The existence of a recording of the title track of Gone With The Wind IMHO makes the marketing of GWTW all the less understandable.

 

By accident last night I clicked a link at the top of a page here for the New London and where does it take you? To the homepage of Imagine This which is acoompanied by one of its songs. One, which I may say did absolutely nothing for me except to make me angry that the GWTW page didn't have any sound other than some drum beats or such.

 

The impact of even a demo of GWTW the song would have been so much greater and it could have been on the site from Day 1.

 

There were at least 4 or 5 other songs which could have made an impression - On The Wings of a Dove, Can This Be All?, Scarlett O'Hara Again, Mrs O'Hara's Prayer, Alone. Even Every Child or Prissy's songs.

This is an abbreviated article I found;-

 

DIVA TALK: Chatting with Ace's Jill Paice Plus News of Ripley, Dandridge and Bundy

 

By Andrew Gans

August 22, 2008

 

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

 

JILL PAICE

(discussion inapplicable to GWTW)

 

Question: Was it difficult to leave Curtains to go do Gone with the Wind?

Paice: It was. From an emotional point of view, leaving this group that I had spent a year-and-a-half of my life with was difficult, but when you're offered Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, I don't think you can say no. [Laughs.]

 

Question: Did Gone with the Wind come about because you had worked with Trevor?

Paice: Yeah. Well, actually, when I was doing Woman in White in London, I happened to be at a dinner party one night with Trevor and just asked what he was doing next. He said, "Well I'm going to be workshopping a production of Gone with the Wind," and I just about fell out of my chair! I did fall out of my chair because I'm in love with "Gone with the Wind." I've always been such a fan of it. So, Trevor and I were just talking about ideas. He said, "You know I can't have you do it. You're here doing Woman in White. [The workshop] would be 10-6, and that's a big role to take on." And I said, "No, no, no I completely understand." And then a couple of weeks later, he called and asked if I would do it. I had workshopped it, and then they had flown me over again to do the demo, and Trevor is very faithful. Aldo Scrofani, who was one of our producers, was willing to be very faithful. Here I am, a no-name really. I'm not a Hollywood star. They brought me back over to London to do Gone with the Wind.

 

Question: What do you think were the problems with the show, and what do you think were its strengths? Do you think it could have another life?

Paice: It's a fantastic piece. It really is, and there are some beautiful, brilliant moments. It's a great story. . . . We were just in previews as they trimmed it down and got it down to three hours and 15 minutes. We were just getting better and better audience reaction, and we were really fueled by that, and we were excited by that. We got to opening night and had standing ovations, which in London you just don't get standing ovations. They are very reserved with their ovations over there. In no way were we shielded or protected from what then happened. We weren't expecting those kinds of reviews. I didn't think we would get amazing reviews because, for heaven's sake, we're trying to put "Gone with the Wind" onstage. But I think the press over there had, weeks before, months before, decided that Trevor Nunn was not going to succeed putting the greatest novel, the greatest film, up on stage. It wouldn't have mattered, I don't think, what we had presented. They weren't going to have liked anything about it, and that's exactly what happened.

 

 

Darius Danesh and Jill Paice in Gone with the Wind

 

photo by Catherine Ashmore

Question: That must have been really disheartening after working so hard.

Paice: Absolutely. For any actor, you pour your heart and your soul into these pieces because you cannot dare question them because you're up there doing them eight times a week. And you're not watching it, you're just trying to make it work — constantly trying to make it work. Even if there are moments that you know aren't working, every night you get to them, and you continue to try. You do not question. So, yes, when that happened we were crushed. There was an energy at the theatre. You would walk in, and you could feel this cloud hanging over everybody. But thank God — Aldo Scrofani got out there and raised more money, did a whole new publicity push... I'm sure anybody else would have closed us the next day! They kept us going for nearly another two months, whatever it was, because he believed in the piece. We all did, and that was the problem, because none of us were up for that sort of disappointment. So, as our run continued, that cloud sort of disappeared and we said, "Well, we don't know how long we're here, but let's make the most of it." And we managed to have a great time together. And, again, we bonded because it just felt like we were fighting this uphill battle with the press. The press wouldn't let it go. They kept mentioning it in their papers every once in awhile. A new show would open up, and they'd say, "Well, it's not as long as Gone with the Wind ." They just kept digging at us for no reason. And that's what I mean by . . . we weren't going to make it because they were ready to tear us down, and they were going to continue to tear us down even if we made it through the summer. They kept doing things like that to us, and I think it's unfair and uncalled for. That didn't have anything to do with the piece. That was just a dig.

