Remembering the Musicals of Terrence McNally
On March 24, 2020, we were forced to say goodbye to prolific playwright Terrence McNally. He died at age 81 from complications brought about by the coronavirus. The author of such acclaimed plays as The Ritz, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Lisbon Traviata, Master Class, and Lips Together, Teeth Apart, McNally was a particularly potent voice in gay theatre. McNally was also a celebrated librettist for the musical theatre, an award-winning book writer for some of Broadway’s most stirring and memorable musicals. Since this site is devoted to the Broadway musical, I wanted to take a moment to look at the glorious work McNally crafted in that arena.
The Rink (1984)
Terrence McNally’s first Broadway musical as book writer was the 1984 mother-daughter drama The Rink. McNally stepped in for playwright Albert Innaurato when the musical was experiencing a troubled gestation. With the composing team of Kander and Ebb penning the score, McNally shaped an achingly-heartfelt and often funny tale about a roller rink owner named Anna (played by Chita Rivera), and her estranged daughter Angel (played by Liza Minnelli) who returns home after a long absence. The musical was probably too intimate for a Broadway house the size of the (then) Martin Beck Theatre and it failed to run, closing after 204 performances. Despite its status as a misfire, the show featured a terrific score, indelible performances my Rivera and Minnelli, and a decidedly strong effort by McNally to tell an original story.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993)
If McNally was just cutting his teeth on musical theatre writing with The Rink, almost a decade later he would return to Broadway with a powerhouse adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel Kiss of the Spider Woman. Once again collaborating with Kander and Ebb, McNally infused the character of the gay window dresser Molina (played by Brent Carver) with heart and dignity. Sharing a cell in a South American prison with a Marxist revolutionary named Valentin (Anthony Crivello), Molina soon becomes a pawn in his cellmate’s efforts to deliver news to outside. Along the way, Molina passes the time by acting out the stories of his favorite movie musicals, always starring his favorite actress Aurora (Chita Rivera). Soon, an angel of death, who looks a lot like Aurora, begins to stalk Molina, climbing through the prison bars like they are her spiderweb, coaxing him toward ultimate, tragic demise. Kiss of the Spider Woman won the Tony Award for Best Musical and McNally also took home his first Tony for Best Book of a Musical.
Ragtime (1998)
Arguably one of the finest jobs ever done boiling down an epic novel into a book for a Broadway musical, McNally’s work on the musical Ragtime remains a golden example of how it should be done. E.L. Doctorow’s novel is an examination of the American Melting Pot in the early 20th Century. A WASP family in New Rochelle, a black couple from Harlem, and an Eastern European immigrant and his daughter all converge upon one-another, their lives intertwining in a world that discouraged such interrelations. Working with the composing team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, McNally found a way to juggle myriad stories and characters in an effective, moving, and often poetic way. He also took home his second Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.
The Full Monty (2000)
When The Full Monty opened on Broadway in the fall of 2000, it garnered positive reviews for the cast, the score by David Yazbek, and the expert job Terrence McNally did adapting the 1997 British screenplay for the musical stage. Moving the action from Sheffield, England to Buffalo, New York, the musical followed six unemployed steel workers who band together during hard times. When the men realize that the women in their lives are paying good money to watch a touring troupe of men from Chippendales strip to their skivvies, they figure they can make even better money if they are willing to strip to their bare asses, going “The Full Monty.” Despite positive notices, The Full Monty would be nearly eclipsed at the Tony Awards that spring when the musical The Producers became all the rage. Still, The Full Monty enjoyed a respectable Broadway run of 770 performances.
A Man of No Importance (2002)
Easily the musical that felt as though McNally had poured his heart and soul into writing the book was the Off-Broadway, Lincoln Center production of A Man Of No Importance. Once again working with Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, who provided the score, the team told the intimate story of Alfie Byrne, a closeted bus conductor in Dublin, Ireland, who is the leader of a community theatre group preparing to put on a production of Oscar Wilde’s Salome. As the story progresses, Alfie comes to terms with his sexuality even as he must endure the heartbreak and hurt that entails. A Man Of No Importance was adapted from the 1994 film of the same name.
Catch Me If You Can (2011)
The Stephen Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can was a well-received film in 2002, starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, itself based in the autobiography of Frank Abagnale, a first-class con-artist who fleeced just about everyone he encountered throughout the 1960s and the detective who is tracked him down. For the Broadway stage, McNally would be tasked with adapting the story with the composing team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman penning the score. The team boldly imagined telling Abagnale’s story though the structure and conceit of a 1960s-style variety show, a move that was more ingenious on paper than it was on the actual stage. Catch Me If You Can opened to mostly negative reviews, though it did score four Tony nominations, including Best Musical.
The Visit (2015)
The long gestating musical stage adaptation of Frederich Durrenmatt’s 1956 play The Visit took its time reaching Broadway. Originally slated to star Angela Lansbury in 2001, but when Lansbury withdrew for family reasons, it was uncertain if the show would move forward. Ultimately, Chita Rivera was signed to play the role of Claire Zachanassian, a wealthy widow who returns to the town of her youth where she hopes to exact revenge on the man she once loved. Kander and Ebb wrote the score and Terrence McNally the book, and, under the direction of John Doyle finally arrived on Broadway in 2015. McNally did some haunting work here, creating the structure on which Kander and Ebb could hang some of their most emotionally-probing (and dark) songs. McNally received a Tony nomination and The Visit was also nominated for Best Musical (these among 5 total nominations). The Visit was such a unique musical that it could hardy appeal to the masses. It shuttered after 61 performances.
Anastasia (2017)
McNally’s final Broadway musical was the 2017 production of Anastasia. Tasked with loosely adapting the 1997 animated film of the same name for the Broadway stage, McNally would once again be working with the team of Ahrens and Flaherty who had written the film score and would augment it for Broadway. The Princess Anastasia is suspected to be dead when the Bolsheviks raid the palace and kill Tsar Romanov and his family in 1906. A few years later a girl appears who may or may not be the princess. Could it be her? The musical unfolds and suggest the answer to this real-life mystery with a fictional outcome. Anastasia ran 808 performances. It would be McNally’s final Broadway musical.
So many shows, each sublimely unique in their own way. McNally had his hand in so much Broadway musical magic and we are all better for having experienced his words, characters, and idea. May he Rest in Peace.
