FURTH, George and SONDHEIM, Stephen Company
New York: Harold Prince, N.d. [1970]
108 mimeographed pp. bound in tan stiff paper wrappers, secured with two split pins to left edge. Title in gilt to front wrapper. Corners and edges of oversized wrappers a little bumped, but a very well preserved copy.
GEORGE CHAKIRIS’ AUDITION SCRIPT FOR THE LEAD ROLE OF BOBBY IN THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF COMPANY, WITH HIS PENCILLED ANNOTATIONS TO TITLE PAGE AND PREPARED SCENES.
The paths of George Chakiris [b. 1932] and Stephen Sondheim [1930-2021] had crossed long before this audition took place in New York in 1970. West Side Story, with lyrics by Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein, opened at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway on 26 September 1957, and twenty-four hours later
the show was, and remains, one of the defining events of musical theatre. The film followed in 1961. Co-directed by Robert Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins, West Side Story starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star- crossed lovers -- and George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, a performance which won him both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Given his history with Sondheim Chakiris had every reason to believe that his audition for Company was likely to go well, but he clearly took nothing for granted: the title page of his audition script is covered with pencilled notes prompted by his close and perceptive reading of the text: character observations (’Bachelor - no family - good income - should be working at marriage - HE’S CHECKING OUT WHO’S HAPPY’); prompts for points he might want to raise (’JOHN UPDIKE’S “COUPLES”’, an interesting comparator published only two years previously); and notes relating to interaction with other characters (’Putting it all together [...] WATCH THEM & LISTEN’).
But for all his past, stellar association with Sondheim, Chakiris did not get the job. The role of Bobby in the original Broadway production of Company went to Dean Jones. Jones turned out to be unhappy in the show, and ill-suited to it; he was replaced after a month by Larry Kert, who also starred in the London premiere in 1972. But Chakiris did have his day: he played Bobby in the first US national tour in 1971 alongside Elaine Stritch, who bestrode all three of these productions as Joanne.
Scripts from the original production of Company are rare; pre- rehearsal scripts, still to be revised and refined through rehearsal, are rarer still. This copy is so early it doesn’t even contain all the songs. On p.2-1-9, in an unknown hand (not Chakiris’), are the words ‘NEW NUMBER’ written in ink alongside the printed stage direction:
‘An alarm clock goes off by ROBERT’s bed. [...] ROBERT and APRIL wake up slowly. It’s 4.30 in the morning. Reluctantly THEY sing about her leaving. SHE is off to Barcelona on the early morning flight. Actually HE is glad to see her go.’
The ‘new number’ turned out to be Barcelona. The show’s bittersweet anti-love duet, destined to become one of the many high spots of a classic show, had not yet been written.
Provenance: The Estate of George Chakiris.
FURTH, George and SONDHEIM, Stephen Company
New York: Harold Prince, N.d. [1970]
108 mimeographed pp. bound in tan stiff paper wrappers, secured with two split pins to left edge. Title in gilt to front wrapper. Corners and edges of oversized wrappers a little bumped, but a very well preserved copy.
GEORGE CHAKIRIS’ AUDITION SCRIPT FOR THE LEAD ROLE OF BOBBY IN THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF COMPANY, WITH HIS PENCILLED ANNOTATIONS TO TITLE PAGE AND PREPARED SCENES.
The paths of George Chakiris [b. 1932] and Stephen Sondheim [1930-2021] had crossed long before this audition took place in New York in 1970. West Side Story, with lyrics by Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein, opened at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway on 26 September 1957, and twenty-four hours later
the show was, and remains, one of the defining events of musical theatre. The film followed in 1961. Co-directed by Robert Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins, West Side Story starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star- crossed lovers -- and George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, a performance which won him both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Given his history with Sondheim Chakiris had every reason to believe that his audition for Company was likely to go well, but he clearly took nothing for granted: the title page of his audition script is covered with pencilled notes prompted by his close and perceptive reading of the text: character observations (’Bachelor - no family - good income - should be working at marriage - HE’S CHECKING OUT WHO’S HAPPY’); prompts for points he might want to raise (’JOHN UPDIKE’S “COUPLES”’, an interesting comparator published only two years previously); and notes relating to interaction with other characters (’Putting it all together [...] WATCH THEM & LISTEN’).
But for all his past, stellar association with Sondheim, Chakiris did not get the job. The role of Bobby in the original Broadway production of Company went to Dean Jones. Jones turned out to be unhappy in the show, and ill-suited to it; he was replaced after a month by Larry Kert, who also starred in the London premiere in 1972. But Chakiris did have his day: he played Bobby in the first US national tour in 1971 alongside Elaine Stritch, who bestrode all three of these productions as Joanne.
Scripts from the original production of Company are rare; pre- rehearsal scripts, still to be revised and refined through rehearsal, are rarer still. This copy is so early it doesn’t even contain all the songs. On p.2-1-9, in an unknown hand (not Chakiris’), are the words ‘NEW NUMBER’ written in ink alongside the printed stage direction:
‘An alarm clock goes off by ROBERT’s bed. [...] ROBERT and APRIL wake up slowly. It’s 4.30 in the morning. Reluctantly THEY sing about her leaving. SHE is off to Barcelona on the early morning flight. Actually HE is glad to see her go.’
The ‘new number’ turned out to be Barcelona. The show’s bittersweet anti-love duet, destined to become one of the many high spots of a classic show, had not yet been written.
Provenance: The Estate of George Chakiris.