 

Question: Did you get to record the score?

Paice: No, and we didn't get to do a souvenir program. We sort of have our memories that live on with the cast and the people who came to see it. The nice thing is Turner Classic Movies did a documentary on the making of it, which played over in London, and they did give us a copy. It's sort of sad to go back and watch now because we were all so excited. [Laughs.] But, at the same time, it's a great memory of the show, and they did tape some footage of the actual show. To have somebody following you around through the rehearsal process is a nice memento to have. It's just not available to everybody right now.

 

Question: Do you think that the show will get done elsewhere?

Paice: I think they are talking about it, but I don't what their plans are. I think there is still hope for it yet, but I'm not sure where or when.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would seem that the GWTW demo recording may have been made in the workshop, before D was involved.

It's great to hear Jill say what most of us felt. It was a truly great show with a truly great cast. I think I felt more for her than anyone. After all the years she'd chased it, and the tears each night when it was on it's closing run. It'd have been hard anyway, even if it wasn't so good but just absolutly unfair for the brilliant peice of theatre it became.

Thanks Bramley......it's just so sad as it was brilliant

It was very unfair.

QUOTE = But I think the press over there had, weeks before, months before, decided that Trevor Nunn was not going to succeed putting the greatest novel, the greatest film, up on stage. It wouldn't have mattered, I don't think, what we had presented. They weren't going to have liked anything about it, and that's exactly what happene

Thats exactly what I think. They had made up their minds beforehand and some people on theatre sites were gunning for it beforehand also. Had one of their favourites been in it,it would have been a different story.

It was the terrible reviews after it got a standing ovation with people having tears in their eyes that finally gave them away. I do sometimes wonder if any of them watched the second half. they were in little knots finalising their reviews in the interval. When something is being pulled apart before the people pulling it apart had actually heard or seen any part of it, you just know it's something unconnected to the reality of the production that's got them going.

thanks for that read, obviously Jill picked up what we did, the reviewere had set their minds for this to fail, and were like dogs with a bone as far as GWTW was concerned - regardless of audience reactions

And yet, even in the midst of the feeding frenzy, only a tiny minority could find fault with Darius's performances. For me that is proof of how much progress Darius has made in a very short time. I'm sure most of the critics went in thinking he would be at best OK; yet another celebrity (Yawn!) being supported and brought through by seasoned West End and Broadway performers around. Instead he was very definitely the lead male and didn't seem at all out of place.

 

I still think snobbery was behind what I'd term the media's knifing of GWTW. There was total resentment that a nobody, someone with no professional experience in theatre or music, had had the temerity to write a musical based on one of the most popular books in American Literature, get the rights from the Mitchell estate, capture the passion of a leading director and secure a West End theatre. The drip, drip, drip of poison had been going on for months, long before Darius got involved in the auditions.

 

I do however think that the casting of Darius as Rhett Butler was a catalyst for all those who'd been railing against celebrity casting in the WE and the effect of shows like How Do You Solve A Problem like Maria and Any Dream Will Do.

 

I don't think there will be any eyebrows raised if Darius decides to take on another MT role in the future.

 

There were a combination of anti- factors but they really just come down to snobbery and jealousy, in my opinion.

 

How many more great shows will be sacrified?

 

 

 

yes, that was the good point, whne they could have easily ripped darius top shreds in their eagerness to slate GWTW - he came off as one of the best things about the show!! quite remarkable given the medias distain for Darius most of the time.

I wonder if we'll see any snippets from the Big Sing sound checks tomorrow night. That would be a nice little bonus.

 

 

 

 

Let's face it ANYTHING is abonus these days.

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I never know whether your a cat or a dog these days. I must get a tape out. Why do people always phone while you're waiting for something to come on?

That's Murphy' law.

And they did - at exactly 5:10 - and I couldn't just not talk. It seems to happen every time.

On the plus side, I had the tape on and pujt it to the end of the TCM docuumentary. I really enjoyed watching a bit of that again, even if it did leave me feeling sad.

I managed to get it taped too . Why is Darius always on at the end? Must be that keeping the best to last, thing.

Edited October 19, 200816 yr by Baytree

It did sound as though that was their intention. It's good that they see him in that way. What I want to know is, what is going to happen next. I keep getting this feeling that everything is changing and for Darius' good, although probably not mine.

That's always going to be our dilemna Meg :( When I spoke to him outside the New London, I expressed my fears that we might lose him to the states, to which he replied "I'm here now!" I am just so incredibly pleased I made the show 7 times, given that I had a 400 mile round journey to get there and back :) I have to say, I enjoyed every single performance too!