I tried to do with my country-Western yodel
gradually increasing to extreme proportions. It was a lot of fun,
and as I say, the show is very clever. Thanks, as always, for
your interest,
Sincerely, Stephen Schwartz
The Subject: Re: Cameo Appearance
At 18:29:02 on 08/22/01, Carol from Iowa
wrote:
Hi Mike! I loved THE GRAVE WHITE WAY, title obviously playing on Broadway's nickname Great White Way. I had a chance to
see it in LA (several weeks after Stephen performed). I do hope it makes it to New York sometime so more can see it. It was all pastiche, with a
redone version of just about every show style, including GODSPELL. There was a song about Jesus at Nazareth High, high school kids singing a
song in the style of GODSPELL.
Here's the concept in brief, from an LA Times article: Five dead musical stage actors attempt to gain admittance into Musical Theatre Heaven by
performing a revue of flop musicals that condemned them to the musical theater purgatory known as the Grave White Way.
I spoke with the creative team after the show, begging that they make it available to regional theatres. They will probably do that but want to
try to hit New York first. But when the time comes, it will make a charming show to offer.
Carol de Giere