BWW Video Show Preview: A Catered Affair
Nov 10, 2022
Catch this latest video show preview of A Catered Affair
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0:25
And they would show the same movie four times a day
0:27
And whenever it was a movie I liked, I used to cut school and stay home and watch the movie
0:32
And anything with Betty Davis, you know, I knew I had to see. And so there was this thing called The Cated Affair
0:39
There was this wonderful film about the people I grew up with
0:45
So it was the Bronx and I grew up in Brooklyn. and it was these normal people with normal lives
0:51
and the yentas on the street, the women gossiping, and people that didn't have a lot of money
0:55
talking about what's important in life, and a lot of emotions that don't get shared very often
1:01
and I just felt an affinity for these characters almost immediately. Of course, years later, I came to realize
1:07
it was the writings of Paddy Chiavsky and Cated Affair, just the way that he delved into the human heart
1:14
of simple people that don't use a lot of flowery language, that don't have the grasp of great ideas
1:22
They just know how they feel. They know what they're living through. You know how dear you are to all of us
1:27
But if we invite you, we've got to invite Michael and Tom and Joe and all the cousins
1:31
And before we know it, there'll be hundreds and hundreds. So we decided just the simplest ceremony with only immediate family
1:39
And would I not be considered one of the immediate family? You know how it goes
1:43
you invite one uncle, then you have to ask them all. Then the cousins and the friends and the neighbors and the dates and the list grows and grows
1:54
I'm not invited. You're not listening to me? Yeah, there's a lot of humor in the text, but in reality
2:03
it a serious story about a serious situation for people Immediate family Excuse me The kids will be inviting only immediate family Well that what they said but I know what they meant I don have to be in the head to see
2:20
through to their true intent. But this is a very intimate piece about people who are
2:25
leading very ordinary lives and who may never sing in their really ordinary lives, but have
2:32
something tied inside them, a passion tied inside them, that gets released by the story
2:37
And that's the thing I'm interested in, you know. I'm interested in the kind of extraordinariness of these ordinary people
2:43
and that they could be you and me, really. Partners, a team for life
2:48
Can't believe you're ready to become my wife. Guess you wait long enough, a dream just may come true
2:55
And I finally get to be partners with you I always look for roles that have great journeys
3:07
But there was something in the human condition about this woman that I related to in my early years
3:15
It was my grandmother growing up. And some of my mother in there
3:20
But I really knew these people. And even though it was the Bronx, not Augusta, Georgia
3:25
It really spoke to me. Everything's golden, nothing goes wrong Inside the sun, in this candlelight
3:36
On this perfect night And then there they are The impossibly beautiful pair
3:47
Just to look at them makes you ache To care like they care
3:55
To feel what they feel And believe that it's real
4:05
This is what getting married should be I had this mistaken image of musical theater
4:16
as being somewhat presentational or two or tap numbers and of razzle dazzle which I don really know how to do and what been so rewarding
4:30
is to see how this piece has evolved and yet it still does what I always want my
4:36
music to do which is resonates very deeply One thing Tom, one thing that's special for her
4:44
One thing she'll smile about all of her days. A beautiful paper fair
4:51
You know, everybody calls it a small musical. It is a small musical. It's a big play
4:56
Of course I want to give my kid a wedding, but I think blowing 20 years of savings on one night
5:03
isn't right. Is that a crime? Why can't you see my side of things this one time
5:11
I nearly had another piece of the medallion. I nearly made that dream come true
5:22
They'd be wanted so much as being selfish, but I wanted it for you
5:29
I like to feel like I'm part of a team, like I play my position on the baseball team
5:35
and the position's always a little bit different. For a long time I was a hero
5:40
and those were an awful lot of fun. But these parts, they're painful sometimes
5:45
but there's a lot of satisfaction to be had. You know, I saw Faith on television
5:49
while I was watching dinner one night in high school open. Guys and Dolls and they went backstage
5:54
and I was like, wow, isn't that cool? Years later I wound up going to the same college as her
5:59
majoring in the same major, and now I'm playing her daughter on Broadway. It's kind of a dream come true
6:04
It's a good thing getting married. It's the thing that people do
6:11
Now you've found the fella for you. So you'll each wear a groove in your side of the bed
6:22
each learn to ignore things the other one said. And you smile when you think about the day you were went Is that all Oh I guess There are moments where you know I look at Faith I told her and I was like God I saw my mom
6:43
When you said that, it was like I was talking to my mother and I was reacting to you like I have
6:48
It brought me back to a different time and place. Please. I've been out here on my own
6:57
Now make your feelings known Don't ever stop saying I love you
7:06
A lady the other Saturday night who saw the show, her and her husband, they really enjoyed it
7:12
and the husband said, you know, it's a great Harvey Fierstein piece
7:18
He said, it's a real piece about family, and it has humor and pathos and all those things
7:25
I said, you know, he's right. That really is what Harvey has written
7:30
I'll never stop saying I love you. Bringing this painfully human story to Broadway
7:42
has been a labor of love for us for years and a labor of love to us all
7:48
To know that you're going to entertain an audience is a gift, but knowing that you will also move them and enlighten them
7:54
and let our audience know that they're not alone in how they feel about their lives
7:58
That's kind of the magic of theater right there. That's the whole thing. This has just restored my faith in the best part of this business and Broadway
8:09
That in this day and time, with so many different things, and money being the issue, and Broadway having changed a lot
8:17
especially in the last 10 years, that this kind of peace lives that can be a mirror for other people
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