Welcome back to my 'And the Tony Almost Went to...' series, where I take a deep dive into a show that was the (likely) runner-up in the Best Musical race of any previous Tony Awards year. Today, we'll be taking a look back at 1997.
The Life is an original musical that explores the underbelly of Times Square's 42nd Street. Back then, it was inhabited by pimps, prostitutes, druggies, dealers, runaways, and street people in the era prior to its Disneyfication. The idea for this show came about when book writer/lyricist Ira Gasman one day caught an arrest as he was walking down 42nd street, feeling what he saw could make for great theatre.
After joining forces with legendary composer Cy Coleman, they did a workshop directed & choreographed by Joe Layton at Westbeth Theatre Center in the summer of 1990. In 1994, David Newman came onboard to help them rewrite the book. As Layton passed away that same year, Michael Blakemore, who previously worked with Coleman on City of Angels, took over as director. Coming off of his Broadway debut as choreographer with Smokey Joe's Cafe, Joey McKneely was hired to choreograph.
Following a nine-year gestation, The Life opened on April 26th, 1997 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Pamela Isaacs as Queen, Vernal Bagneris as Lacy, Chuck Cooper as Memphis, Sam Harris as Jojo, Rich Hebert as Lou, Kevin Ramsey as Fleetwood, Gordon Joseph Weiss as Snickers, Lillias White as Sonja, and Bellamy Young as Mary.
The production received 12 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Pamela Isaacs), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Chuck Cooper*; Sam Harris), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Lillias White)*, Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Blakemore), Best Book of a Musical (Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman, & David Newman), Best Original Score (Cy Coleman & Ira Gasman), Best Choreography (Joey McKneely), Best Orchestrations (Harold Wheeler), Best Costume Design (Martin Pakledinaz), Best Lighting Design (Richard Pilbrow).
*denotes an award it won.
Leading up to the Tonys, The Life managed to sweep through all the precursor prizes for Best Musical from the Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Drama Desk Awards. Yet along came the biggest surprise of the season...
After joining forces with legendary composer Cy Coleman, they did a workshop directed & choreographed by Joe Layton at Westbeth Theatre Center in the summer of 1990. In 1994, David Newman came onboard to help them rewrite the book. As Layton passed away that same year, Michael Blakemore, who previously worked with Coleman on City of Angels, took over as director. Coming off of his Broadway debut as choreographer with Smokey Joe's Cafe, Joey McKneely was hired to choreograph.
Following a nine-year gestation, The Life opened on April 26th, 1997 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Pamela Isaacs as Queen, Vernal Bagneris as Lacy, Chuck Cooper as Memphis, Sam Harris as Jojo, Rich Hebert as Lou, Kevin Ramsey as Fleetwood, Gordon Joseph Weiss as Snickers, Lillias White as Sonja, and Bellamy Young as Mary.
The production received 12 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Pamela Isaacs), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Chuck Cooper*; Sam Harris), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Lillias White)*, Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Blakemore), Best Book of a Musical (Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman, & David Newman), Best Original Score (Cy Coleman & Ira Gasman), Best Choreography (Joey McKneely), Best Orchestrations (Harold Wheeler), Best Costume Design (Martin Pakledinaz), Best Lighting Design (Richard Pilbrow).
*denotes an award it won.
Leading up to the Tonys, The Life managed to sweep through all the precursor prizes for Best Musical from the Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Drama Desk Awards. Yet along came the biggest surprise of the season...
Why Didn't The Life Win?: According to the New York Times' Tony voter survey that year, it was looking like the frontrunner at one point in the season. Yet buzz started building around Titanic, which made it a very slight favorite. That was a musical that was too expensive to have an out-of-town tryout, so it had to open cold in New York. However, the production faced several technical problems throughout previews. Largely due to how complicated the set was with encompassing three levels to help suggest the size of the doomed ship.
When Titanic finally opened, it managed to overcome all of its technical troubles. The critical response was mixed-to-positive overall. During Tony season, the producers announced that the musical would go out on tour, which reportedly pleased the out-of-town presenters and theater owners who also happened to have been Tony voters. Despite some concern regarding how a 40-character epic would tour, there was no denying grandeur and ambition to it. So it appears to me that the show's unpredictable journey from risky idea to Broadway resonated with voters.
On Tony night, Titanic managed to win 5 awards in every single category it was nominated for: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Peter Stone), Best Original Score (Maury Yeston), Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick; the very first winner in this category), and Best Scenic Design (Stewart Laing). Not to mention that it's still the most recent show to have won the Best Musical without a corresponding directing nomination. In fact, when Peter Stone won Book during the PBS pre-show, he said in his acceptance speech how he felt director Richard Jones was egregiously overlooked.
This is kind of similar to something else that happened later in the year. L.A. Confidential swept through many of the year-end critics awards, and was an early frontrunner for the Oscar... all before December when it got hit by the (pun intended) iceberg that was James Cameron's Titanic. Ironically, it also faced a trouble production early on. While that film shared no connection with the musical, the Broadway production at least managed to get a boost at the box office because of the former.
As for how both musicals fared in the long run, The Life closed on June 7th, 1998 after 466 performances. The U.S. regional premiere later took place in Houston, Texas the following year. In 2022, Encores! presented a concert adaptation directed by Billy Porter that significantly adapted the script and structure, turning the whole story into a flashback. Meanwhile, Titanic closed at a monumental loss on March 21st, 1999 after 804 performances. Although it has since proven to be a popular choice for regional theatres to produce. In 2023, a live capture of a U.K. tour was shown in movie theaters and is currently available to stream on BroadwayHD.
For those wondering, Steel Pier will be the subject for 'How Close Were They?' when I eventually cover this race for that series.
When Titanic finally opened, it managed to overcome all of its technical troubles. The critical response was mixed-to-positive overall. During Tony season, the producers announced that the musical would go out on tour, which reportedly pleased the out-of-town presenters and theater owners who also happened to have been Tony voters. Despite some concern regarding how a 40-character epic would tour, there was no denying grandeur and ambition to it. So it appears to me that the show's unpredictable journey from risky idea to Broadway resonated with voters.
On Tony night, Titanic managed to win 5 awards in every single category it was nominated for: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Peter Stone), Best Original Score (Maury Yeston), Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick; the very first winner in this category), and Best Scenic Design (Stewart Laing). Not to mention that it's still the most recent show to have won the Best Musical without a corresponding directing nomination. In fact, when Peter Stone won Book during the PBS pre-show, he said in his acceptance speech how he felt director Richard Jones was egregiously overlooked.
This is kind of similar to something else that happened later in the year. L.A. Confidential swept through many of the year-end critics awards, and was an early frontrunner for the Oscar... all before December when it got hit by the (pun intended) iceberg that was James Cameron's Titanic. Ironically, it also faced a trouble production early on. While that film shared no connection with the musical, the Broadway production at least managed to get a boost at the box office because of the former.
As for how both musicals fared in the long run, The Life closed on June 7th, 1998 after 466 performances. The U.S. regional premiere later took place in Houston, Texas the following year. In 2022, Encores! presented a concert adaptation directed by Billy Porter that significantly adapted the script and structure, turning the whole story into a flashback. Meanwhile, Titanic closed at a monumental loss on March 21st, 1999 after 804 performances. Although it has since proven to be a popular choice for regional theatres to produce. In 2023, a live capture of a U.K. tour was shown in movie theaters and is currently available to stream on BroadwayHD.
For those wondering, Steel Pier will be the subject for 'How Close Were They?' when I eventually cover this race for that series.