When the show went into rehearsal, [Betty] Comden and [Adolph] Green鈥檚 book included a series of flashbacks to Oscar and Lily鈥檚 earliest days together, first as her theatrical star was rising and then the moment when she broke off with him. It came after she discovered that he was being unfaithful to her while she was touring in a production. For this section of the show, Coleman had written 鈥淥scar Jaffee,鈥� a song that brings to mind the burlesque revelries featured during a birthday celebration for 鈥檚 character in his film "Citizen Kane."
By the time the show reached Boston, these scenes, which moved back and forth between the action on the train, had been integrated into one extended sequence that took theatergoers through Lily and Oscar鈥檚 stormy relationship. In the revision, Oscar wasn鈥檛 unfaithful; rather, he deliberately undermined her in front of other producers as she was attempting to secure a role in a new play by Eugene O鈥橬eill.
For this section the songwriters devised a new song, 鈥淭his Is the Day,鈥� a 鈥搇ike aria in which Lily expressed her delight about the new prospects on her professional horizons. Coleman even wrote a small snippet of recitative for Lily and Agnes that harked back to the sorts of exchanges between maid and mistress in such operas as The Barber of Seville.
During the course of rehearsals, Prince took out two other numbers. One, 鈥淟ucky Lily,鈥� preceded the flashbacks to Oscar and Lily鈥檚 personal life, and the other was a comedy piece for Oscar鈥檚 aides-de-camp, 鈥淪how Biz Is the Lowest Biz There Is.鈥� He also had Coleman, Comden, and Green write one more new song, 鈥淢ine,鈥� which gave Oscar and Bruce a chance to preen in front of mirrors in two adjoining compartments on the train.
Prince recalled Coleman during rehearsals, saying, 鈥淚 knew that he was more site-specific than anyone I鈥檝e ever worked with, and I鈥檝e worked with a lot of people,鈥� adding, 鈥淲hen I direct, I do not let the authors come to the rehearsal. They come after I鈥檝e put stuff on the stage. It鈥檚 very difficult for authors to understand that, but I鈥檓 at a point鈥攚ell, I have been for a long time鈥攚here I say, 鈥楲et me do it. You come in in the afternoon and see it, and if I didn鈥檛 do it right, I鈥檒l do it right the next day, but I can鈥檛 have you sitting at my elbow.鈥� That was hard for Cy, really hard. And I knew it. But he鈥檚 the only one it鈥檚 ever been hard for in all of my experience, including Lenny [Bernstein].鈥� In looking back on his work with Coleman, Prince also said, 鈥淸Cy] was fun to work with. So knowledgeable about music. I鈥檓 not. I鈥檓 knowledgeable about theater. . . . He really knew everything there was to know about orchestrations and all of it. He was taking more responsibility than anyone I鈥檇 ever collaborated with before, including Sondheim or Bernstein really. Bernstein, no, I guess not. I don鈥檛 know, because Lenny wrote a show and then just kind of went away and then came back once in a while. Cy was there all the time.鈥�
Coleman might not always have been able to be at Prince鈥檚 side while the director was staging the piece, but his involvement in the show was palpable, particularly for [Judy] Kaye: 鈥淚 really got to know Cy in the rehearsal process. Madeline [Kahn], I don鈥檛 know if she didn鈥檛 like to rehearse or if she was afraid. Something was going on that I really couldn鈥檛 tell. But I wound up being asked to sing a lot of stuff during the rehearsal process, and I had a couple of private work sessions with Cy, and it was like a match made in heaven. It was so much fun. It was just me going over to his office and working on music.鈥�
See photos from the current Broadway revival:
[Choreographer Larry] Fuller remembered how he, too, worked with Kaye during rehearsals. 鈥淚 would stage a number with Judy and the men, and when I had it more or less set, then I would teach Madeline separately, so that she didn鈥檛 have to learn in front of anyone.鈥�
With the rewrites that were happening and because of his work with Kahn and Kaye, Coleman didn鈥檛 have as much time to spend with leading man Cullum, a fact that the actor regretted, particularly because he had gotten to work closely with the composer before rehearsals began. Cullum had one particular memory of a meeting that took place in Coleman鈥檚 apartment: 鈥淲e discussed what would be the pleasant and convenient and doable notes that I could use in songs that he was going to have me sing, and I remember him saying, 鈥榃hat are you comfortable with on a high note?鈥� And I said, 鈥榃ell, I can hit an F-sharp, but I鈥檓 better off with an F.鈥� And he said, 鈥楴o. What is your real comfort level?鈥� And I said, 鈥榃ell, an E. I can sing that very well, and that鈥檚 a good high note for me.鈥� And he said, 鈥楴o, what are you really comfortable with?鈥� And I said, 鈥榃ell, I can sing an E-flat all night long.鈥� And so that was what he put into his brain, and I remember in certain songs, for instance, in 鈥楾he Sextet,鈥� where I had about thirty-two E-flats all in a row.鈥�
-- From "You Fascinate Me So" (c)2015 by Andy Propst. Published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation. Reprinted with permission.
