Contact (musical)

Productions

Contact premiered at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center, on September 9, 1999 (after 1999 workshop productions of parts of the show), then moved to Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, on March 30, 2000 and played for 1,010 performances there.

The show was received with critical acclaim and won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical (among others). The award was controversial because Contact contains no original music or live singing, and in response, a new award for Best Special Theatrical Event was introduced the following year.

A West End production opened at the Queen's Theatre in October 2002, and closed on May 10, 2003. The musical toured from May 2001 to June 2002, and started again in November 2002 in Toronto.

The original cast album was released on March 6, 2001. PBS included the show's final performance in its program Live from Lincoln Center on September 1, 2002.

Regional productions

Among regional productions, the musical was presented by the Virginia Stage Company (Norfolk, Virginia) in April 2006. This was the first regional theater in the US to present Contact after the Broadway, national tour and London productions and was directed by Tome Cousin, an original cast member (who was chosen by Stroman to direct).

The show was produced at the North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, Massachusetts) in June 2008, with Jarrod Emick and Naomi Hubert and directed by Tomé Cousin.

International productions

The musical was produced by Mupa Budapest at the Madách Theatre in Budapest, Hungary in 2009, with choreography by Tome Cousin, and featured leading ballet dancers of the Hungarian State Opera and members of KFKI Chamber Ballet.

The show was produced in the West End at the Queen's Theatre starting on October 3, 2002 (previews) and officially on October 23.

Background

The idea that Contact was initially developed, researched, and written by Mike Ockrent's (Stroman's husband) development executive and assistants during his brief production deal at Warner Bros, is more than likely untrue. According to Playbill in a 1999 article, the musical was inspired by an experience that Stroman had "... when she visited a dance club in the Meat Market district. There she witnessed a fascinating woman in a yellow dress who took turns dancing with different partners throughout the night. Watching from the sidelines, Stroman thought, 'she's going to change someone's life tonight' ."

Robin Pogrebin, in The New York Times in 1999 wrote of Stroman visiting a swing club and noticing a dancer in a yellow dress. "The woman would step up to the dance floor as a song was beginning and nod or shake her head at the various men asking to be her partner. Then, after holding everyone's attention with her nervy grace, she would disappear into the crowd. What came out of this was Contact... "

The same origin was related in an article in The New Yorker, written by John Lahr in 2014: “ 'Into this sea of dark fashion stepped a girl in a yellow dress,' Stroman recalled. 'You couldn’t help but notice her: it was a very bold color to wear at night—lemon yellow—the same color you find on a traffic light. When she wanted to dance, she would step away from the bar and some man would ask her to dance.'"

Structure, music and story

Contact is made up of three separate dance pieces, each set to pre-recorded music, including from Tchaikovsky, Stephane Grappelli, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue, and The Beach Boys. In each story, the central character expresses a longing to make a romantic connection.

All three stories concern "contact", or its lack.

Part One - "Swinging"

"Swinging", set in an 18th-century French forest clearing, can be described as a contact improvisation on Fragonard's The Swing a print of which is displayed on an easel when the audience arrives. Sex and concealed identity are involved in this piece of amoral intrigue - a servant and his master each seeks the young lady's affection. Much of the action takes place on a moving swing.

Part Two - "Did You Move?"

"Did You Move?", set in circa 1954 in Queens, New York, takes place in an Italian restaurant, focusing on the empty marriage of a small-time gangster and his wife. The wife has extensive dance sequences as she fantasizes about escaping her verbally abusive spouse, but each time is returned rudely to reality. Set to recorded orchestral music of Tchaikovsky and Grieg.

Part Three - "Contact"

"Contact" is set in contemporary time, and explores the emptiness of the career-driven lives of Manhattan apartment dwellers. A lonely advertising executive on the brink of suicide is somehow transported to a bar, where he encounters a stunning woman in a yellow dress. To win her and take control of his life, he must gain the confidence to make contact with another human being. It helped to create a surge of interest in acrobatic and rock and roll swing dancing.

Musical numbers

Sources:Amazon.com; Internet Broadway Database

Original Broadway cast and replacements

Source: Internet Broadway Database

Mary Ann Lamb (replacement)

West End cast

Helen Anker

Gavin Lee

Michael Praed

Sarah Wildor

Leigh Zimmerman

Lucy Casson

Critical response

Ben Brantley, in his review in The New York Times of the production at the Newhouse, wrote: "...Stroman... aided by the dramatist John Weidman and a dream ensemble of dancing actors and acting dancers, has created the unthinkable: a new musical throbbing with wit, sex appeal and a perfectionist's polish. Brimming with a sophistication that is untainted by the usual fin-de-siecle cynicism, Contact restores the pleasure principle to the American musical. It's the kinetic equivalent of Rodgers and Hart."

Awards and nominations

In addition to winning Best Musical and Best Choreography, Karen Ziemba (in Part Two) and Boyd Gaines (in Part Three), won 2000 Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress and Best Featured Actor in a Musical, respectively. The show also won Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding New Musical, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Ziemba), Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Lighting Design.

Deborah Yates, who originated the role of Girl in a Yellow Dress (Part Three), was nominated for a 2000 Tony Award, Best Featured Actress.