Victor/Victoria (Theater Week, Musical Theater Preview by Ken

							Victor/Victoria (Theater Week, Musical Theater Preview by Ken Mandelbaum August 21st, 1995)
The musical that many believed would never happen has happened,
beginning with a stop in Minneapolis in May and June, followed by a break
for some reworking, then a second tryout run in Chicago through Labor Day.
By now, V/V has demonstrated an ability to be, if not a prize winner, then at
least a crowd please, with particular admiration heaped on Rachel York's
show-stealing turn a bimbo Norma, Robin Wagner's dazzling multi-tiered
scenery, Rob Marshall's choreography, and, last but never least, the ageless
Julie Andrews, who to no-one's surprise is getting standing ovations and
winning over audiences.

V/V is the first of three major musicals set for the season taken from films;
unlike the others, however, this one is taken from a movie musical, albeit one
with only onstage numbers and no book/character songs. Some have felt that
the weakness of the stage version, which follows the film closely, is that the
new, character numbers aren't strong enough and that a couple of principal
characters don't have enough to sing; these problems are now being addressed
by the addition of new songs with music by Frank Wildhorn.

Other problems posited: A) There wasn't a burning need to put this film on
stage; B) The film has not been sufficiently rethought for the musical stage; C) The show's themes - sexual identity and
confusion, self-acceptance - are no longer as fresh as when V/V appeared as a film.

We heard from a person whose name appears on the title page of the program that while Blake Edwards, the show's
librettist, director, and co-producer (and husband of Julie Andrews), is a perfectly lovely man, his inexperience with
stage productions has been an additional problem, and that Marshall, billed only as choreographer, is staging a good
deal of the show and helping to integrate Edwards' trademark sight gags and comic sensibility.

Whatever the final result (and V/V has given itself the added luxury of a month off for further revision between Chicago
and the first New York previous at the Marquis in October), it's widely believed that the show is guaranteed to be a
tourist attraction and run the season, or even longer if Andrews stays on. Another wild card here is New York Times
drama (and former film) critic Vincent Canby's fondness for the movies of Blake Edwards; over the years, Canby
managed to defend even some of Edwards' most reviled pictures, and that support could carry over to Edwards' stage
debut. Even with only lukewarm notices, V/V should be able to get by; with good reviews, it could be a box-office
powerhouse.

Article thanks to Catherine Blackford.